ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF ENERGY

Everyone knows the effect that greenhouse gas production and global warming is having on our earth. We feel that it is vitally important for individuals, and especially governments, to start taking these problems seriously; before it is too late. Even though technology has greatly advanced in the last decade most countries around the world still use fossil fuel-based methods of energy production. The use of these fuels has two major problems; it depletes the natural supply and eventually we will run out; and the burning of the fuel (i.e. coal) creates vast pollution in the form of greenhouse gases (GHG's such as carbon monoxide and dioxide, and sulphur dioxide). It is these gases which lead to global warming and slowly destroy our planet. Only through the use of alternative sources of energy (which are virtually non-polluting) can we slow down this destruction and save our planet.

Above you will see eight links, which will take you to a page on each of the different ways of alternative energy production. On each of these pages you will find sub-headings giving a brief description of what it is and any advantages and disadvantages. It also gives the South African perspective and other interesting information.

WHAT IS SOLAR POWER?

Solar power is a viable alternative to fossil fuels and some alternative energy sources, as it gives off no carbon dioxide waste and uses the natural energy from our sun to generate electricity. After the lifetime of the panel, the materials that were used to make it could be recycled as no material is used in the energy generating process. There is also a lot of room for solar power to be used in the development of 3rd world economies, as it is extremely cost effective in the long run.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Solar panels have always been thought to be very expensive as it used to be made only from the purest silicon. Solar power has in many ways been eliminated as a viable option as a result of its high manufacturing costs. But a recent breakthrough in the hunt to find an alternative to silicon has dramatically decreased the price of solar power, and also increased it’s effectiveness. This achievement came from South Africa’s own Professor Vivian Alberts from the Johannesburg University and his team of physicists, who have formulated a new procedure of making solar panels using copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS).

The production of CIGS solar panels is very complex and any slight deviation from the purest, high-quality elements can result in an ineffective solar cell.

Three metals: copper (Cu), gallium (Ga), and indium (In), have to be formed in an extremely pure alloy.

1. Next, the alloy that was formed needs to be converted into an equally pure semiconductor. This is done by adding selenium (Se)into the alloy. This creates a completely new crystal structure forming the CIGS layer of the cell.
2. Then a buffer layer of other semi-conductors are laid carefully on the CIGS layer.
3. The cell is then finished off by attaching conductive electrical contacts (usually molybdenum) on either side

IS IT RENEWABLE?

Solar power is one of the most renewable ways of energy production. The sun as the energy source is, at least in the foreseeable future, endless and will keep providing us with power. There is no way for us to use up the sun and we don't even have to replenish it. Therefore solar power is definitely a renewable means of energy production.

APPLICATIONS OF SOLAR POWER

The use of CIGS in the productions of solar panels as an alternative to silicon, gas been undergoing research since 1974, but scientists struggled to find reliable, repeatable, commercially affordable processes to produce this type of solar panel. Professor Alberts revolutionised this industry in inventing an entirely new procedure based on the way that the atoms behave from the beginning to the end of the process. His procedure is going to be implemented in the first full-scale CGIS production plant that uses this procedure, currently being built in Germany by IFE Solar Systems a company that has invested R500-million in this South African invention.