Solar power generation

The burning of fossil fuels to generate power emits carbon dioxide. The content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has almost doubled over the past years. This has resulted in big changes in the world climate. The earth’s surface temperature is rising, ice caps and mountain glaciers are melting and this has resulted in rising levels of water in seas. This is called global warming. Global warming will cause more rains and floods and so effective measures have to be taken to reduce global warming.

One way to reduce global warming is to inject some particles into the upper atmosphere or stratosphere. These particles keep the earth cool.

However, the injected particles also have an affect on the amount and nature of sunlight that reaches the earth. Solar power can be generated only by direct sunlight and not by diffused sunlight. The amount of sunlight reaching the earth is reduced by the injected particles in the stratosphere and also reduces the amount of solar power that can be generated from this sunlight.

According to a recent research, it has been found out that the electricity generated by solar power has been reduced by almost one- fifth times by the injection of sulfur particles into the atmosphere.

The devices that operate on solar power are also affected by the injected particles. The output of solar collectors, photovoltaic cells and solar panels decreases drastically if particles are injected into the atmosphere.

Solar power today meets most of the power needs and will do so in the future. Techniques must be developed to reduce global warming without affecting the amount of solar power generated.