Solar Panels

How Do Solar Panels Work?

The simplified answer:
Silicon is mounted beneath non-reflective glass to produce photovoltaic panels. These panels collect
photons from the sun, converting them into DC electrical power. The power created then flows into an
inverter. The inverter transforms the power into basic voltage and AC electrical power.
That is a very brief eplanation, but some may prefer a more in depth answer the !uestion, "#ow do solar
panels wor$%& #ere is the more detailed response, though it still remains fairly basic:
To start off, it is crucial that silicon be better eplained. Silicon has four electrons in its outer shell. #owever,
it has the capacity to hold eight. 'y sharing these four electrons with other silicon atoms and their four shell
electrons, the capacity of eight is filled. (hen they combine with each other in this way, silicon atoms
develop a strong, stable bond. This structure is $nown as pure, crystalline silicon.
)f course, this pure silicon is a poor conductor of electricity, as there are no electrons free to move about. *n
other words, the silicon is better off with impurities. To create these impurities, silicon is combined with
something else.
(hen silicon combines with an element that has five electrons to share, such as phosphorus, a negative
charge is created. Silicon can only ta$e four of the five electrons. This leaves one free electron loo$ing for a
spot. These additional electrons are $nown as free carriers+ they carry an electrical current.
)n the other hand, when silicon is combined with an element that has three electrons a positive charge is
created. 'oron is a material which suits this purpose. (hen silicon and boron are combined, holes are
created.
These silicon combinations and their differing charges are used to ma$e solar panels. As photons come
down from the sunlight and stri$e the silicon, it sha$es everything up. The free electron that was hanging
onto the silicon,phosphorous combination is now forced to the outer ring. -rom here, it gets suc$ed up to the
outer ring of the silicon,boron combination. This is how electricity is created.
Conservation Tips
You make the difference! Each and every one of us has a tremendous impact on the planet's
health. A few simple changes to your daily life will change the future of the Earth.
In Your Home
Reduce your usage of electricity and water, and your consumption of goods.
Recycle everything you can: paper, cans, glass, aluminum, motor oil, scrap metal,
batteries, and plastics. To find out how and where to recycle your trash, visit
earth9.com.
!nstall water"saving showerheads. #ou can save anywhere from $ to %$ gallons of water
for every $ minutes spent in the shower.
&ave electricity by turning off lights when you leave a room, and unplugging appliances
when not in use.
Replace light bulbs with energy"efficient bulbs' they last much longer and will save you
money on your electricity bill and protect the environment.
In Your Yard
(ow your lawn with a gas"less push mower. !t's cheaper, )uieter, and eco"friendly.
After mowing, leave grass clippings on the lawn. They add nutrients to the soil.
*ontrol insects and pests using natural controls instead of pesticides.
!f you must water your lawn, water early in the day to prevent evaporation.
In the Car
!f every family in the +nited &tates uses ,ust one less gallon of gas per wee-, greenhouse gases will
be reduced by million tons. .ith this in mind:
/rive less. .al-, carpool, or ta-e public transit. &haring a ride can have a tremendous
impact. 0lus, you'll save money.
1uy a fuel"efficient car. The average American driver will e2pend %,3$$ less pounds of
carbon mono2ide gases per year by driving a car that gets at least 45 miles to the gallon.
*hec- tire pressure, and -eep the car tuned and well"maintained.
/ispose motor oil and anti"free6e through a local service station or recycling center. A one"
)uart container of oil disposed oat the local landfill can contaminate up to 5 million gallons
of drin-ing water. 7isit earth9.com to find a local center that accepts and recycles
the things you can't place curbside for pic-"up.
Out and About
/ispose of trash properly. Even in cities, most trash eventually finds its way to the oceans.
1altimore city is on the *hesapea-e 1ay. A cigarette butt tossed on *harles &treet may
eventually be mista-en for food by sea birds that see it floating on the water. *igarette
butts, li-e most human"made trash, are not biodegradable.
0ic- up trash when you see it, whether in the city, in a par-, on the beach, or anywhere
else.
Volunteer
8oin the A)uarium at one of our conservation events.
As- around your local community for ways you can help9
Water Conservation Tips
Ad,ust sprin-lers so only your lawn is watered and not the house, sidewal-, or
street.
