Solar Power The trends and future of solar power generation Essay Example for Free

Solar Power The trends and future of solar power generation Essay Solar power is being increasingly conceived as a possible alternative to traditional energy sources, given the rise in costs associated with traditional energy sources. Although it had for long, been considered as highly uneconomic; this notion has been changing with the improvement in technologies. It should be noted here that generation of solar power is currently highly dependent on government subsidies. These subsidies are very essential for projecting solar power as an alternative to electricity from traditional fuel sources. However the cost of manufacturing and installing solar power generation system has been considerably decreased during the last two decades, during which the installed capacity too rose phenomenally. This scenario is in stark contrast to electricity generation from traditional sources where the generation costs increased with the rise in natural gas prices. The need for more power plants to meet the increasing consumption needs, the need to cut emissions and adopt other pollution control measures, only keep pushing conventional electricity prices further and further. The global solar capacity is anticipated to be about 20 to 40 times its current levels, by 2020, growing by 30 to 35% each year. The solar power generated today would correspondingly rise from 10 gigawatts to 400 gigawatts by 2020. However, despite the prospects for solar power, the solar power generation field is in its early stages; such that even if the estimated capacity level reaches the said 20 to 40 times its current level, it would only account for 3 to 6% of the electricity generation capability or 1.5 to 3% of the total output in 2020. It is now anticipated that in three to seven years from now, unsubsidized solar power should be available to the end customer at costs compatible to electricity produced by fossil fuels or other alternatives to solar. Parts of US and Italy, Japan and Spain are expected to see the equalization of solar and traditional power costs due to favorable trends and encouraging factors prevailing in these regions. Currently unsubsidized solar power costs about 36 cents per kilowatt-hour. This is expected to be around 12 cents per kilowatt-hour by 2020. The current solar technologies used are silicon-wafer photovoltaics, thin-film photovoltaics and concentrated solar thermal power. Each of these technologies have certain advantages with regard to particular usages. Through innovations and cost cuttings, the technologies strive to be more efficient, with enhanced applicability. The power conversion efficiency is the amount of electricity generated by the solar radiation corresponding to the surface of the photovoltaic cell, for a particular time period. Efficient systems are directed towards weighing less, with a smaller radiation collection surface, low cost transportation and installation. Photovoltaic refers to the solar panels which convert solar energy to electricity. The photovoltaic material is mainly formed of pure silicon, which emit electrons when subjected to solar radiation, thereby producing an electric current. While basic photovoltaic cells are used in calculators and wrist watches, more higher versions are used for powering water pumps, communications equipments and several other off-grid requirements. Photovoltaics are increasingly used as an additional or alternative for utility purposes already serviced by electric grid. More and more people increasingly opt for photovoltaics for several reasons like environmental, economic, emergency requirement, rising electricity costs etc. The silicon-wafer photovoltaics account for about 90% of installed solar capacity. It is particularly used in rooftop applications associated with space restrictions. Although these are doubly efficient compared to thin-film photovoltaics, their installation is costly. The solar panels themselves are costly too, requiring larger quantities of silicon photovoltaic material compared to thin film photovoltaic solar cells. Another disadvantage is that the theoretical efficiency limit of the photovoltaic single-junction silicon wafer cell, set at 31%, has been neared by several companies already. Although the limit of 31% can be extended by advanced techniques, these could lead to increased production costs. The commercially produced thin-film photovoltaics have only been recently proved to reach efficiency levels of about 10%. The lower efficiency levels with respect to silicon-wafer photovoltaics is achieved by very low usage of materials, requiring only about 5% or lesser than that needed for silicon wafer photovoltaics. The manufacturing costs associated with thin-film