• Light energy from the sun travels to Earth each day.
  • This super useful energy allows plants to make food, and we can use the energy to make electricity.

• When the light energy hits thin pieces of Silicon, electrons are knocked lose.
• We force these excited electrons through flow through wires where they power our electronics.

• Once the solar panels are setup in sunlight excited electrons start flowing.
  • There is no CO₂ produced since nothing is being burned.

• Unfortunately, solar panels don’t produce electricity at night or on cloudy days.
  • Large scale solar farms are located in places that have above average clear days.

• Each of the different materials required for solar panels must be mined, assembled in factories, transported and installed by vehicles that burn fossil fuels and emit lots of CO₂.
  • So while they are clean at point of use, they do have a significant ecological impact.

• While rooftop solar panels don’t impact the wilderness, they don’t generate enough electricity for entire cities and factories.
  • Large solar farms require a huge amount of space that can impede on habitat for wildlife.

• Birds seem particularly impacted by solar farms.
• Migrating birds can mistake them for lakes, causing disruption to their flight patterns.
  • And in very hot environments, reflections can set them on fire!

• Because solar panels are made of so many different materials, the are near impossible to recycle.
• When solar panels age out or are damaged, they find themselves in the landfill.
  • As early 2000s panels age and need replaced we are on the verge of a mountain of solar waste.

• Solar panels generate electricity when working with no way to store any energy for later use.
  • They are often paired with batteries, but those have significant issues of their own

SOLAR accounts for 2% of all energy consumed in US

China produces the most solar energy in the world.

• Australia is the only country that is also a continent with a population 27 million.
• While it produces no where near the total solar of China, Australia’s much smaller population requires less energy.
• Solar accounts for 33% of electricity and 3% of total energy used in Australia.

• Solar’s best score is the availability factor – if the sun stops shining we all die anyway.
  • Since the sun doesn’t shine 100% of the time and solar panels are fairly delicate electronics, they just don’t score as well as other energy sources.
  • When more durable panels that can be made with a smaller ecological impact are invented, it might jump straight to the top!