Run your clothes washer and dishwasher only when they are full. #ou can
save up to ,$$$ gallons a month.
!nstall covers on pools and spas and chec- for lea-s around your pumps.
+se the garbage disposal sparingly. *ompost vegetable food waste instead
and save gallons every time.
.ater your lawn and garden in the morning or evening when temperatures
are cooler to minimi6e evaporation.
+se a broom instead of a hose to clean your driveway and sidewal- and save
water every time.
.ash your fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of running water
from the tap.
*ollect the water you use for rinsing fruits and vegetables, then reuse it to
water houseplants.
.hen cleaning out fish tan-s, give the nutrient"rich water to your plants.
:rab a wrench and fi2 that lea-y faucet. !t's simple, ine2pensive, and you can
save ;$ gallons a wee-.
Turn off the water while brushing your teeth and save 5% gallons a month.
.hen you save water, you save money on your utility bills too. &aving water
is easy for everyone to do.
.ashing dar- clothes in cold water saves both on water and energy while it
helps your clothes to -eep their colors.
Turn off the water while you wash your hair to save up to %$ gallons a
month.
Turn off the water while you shave and save up to 4$$ gallons a month.
!f you accidentally drop ice cubes when filling your glass from the free6er,
don't throw them in the sin-. /rop them in a house plant instead.
.hen you have ice left in your cup from a ta-e"out restaurant, don't throw it
in the trash, dump it on a plant.
Soil Erosion
...Soil erosion from water comes in the form of rain and runoff. (hen the rain
falls, it can brea$ up the particles of the soil, /especially fine sand and silt0 and
disperse them. This destruction of soil increases with thunderstorms, or heavy
rain. 1unoff can carry these particles to rivers, oceans, streams or la$es. 1unoff
occurs when water drifts down a slope, or surface, and is not absorbed into the
soil. 1unoff increases when soil is crusty, compacted, or is over hydrated, as in it
can2t absorb any more water. This runoff can carry off more rich topsoil.
Soil can also resist erosion. This depends on a variety of factors. Things such as
high amounts of animal and plant matter decomposed in the soil, the ability for
water to pass through, and destruction of the runoff and sediment. There are
farming techni!ues that can help this, but your best bet is to farm on flatter land.
The compaction of soil can decrease soil erosion, but it also increases runoff, as
we covered earlier. This increase can actually cause more damage then
originally. Some farming techni!ues lower the amount of animal and plant matter
in the soil. This can increase soil erosion. -arming seems to be more
complicated then * thought. Soil that2s eroded one year, is wea$er the net,
creating a chain reaction, where every year the soil gets worse.
...Soil is one of our most precious resources. The loss of this resource, through
land degradation processes such as wind and water erosion, is one of the most
serious environmental problems we are faced with as it is destroying the means
of producing our food.
Soil erosion is a natural process and has occurred throughout geological history.
#uman activities, particularly agriculture and deforestation, however, have
increased erosion rates, as they tend to remove the protective vegetation and
reduce the stability of the soil. This human influenced process is termed
accelerated erosion. Since 3456 accelerated erosion has resulted in the loss of
3,5 of the topsoil from the worlds agricultural land and 3,5 of the topsoil from
tropical forests.
*t has been estimated that total global soil erosion costs agriculture many
hundreds of billions of 7S dollars every year. This includes the cost of water
treatment, dredging of waterways and lost food production, but does not include
damage to a!uatic ecosystems or the value of the soil itself.
.(hat you can do%
Support organic farming by purchasing organic foods and encourage your local
retailer to stoc$ organic produce.
*f you are a farmer, you can conserve your soil resources by using conservation
tillage techni!ues to reduce soil disturbance and compaction and by reducing
stoc$ing rates to limit soil compaction. #owever, the best way to reduce erosion
is by ma$ing sure the soil is covered by vegetation as much as possible. 8ou can
achieve this by revegetating areas of your farm with native trees and understorey
plants, leaving crop stubble in place after harvesting and by including cover crops
or pasture in your cropping rotations.