photovoltaics is almost half that for silicon-wafer, with tremendous prospects of increasing the costing gap in the long run. Thin-film photovoltaics are more used in large area installations, flat rooftops etc. While silicon-wafer based photovoltaics are capable of providing high output even for a quarter of a decade, the longevity of thin film are uncertain. Cadmium telluride is perhaps the most prospective thin film technology that have been developed commercially. However, the toxicity levels associated with cadmium and the availability of telluride are worrisome factors. The concentrated solar thermal power technology converts solar radiation to heat using mirror arrangements. These are then converted to electricity through heat conversion methods. The concentrated solar thermal power is appropriate for village requirements of 10 kilowatts as well as for grid applications involving several hundred megawatts (SEPA, 2008). These can be installed at the vicinity of the customers, thereby lowering transmission and distribution costs. Although these are the lowest in terms of associated costs, they require plenty of open space and very demanding solar conditions. The concentrated solar thermal technology mostly uses the usual components like reflectors and pipes, and therefore the prospects of costs reduction are less. The challenges confronting the advancement of solar power are those that are relevant to any upcoming or emerging sector. Given the intense competition, companies involved in manufacturing of solar power generation equipment must slash their costs by improving their manufacturing process of solar cells. The spurt in solar power activity has brought in funds from venture capital and private equity firms. An amount of $3.2 billion invested in the year 2007, saw new players in the solar power generation, who contributed to excess supply and falling prices. Early entrants like Dow Corning and Wacker as well as component developers like First Solar and SunPower saw high margins. At May end this year, the Abu-Dhabi based Masdar announced its entry in the manufacturing of thin film photovoltaic products. With an investment of $2 billion, the company expects to produce the state of art thin film modules, through a three phase strategy. (Ghelfi, 2008). On the previous day to this announcement, Q-Cells, the German solar cell manufacturer, announced an investment of $3.5 billion for developing a production center in Mexico, for manufacturing thin film modules. According to First Solar Inc., a company involved in manufacturing of solar modules, its average manufacturing cost for solar module in 2007 was only about $1.23 per watt. The company attributed the low cost to its thin film semiconductor technology compared to crystalline silicon modules, manufactured traditionally. The company expects to become the first solar module manufacturing company to provide non-subsidized solar electricity at retail electricity rates by 2010. A single manufactured solar module is about 2ft by 4ft, employing cadmium telluride as the absorption layer which provides high conversion efficiency with very little semiconductor material. From 2005, there had been an increasing demand for silicon from the solar module, solar cell and solar wafer manufacturers. Due to the insufficient supply of crystalline silicon, the solar modules and cells manufacturers’ utilization rates fell. The utilization rates fell to 70% in 2005 from 86% in 2004. With the demand increasing considerably, the German cell manufacturer ErSol Solar Energy reduced its 2007 expectations from 70 megawatts to 55 megawatts, due to fall in wafer supply. The supply shortfall led to a huge hike in silicon prices. The price of the silicon raw material shot to $45 a pound in 2007 from $20 in 2003. The higher prices in turn brought many companies into the business of silicon manufacturing. Silicon production rose by 14% in 2007 and is expected to rise by 43% in 2008 and by 50% in the each year 2009 and 2010. By 2010, the supply shortage and the resulting high prices would be taken care of. According to investment columnist Jim Jubak, rising prices of natural gases, slow developments and cancellations associated with nuclear and coal plants respectively, are pushing the price of solar stocks. Solar cell companies too are highly dependent on technology just as any other computer chip makers or cell phone one or television manufacturers. A bill seeking to extend the existing tax break for another six years have been passed by the House Ways and Means Committee. Jubak estimates that with everything looking in favor of solar power, the revenues in the solar industry are very likely to increase phenomenally (Jubak, 2008). Lux Research projects revenues to climb 27% annually, on a compounded