The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) challenge selected for this paper is the one that relates to the process of making solar energy economical. Currently, it is the most recent grand challenge identified in the NAE’s website. According to the NAE grand challenge brief “as a source of energy nothing matches the sun; it out-powers anything that human technology could ever produce” . This particular NAE grand challenge describes the current challenges that government, government agencies and departments, and non-government organizations face when it comes to the mass production and distribution of solar energy production equipment. In order to do that, the entire process of gathering and storing solar power needs to be economical.
That is, the number of years needed for the household or for profit organization to be able to realize a total return on their investments should be made substantially smaller. Unfortunately, this can only be done by decreasing the overall costs associated with harnessing solar power.
Unlike other forms of power such as those generated from coal and fossil fuel, solar energy is renewable and practically unlimited. Solar energy is clean and would present itself as a viable solution to sustain the humongous electrical power needs of power gluttons (i.e. metropolis and high density places) for as long as there is sunlight. This grand challenge focuses on the process of making solar energy production economical. The truth is the most basic technologies required to generate, store, and distribute solar power are already available.
The only remaining problem thus far is how its use will be marketed so that people and organizations would be convinced that it is way better than traditional, polluting, and non-renewable power schemes. Current solar power plants roughly operate at an efficiency rate of only between 10 to 20 percent, which is considerably low. In terms of power generation costs, modern solar modules are expected to produce power at a price that is 3 to 6 times higher than the current prices of electricity generated from coal and fossil fuel. This is why most power conglomerates still prefer the traditional power generation options despite knowing that they are less polluting and non-renewable over non-polluting and completely renewable solar power.
What makes this significant in the field of engineering is that making a breakthrough in terms of increasing the efficiency of solar modules should solve the cost-related problem associated with solar power generation. If the solar power module’s upward trend on efficiency would continue, then it would only take some time before we see solar power modules that have efficiency rates that are higher by several folds than their current level. Some of the engineering fields that may be pertinent in solving this grand challenge are nanotechnology and electrical engineering.
One proposed solution to address this challenge is by proposing the use of solar power modules that are made of materials with a higher level of purity. The most basic principles of solar power generation suggests that the panels and modules’ efficiency depends on how pure they are and so naturally a purer panel and module would be more efficient in generating solar power . Another proposed solution presented in an article published in the Global Journal of Business Research was the large scale construction of solar power facilities so that larger and more cost-effective savings can be realized . This was what they did in Kuwait and the analysts reported that the costs could be reduced by as much as 20%.
Works Cited
Hadi, M., R. Abdel and W. Chakroun. "Economic Assessment of the Use of Solar Energy in Kuwait Abstract." Global Journal of Business Research 7 (2013): 73-82.
National Academy of Engineering. "Make Solar Energy Economical." NAE (2014): http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9082.aspx.
Pacurar, A., D. Toader and C. Pacurar. "Case Study - Monitoring the Photovoltaic Panels Abstract." Journal of Electircal and Electronics Engineering (2013): 123-126.