Oil Spills
..(e have all seen pictures and videos of wildlife covered in blac$, stic$y oil after
an oil spill. These pictures are usually of oiled birds. 9any people are not aware
that it is not :ust birds that get oiled during a spill. )ther marine life such as
marine mammals can also suffer from the effects of an oil spill. ;ven small spills
can severely affect marine wildlife.
<ot all oils are the same. There are many different types of oil and this means
that each oil spill is different depending on the type of oil spilt. ;ach oil spill will
have a different impact on wildlife and the surrounding environment depending
on:
the type of oil spilled,
the location of the spill,
the species of wildlife in the area,
the timing of breeding cycles and seasonal migrations,
and even the weather at sea during the oil spill.
)il affects wildlife by coating their bodies with a thic$ layer. 9any oils also
become stic$ier over time /this is called weathering0 and so adheres to wildlife
even more. Since most oil floats o nthe surface of the water it can effect many
marine animals and sea birds. 7nfortunately, birds and marine mammals will not
necessarily avoid an oil spill. Some marine mammals, such as seals and
dolphins, have been seen swimming and feeding in or near an oil spill. Some
fish are attracted to oil because it loo$s li$e floating food. This endangers sea
birds, which are attracted to schools of fish and may dive through oil slic$s to get
to the fish.
)il that stic$s to fur or feathers, usually crude and bun$er fuels, can cause many
problems. Some of these problems are:
hypothermia in birds by reducing or destroying the insulation and
waterproofing properties of their feathers+
hypothermia in fur seal pups by reducing or destroying the insulation of
their woolly fur /called lanugo0. Adult fur seals have blubber and would
not suffer from hypothermia if oiled. Dolphins and whales do not have fur,
so oil will not easily stic$ to them+
birds become easy prey, as their feathers being matted by oil ma$e them
less able to fly away+
marine mammals such as fur seals become easy prey if oil stic$s their
flippers to their bodies, ma$ing it hard for them to escape predators+
birds sin$ or drown because oiled feathers weigh more and their stic$y
feathers cannot trap enough air between them to $eep them buoyant+
fur seal pups drown if oil stic$s their flippers to their bodies$
birds lose body weight as their metabolism tries to combat low body
temperature+
marine mammals lose body weight when they can not feed due to
contamination of their environment by oil+
birds become dehydrated and can starve as they give up or reduce
drin$ing, diving and swimming to loo$ for food+
inflammation or infection in dugongs and difficulty eating due to oil stic$ing
to the sensory hairs around their mouths+
disguise of scent that seal pups and mothers rely on to identify each other,
leading to re:ection, abandonment and starvation of seal pups+ and
damage to the insides of animals and birds bodies, for eample by
causing ulcers or bleeding in their stomachs if they ingest the oil by
accident.
)il does not have to be stic$y to endanger wildlife. 'oth stic$y oils such as crude
oil and bun$er fuels, and non-stic$y oils such as refined petroleum products can
affect different wildlife. )ils such as refined petroleum products do not last as
long in the marine environment as crude or bun$er fuel. They are not li$ely to
stic$ to a bird or animal, but they are much more poisonous than crude oil or
bun$er fuel. (hile some of the following effects on sea birds, marine mammals
and turtles can be caused by crude oil or bun$er fuel, they are more commonly
caused by refined oil products.
)il in the environment or oil that is ingested can cause:
poisoning of wildlife higher up the food chain if they eat large amounts of
other organisms that have ta$en oil into their tissues+
interference with breeding by ma$ing the animal too ill to breed, interfering
with breeding behaviour such as a bird sitting on their eggs, or by reducing
the number of eggs a bird will lay+
damage to the airways and lungs of marine mammals and turtles,
congestion, pneumonia, emphysema and even death by breathing in
droplets of oil, or oil fumes or gas+
damage to a marine mammal2s or turtle2s eyes, which can cause ulcers,
con:unctivitis and blindness, ma$ing it difficult for them to find food, and
sometimes causing starvation+
irritation or ulceration of s$in, mouth or nasal cavities+
damage to and suppression of a marine mammal2s immune system,
sometimes causing secondary bacterial or fungal infections+
damage to red blood cells+
organ damage and failure such as a bird or marine mammal2s liver+
damage to a bird2s adrenal tissue which interferes with a bird2s ability to
maintain blood pressure, and concentration of fluid in its body+
decrease in the thic$ness of egg shells+
stress+
damage to fish eggs, larvae and young fish+
contamination of beaches where turtles breed causing contamination of
eggs, adult turtles or newly hatched turtles+
damage to estuaries, coral reefs, seagrass and mangrove habitats which
are the breeding areas of many fish and crustaceans, interfering with their
breeding+
tainting of fish, crustaceans, molluscs and algae+
interference with a baleen whale2s feeding system by tar-li$e oil, as this
type of whale feeds by s$imming the surface and filtering out the water+
and
poisoning of young through the mother, as a dolphin calf can absorb oil
through it2s mothers mil$.