basis through 2012. Another estimate from Clayton Securities suggests 17% annual compounded revenue growth through 2016. Â  REFERENCES Solar Electric Power Association (2008) Solar Electricity Basics [Electronic Version] Downloaded on 29th June 2008 from http://www.solarelectricpower.org/index.php?page=basics Jubak J., (2008) 3 high powered solar stocks [Electronic Version] Downloaded on 28th June 2008 from http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/HighPoweredSolarStocks.aspx Ghelfi C. (2008) Masdar getting into thin film solar business Electronic Version] Downloaded on 27th June 2008 from http://media.cleantech.com/2904/masdar-getting-into-thin-film-solar-business-abu-dhabi Lorenz P., Pinner D. Seitz T., The economics of solar power. The McKinsey Quarterly [Electronic Version] Downloaded on 27th June 2008 from http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/my_profile.aspx

Causes of the Behavior of Transgenic Mice :: essays research papers

Selectively manipulating genes can lead to a greater understanding of molecular and cellular brain functions and behaviors. However these specific gene mutations may trigger compensatory changes that mask a phenotype or adds to it. Therefore it might be difficult to determine the specific effect of a mutation on behavior. This is especially true since a mutation may be affected by the environment or a specific genetic background. Because of this it is important to find the best way to understand and interpret behavioral data. The Morris Swimming task is a task where the animals are encouraged to find a platform in a water tank. Through careful examination it was found that there where several behavioral trends. One of them is called thigmotaxis and it refers to the mice swimming near the wall without even trying to find the platform. This has to be overcome in order to achieve the goal. If it is not overcome then the stage where the animal learns the location of the platform cannot be reached. A generalized interpretation of the mutant animal’s behavior might lead us to believe that it cannot achieve its task because of learning and memory impairment however it can be observed that the reason for its failure might be its inability to overcome its initial behavior. To verify that this is the cause of the animal’s behavior there is a technique called PCA. This technique allows researchers t o correlate specific measures of the animal’s movements with various factors such as thigmotaxis to understand the specific causes of the behavior and how the mutation affects the animals. It has been found that 50% of the source of variation of the animal’s behavior is the inability to overcome thigmotaxis and is not related to its inability to perform learning tasks. To understand the specific effects of the mutation on animals one must also be careful to eliminate genetic background and environment as affecting performance. A Meta analysis of the data for the water task has shown that both environmental and genetic effect produce sufficient variation to account for the range of almost all behavioral measures. It is hard to determine the effects of the mutation alone without it being confused with effects from other sources. It is helpful to test inbred animals where heterozygous animals are mated to produce wild-type and homozygous offspring.

Traces of Hindu Temple Architecture in Taj Mahal

Chapter 2 Traces of Hindu Temple Architecture in Taj Mahal As mentioned earlier in the old chapter that many critics have found Urdu hints and Taj edifice is a symbolical representation of Mughal memorial merely. But Professor P.N. Oak challenges such thoughts and brings out a review that the Taj Mahal is really a Hindu Temple of Lord Shiva ( Tejo-Mahalaya ) . As P.N Oak besides theorizes that a rock lettering which is known as the Bateshwar lettering is kept in the Lucknow Museum which shows that this memorial can be a temple of Lord Shiva. It was found that the size of Mumtaz’s empty tomb is non of tallness of an mean Islamic adult female of the 17th century and the grave is non of appropriate dimensions. It could be said that the Shiva Linga which is considered as really sacred and sanctum is really under the grave. The grave is on the first floor so it is non clear if Mumtaz’s organic structure is truly buried in Taj Mahal because organic structures are normally buried in the Earth and non in the flooring. This grave of Mumtaz is of the tallness of Hindu Shiva linga and if farther excavation would be allowed the consequence would come therefore Forth. Taj Mahal bears a batch of Hinduism hints and all such Markss have been pointed out by P.N. Oak in his book. On the arch of Taj Mahal’s chief grave there is a trident ( trishul ) which is emblem of all Hindu Temples in India and no mosque