Author: Nino Kokashvili
University of Tartu EcoinnovationClub aims to raise the awareness about environment related topics among students. One our alumni (Nino Kokashvili) and two current Quantitative Economics Master students (Dmytro Lutchyk and Maryna Pashchynska) are active members of the club. Last week Ecoinnovation Club hosted Solar Panel Workshop, where all participants were able to build solar panels and power a device with them. The event took place in the evening of November 10th in cozy and familiar Idea Lab room in Oeconomicum. Workshop was led by Andres Meesak who is running the Estonian Solar Energy Association.
| Solar Panel Workshop Photo Credits: Nino Kokashvili |
Solar energy is often thought as a new unproven technology, but scientific experimentation in this field has started in late 1800s. The first sun’s energy use to run electronic equipment happened in 1954, after that more than 6 gigawatts has been installed in the world. While people consider that solar energies are not usable in a cold climate with short and dark days, modern solar panels are very efficient and achieve same results everywhere. Also, solar energy is believed to be very expansive, but the price of it has been reduced by fifty percent last 6 years. Besides, there are many solar financing options and solar energy provides different benefits.
Advantages of solar energy:
- - Solar energy is renewable
- - Solar energy resources are available in large quantities
- - Environmentally friendly
- - Sustainable
- - Available everywhere
- - Flexible applications
- - There is no noise, air or water pollution and moving parts in applications
- - Less safety risks compared to others
- - Low operating costs
| Source: compiled by the author based on BP - Statistical Review of World Energy |
World leading country by solar power installation is Germany, followed by China and Japan, Italy is the 4th and USA – the 5th. As solar energy is available resource everywhere it should be spread in almost every continent. While European, Asian and North American countries are leading in use of solar energy, African countries are lacking in the list. While the largest quantities of solar energy are available in Africa due to hot climate, because of low financial development of continent, it is not affordable for them to follow the world.
| Source: compiled by the author based on BP - Statistical Review of World Energy |
The solar energy installations have an increasing trend. Use of solar energy has especially expanded in last years, from 2008 to 2014. If the world follows this pattern, one day our planet’s biggest energy source could become the solar – the most environmentally friendly, sustainable, renewable and abundant energy source available on earth.
| Solar Panel Workshop Photo Credits: Nino Kokashvili |
