Shine with Solar

With the rise in temperatures in places all around the world, it's time for us to make the best of the worst.

Facilities with Photovoltaic Systems in San Diego County Facilities (zoom for better view)

As shown in the map, there aren't very many facilities in San Diego with solar panels installed, but my hope is to change this fact and spread it along the center of the city and getting other parts

How exactly does a solar panel work?

Knowing the knitty gritty details of the physics behind a solar panel is important in understanding the true genius behind the functions of these.

A model of the photoelectric effect: yellow arrows representing light, green arrows representing path of electron, green balls representing electrons, and gray plate a piece of metal

Light with enough energy, can knock off electrons on a sheet of metal, and this is called the photoelectric effect. As electricity is generated through the movement of electrons, we can make use of the photoelectric effect by placing a sheet of metal to face the sun and intercepting the electrons it knocks off.

How effective is solar energy?

Solar energy has played an important role in reducing greenhouse gases as well as controlling climate change.

Power generated throughout the day with solar panels

You can see how solar panels can generate up to 1000 watts of energy at its peak (not including all of the power it can generate at other times). Seeing as how an average American home uses up to 29,130 watt-hours of power a day, merely about 15 solar panels can be sufficient to supply the house.

I believe that we can raise the number of places in San Diego to have more solar panels, and slowly expand out to the rest of California as well.

Carbon footprints of different energy production (solar.com)

Solar energy also has a small carbon footprint, as shown in the graph above, which is a further testimony to how clean it is.

A model of the photoelectric effect: yellow arrows representing light, green arrows representing path of electron, green balls representing electrons, and gray plate a piece of metal

Power generated throughout the day with solar panels

Carbon footprints of different energy production (solar.com)