or any other Muslim memorial has a trident over its grave. All workss and trees which are present in the gardens of the Taj Mahal are sacred to Hindus like Lotus, Tulsi, Banyan trees, etc. The chief forms are drawn which are found are Bel foliages and Harshringar flowers, these are really used as an offering to Lord Shiva. There is a cardinal chamber in between of eight doors which provides us the thought where the emblem of Lord Chandra-manleeshwar was present. The proper flooring of this cardinal transition besides gives us an thought that Lord Chandra- manleeshwar used to dance to idolize Lord Shiva. The high day of reckoning above it is besides a common characteristic is dripped over the Shiva linga from a bowl hanging on a certain tallness. Even the ushers of Taj Mahal Tell to all visitants about the tradition of a bead of rain H2O which is falling from tallness of the dome on the grave in the cardinal chamber, this is really a topographic point from where the H2O used to drop on the Shiva Linga in the older times. There are silver doors and aureate railings which are in the fixtures of the Taj Mahal, clearly give the Indianness to the memorial because boulder clay day of the month we can happen such fixtures in our Hindu Temples. There are some ancient Hindu colored studies of eight directional arrows, 16 cobras, thirty two tridents, and sixty four flowers of Nelumbo nucifera which are in the multiple of four which is considered auspicious in Hindu faith. This study is designed in the Taj Mahal’s cardinal chamber, from the grave of Mumtaz this form can be seen really clearly. Even Tavernier besides mentioned that the bazaar used to be placed in the six tribunals of the Taj Mahal and this thing is everyone knows that in the tradition of Hindus carnivals and bazaars are set up around temples till day of the month. On all four side entrywaies of the Taj Mahal, there is trident ( trishul ) is inlaid, which is sole arm of Lord Shiva. It clearly proves that it is a Shiva temple. Some pointed out that the Taj Mahal dome has the Arabic scratching ‘Allaho Akbar’ significance ‘God is Great’ . These words were engraved on pinnacle ordered by Shah Jahan after he took over the Hindu temple and commandeered to alter in Islamic usage. But the same reproduction of the pinnacle inlaid in the red-stone courtyard does non hold that Islamic lettering. Then there are broad adorned Chamberss and an adjoining long corridor with the full length of those flats. These Chamberss are fundamentally at the lower degree than the basement cardinal chamber. The Chamberss which are right under the Gravess of King and Queen on two floors which are sealed in a hit-or-miss manner with bricks are likely to hold Hindu graven images and letterings. The corridors which may be running under the red-stone patio, they all are sealed. Likewise all the ventilator type gaps and doors in the flat row have besides been crudely walled up under the red-stone patio. We will be able to see the beauty of the belowground flats if those fillings are removed. It is really much possible that Taj Mahal has two floors above the river bed and one in the cellar which has been sealed by Shah Jahan. ‘Taj Mahal’ is a disgusting signifier of Sanskrit ‘Tejo Mahalaya’ intending ‘Resplendent Shrine’ . This name besides attach to Lord Shiva because his 3rd oculus is said to breathe a tantrum if lustre that is ‘Tejo’ . Even if we look at the existent significance of the term ‘Taj Mahal’ it means a ‘crown residence’ and non a grave. If these Gravess would hold been the existent Gravess, they wouldn’t have been so much decorated because in Muslim civilization Gravess wouldn’t have been so much decorated. The cadaver of Mumtaz, if it is buried in the Taj Mahal, it can non be in the land floor or in the basement chamber. There are other a Hindu symbols which are found in the Taj Mahal, like usage of the sacred Hindu chant ‘OM’ . ‘OM’ is crafted into the marble flower of Nelumbo nucifera both Nelumbo nucifera and OM are symbolically apart of Hindu civilization which are present on the walls of Taj Mahal even on the so called â€Å"graves† . Any pupil or bookman of architecture can clearly state that the ‘flower’ drawn on the marbles is a portion of ancient Hindu temple drawings and non of any Muslim burial chamber craft. There is one of import point besides that clip or instead span of decease of Mumtaz is non clear. Some historiographers says that, she died in 1630 or 1631or 1632 A.D. , and in the celebrated burial chamber it is written that she died in 1629 A.D. It is absurdto think cipher knows the right timing of Mumtaz’s decease. In fact, Taj Mahal has Hindu castle dimensions. Taj Mahal has many doors which are in spiked form. There are ruddy rock corridors, irritants and suites all these