1. Renewable Energy

2. Benefits of Solar Power
RENEWABLE and theoretically infinite
The MOST available and easiest to access of all renewables
Reduces electricity bills (eventually)
Maintenance is inexpensive
Constantly improving technology, so getting cheaper and more efficient
Can produce electricity OR heat

3. What other benefits can you think of?

4. Disadvantages of Solar Power
The solar panels are expensive to manufacture and easily damaged
Solar technology is still being developed, so it can be quite expensive at first
Though you save money on your electricity bill, you have to pay for the panels at first, so that’s a lot of initial cost.
The panels require a lot of space and surface area
Requires a place to store energy for nighttime or low-sun days
Associate with pollution because of the discarding of the parts used to make the solar panels
The way solar panels are made is not environmentally friendly (neither are electric cars, just FYI)

5. What other disadvantages can you think of?

6. How do you think solar power is better than wind or water. Why
How do you think solar power is better than wind or water? Why? How is it worse? Why

7. What is a solar panel? What is it made of?
A solar panel is often called a PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULE.
Photo means light. Voltaic refers to electric energy.
Solar panels are comprised of many smaller 6x10” solar cells.
Solar panels usually produce watts.
Efficiency is often limited to less than 22% (meaning approx. 80% of the available energy is wasted).

8. What does a solar cell / PV module look like?
PV Modules
Solar Cell

9. One kilowatt = 1000 watts so 1 kwh = 1000 watts per hour.
How many PV modules do you think it would take to power your house for one month?
Average in America is 901 kWh per month (
Average output of one PV module was watts. ( )
One kilowatt = 1000 watts so 1 kwh = 1000 watts per hour.
Using 4 hours of full sun, gives you this equation: 250watts x 4 hours. That's 1 kWh (1,000 watts) in a day per 250-watt panel. If you multiply 1kWh per panel by 30 days in a month, you'll find that each 250 watt rated panel will produce about 30 kWh in an average month. ( does-a-solar-panel-produce/ )

10. Answer: It depends on how much sun you get
You need one hour of sun for every watts (let’s say 250) the panel produces.
The average house will use 30 kwh per day SO 30,000 watts.
That means you need 120 hours of sun to power your house for one day.
That’s still not considering the efficiency of the panels, which means you only get about 20% of that amount.

11. How would that change if you added more solar panels?
Simple. You’d get more energy.
Two solar panels = 500 watts per hour
30,000 watts / 500 watts = 60 hours of sun needed
30,000 watts / 750 watts (3 panels) = 40 hours of sun needed
30,000 watts / 1000 watts (4 panels) = 30 hours of sun needed
30,000 watts / 1250 watts ( 5 panels) = 24 hours of sun needed
30,000 watts / 1500 watts (6 panels) = 20 hours of sun needed

12. 1 panel = 250 watts every hour
So how many would you need to power your house for one day? (Figure it out.)
One day = 30 kwh
30 kwh = 30,000 watts
1 panel = 250 watts every hour

13. How much would it cost to buy all of those panels?

14. How long would it take to recover that initial cost output?
12c per kwh average
PLUS TAX AND OTHER CHARGES (usually an extra 10% on top of the electricity charge)
Average is around $120 per month including taxes
How many months until you reach the same output amount? That’s how many months it would take until you start actually saving money. After that amount of months, the units pay for themselves apart from normal upkeep.

15. What is grid parity?
Grid parity is the term for when solar generated electricity is equally cost-effective to fossil fuel generated electricity.
As you can see, this takes A LONG time to reach.

16. Is solar worth it? THIS IS YOUR HOMEWORK
Again, this is homework.
Write a one paragraph explanation that lists in detail why you do or do not think solar power is worth it.
In another paragraph, answer the same question considering that solar power is becoming cheaper every day. How cheap would it need to be for you to think it is worth it?

17. WIND POWER

18. Benefits of Wind Power
Clean! Does not burn fossil fuels so there are no harmful gas emissions as with coal or petroleum.
Wind is renewable and free. There is no cost to mine it or transport it. It’s either there or it isn’t, but when it is, it’s free to harness.
Cheapest source of energy (between $0.02 – 0.06 cents per kwh)
Creates very high-quality jobs because the sector requires a lot of training and education
Sustainable (actually dependent on solar power which is infinite)
Wind turbines use a small portion of farmland, so the surrounding land can still be farmed.

19. What other benefits can you think of?

20. Disadvantages of Wind Power
Wind is not available everywhere, at least not in the quantities it takes to turn the giant turbines.
Birds die.
Very high initial cost compared to fossil fuel generators.
Wind farms are built in remote locations where the wind is greatest, which means transmission lines have to be built to nearby towns. This is expensive, time consuming, and hard to power.
Land where wind farms are built could also be used for other types of generator such as hydroelectric. This competition makes the land more valuable, thus a more expensive project for the developer.
There is “noise” and “visual” pollution from these machines. They can be quite loud.

21. What other disadvantages can you think of?

22. How much electricity do the turbines make?
The output of a wind turbine depends on the turbine's size and the wind's speed through the rotor. An average onshore wind turbine with a capacity of 2.5–3 MW can produce more than 6 million kWh in a year – enough to supply 1,500 average EU households with electricity.