Animals covered in oil at the beginning of a spill may be affected differently from
animals encountering the oil later. -or eample, early on, the oil maybe more
poisonous, so the wildlife affected early will ta$e in more of the poison. The
weather conditions can reduce or increase the potential for oil to cause damage
to the environment and wildlife. -or eample, warm seas and high winds will
encourage lighter oils to form gases, and will reduce the amount of oil that stays
in the water to affect marine life.
The impact of an oil spill on wildlife is also affected by where spilled oil reaches.
-or eample, fur seal pups are affected more than adults by oil spills because
pups swim in tidal pools and along roc$y coasts, whereas the adults swim in
open water where it is less li$ely for oil to linger. Dugongs als feed on seagrass
along the coast and therefore be more affected by oil spills.
..)n April =6, =636, '>2s Deepwater #ori?on oil rig eploded in the @ulf of
9eico, it is estimated that over =65 million gallons of oil were released into the
@ulf.
..;on Aalde? tan$er spilled 33 million gallons of oil into the ecologically
sensitive >rince (illiam Sound in 34B4
***How do they clean up the oil on the beaches or the water after a spill?
There are many ways to stop the spread of oil in the ocean. (or$ers can place a
boom around the tan$er that is spilling oil. 'ooms collect the oil off the water. A
boom may be placed somewhere before an oil spill. They can be placed around
an entrance to the ocean, li$e a stream. They also can be placed around a
habitat with many animals living there. These booms will absorb any oil that flows
around it.
The wor$ers can also use s$immers. S$immers are boats that can remove the oil
off the water. Sorbents are sponges that can collect the oil. An airplane can fly
over the water dropping chemicals into the ocean. The chemicals can brea$
down the oil into the ocean.
They also can burn freshly spilled oil with fireproof booms to contain the oil. They
might not decide to burn the oil because this method causes air pollution.
There are :ust a few ways to clean the oil off the beaches. (or$ers can use high
or low pressure hoses to spray the oil that is on the beaches. Aacuum truc$s may
be driven on the beaches to vacuum up the oil. They can also simply use shovels
or road e!uipment to collect all the oil off the beaches.
The method they use to clean the beaches or oceans depends on many things.
They have to loo$ at the weather, the type and amount of oil spilled, if people live
in that area, what types of animals live in that area, and many more things. *n
some situations, they may not react to a spill. *t may not be helpful or it would :ust
cause even more damage to that habitat.
Helping and Saving the Sea ife !oday
#ave you ever stopped to thin$ what you use oil for% ;very one uses oil a lot.
The whole world uses nearly three billion gallons of oil every day. (e all use it to
fuel our cars, truc$s, buses, and even to heat our homes. *f you have touched a
chain on a bicycle, you have touched some oil. The blac$ stuff that appears on
your fingers is an oil that ma$es the chains on your bi$e run smoothly. (e use oil
to ma$e asphalt which can help us pave our roads. 8ou can get eamples of oil
at a toy store, a hardware store, or a drugstore, because oil is made into plastics,
which could be any of your toys or CD players. )il is also used in medicines, in$,
paints, and to create some electricity. (e all can help stop oil spills happening in
the oceans. *f you use less oil, then less will have to be transported. (e can use
less oil by not using our cars when we can wal$ or ride a bi$e. (e also can use
less oil by paving the roads with cement. That way we are not using oil.
Thin$ about how many lights you have in your house. Also thin$ about all the
electronics li$e computers or televisions. All of these things use electricity. *f we
all were to turn off lights, computers, or televisions when not in use, we wouldnCt
be using as mush oil to create the electricity throughout the house.