properties are merely like typical Rajput edifice. ‘Ghat’ which is really common in temple castle, exists in Taj Mahal. Gateways of the Taj Mahal which are now closed were earlier the topographic point to bathe in the river and travel yachting. Many suites in the Taj Mahal composite are the membranophone houses. These membranophone houses are a portion of Rajputana architecture. It is obvious that in memorial topographic point no membranophone houses are planned to do, and there is no music topographic points made in any Islamic edifices, music is really restricted, hence the membranophone houses clearly prove the manus of Hinduism in the Taj Mahal. There are so many suites for invitees, ground forces withdrawals, servers, caterers etc for any royal intents. Such architecture is ne'er used in doing any grave. All the walls and doors are besides in Hindu dimension, like Ag doors which have been discussed earlier. In the Taj Mahal there are four towers at the each room access. The top of the tower is made up by brass Kalases. Kalases is a Sanskrit word and this word can ne'er be connected to any grave and besides does non suit the Taj edifice architecture. ‘Kalas’ signifies a shinning pinnacle made up by brass or gold. This word merely comes in a connexion of temples or any Hindu castle but Taj Mahal’s top of the tower uses similar stuff and hence this besides gives us the intimation of Temple like castle alternatively of a burial grave. Three different scientific trials took topographic point to happen out the actualities of Taj Mahal. First one is Donodo chronology, in this trial wood sample is taken of several historic edifice. Second one is Thermoluminescence, in this trial a brick pulverization or whole brick is taken and happen out when this brick was baked. This trial is really helpful in happening the age of the historic edifices. Third trial is Carbon-14 trial ; this trial is helpful in happening out the existent age of any living being like wood piece or bone. Professor Mills from New York took the Carbon-14 trial by taking out little wooden piece of one of the Taj Mahal’s wooden door. This study published in theItihasPatrika. It was found out that the likely age of the sample is from 1448 and 1270 A.D. This trial clearly proves that the Taj Mahal existed much before Shah Jahan. But here I would wish to state readers clearly that the age which was proved in the trial was of the Northeastern room access and non of the Taj Mahal’s marble. In this chapter, many illustrations have been discussed which clearly tell that Taj Mahal is fundamentally a Hindu antediluvian temple ( Tejo Mahalaya ) and non a grave.

Why Do People Become Homosexual - 838 Words

â€Å"Why do people become homosexual?† has been the topic of debate as to what factors contribute to homosexuality. The following paper discusses two studies conducted to determine the cause of homosexuality through biological theories. The study as hand is the â€Å"Supplementary Analyses Regarding Langevin, Langevin and Curnoe’s (2007) findings of Fraternal Birth Order in Homosexual Men† by Ray Blanchard. The general theory of this study was to cross examine a recent article by Langevin, Langevin and Curnoe’s (2007) to determine the statistical power of the findings and examine older-sibling sex ratio as well as the fraternal birth order effect. Previous research has stated that the chance of homosexuality in later born males increases with†¦show more content†¦They then wanted to determine if the statistical power of the sub-samples were sufficient enough to determine a factual difference in fraternal birth order. They also wanted to investiga te how many of the patients from the laboratory had new brothers or sisters after they had already turned nineteen. In the original study, the sample included 1604 men which was then reduced due to potentially incomplete subships, to 1122 individuals in which 859 were heterosexual and 263 were homosexual. There were also two sub-samples, the first containing 698 individuals of which 525 were heterosexual and 173 were homosexual, excluding all individuals who were under thirty-one years of age. The second sub-sample excluded all individuals whose mothers were under forty-six years of age and contained 727 individuals of which 562 were heterosexual and 167 were homosexual. The researchers used the database of the Kurt Freund Laboratory at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The database consists of male patients â€Å"referred for phallometric assessment because of sexual offending or paraphilia† The patients were asked to document the sex an d age of every child delivered by their biological mothers. They also used patients assessed in the laboratory from 2000-2004. They then used t-tests and â€Å"Cohen’s d† equation from a