14. Solar Energy Efforts

People all around the world are becoming more aware of the importance of reducing the emission of greenhouse gasses. As people are becoming more cautious, investments for solar energy are are quickly increasing.

Japan: 

Japan has been investing millions of dollars for clean energy since 2011, when they started a new program aimed at helping them shift away from relying on nuclear energy. This past summer about 10% of peak power supply that was consumed in Japan was derived from solar energy. Japan has been trying to implement new creative ideas to help them in achieving their goal of doubling their renewable energy output by 2030.

Kyocera, a solar power company has launched a solar power plant that will float on a reservoir. This installation is made up of 9,100 waterproof solar panels that are put on top of a float made by high density polyethylene. The company says that this plant will produce about 2,680 megawatt hours per year which is estimated to be enough for 820 typical households. These solar installations on top of water are the best option for Japan due to the fact that they have no extra land to spare. The cities are very dense and rooftops are already solar equipped. Another benefit of putting the panels on top of water is that the water helps in keeping them cool, which results in a more efficient system.

China: 

China is trying to shift their dependency from coal to solar energy, as well as clean up their name of being the worlds largest carbon emitter.  The Chinese government continues to reveal ambitious steps set for the country in order to help achieve their ultimate goal. For example they announced that their share of renewables would rise from 9.8% in 2013 to 15% in 2020.

China is the home of the world’s largest solar power office building that is 800,000 square feet. It consists of offices, exhibition centers, research facilities, and more. Dezhou the city in which this solar power office is located is considered a solar city due to the fact that solar power is used to power everything from tourists cars to the lights on the street. China has already started to build their largest solar energy power plant, which will spread over 10 miles in the Gobi desert. It is estimated that this power plant will be able to provide one million households with energy once completed.

Germany: 

In June 2014, Germany was successfully able to derive around 50% of the energy that the country used from solar and 78% of their total energy from renewable resources. Germany is not a country that is known for having massive amounts of sun light throughout the year, however they were still able to achieve this. The main reasons for being the largest producing solar energy country is because of the support from the people and their political influence. In 1991 German politicians passed the Renewable Energy Sources Act , which was the first step taken that today has made Germany this successful in the production of solar.

The first building in the world to capture more energy than it uses is a rotating home that is located in Freiburg, Germany. This home is owned and designed by German architect Rolf Disch. The home is designed to rotate according with season so the more energy efficient side faces where the sun is. There is also a large solar panel on the roof that is multi-directional and gets the suns best charge. There is also a collector on the rooftop that traps rainwater and filters it for use within the house. Although, this is the only house that exists like this in Germany; it is a good start to help in inspiring others to build similar houses.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/03/us-japan-power-solar-idUSKCN0R306L20150903#wyPLasJe7WQDtoR8.97

http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/japan-building-huge-floating-solar-power-plants.html

http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Solar-Energy/China-Getting-Serious-About-Solar-Energy.html

http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/china-largest-solar-office-building/

http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/08/germany-became-solar-superpower/

http://www.greencity-cluster.de/nc/members/clustercompanies/firma/Rolf%20Disch%20SolarArchitektur/d/showevent0/c/Company/?L=1