The International Space Station (ISS)

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According to NASA, (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), the International Space Station, (ISS), is roughly the size of a football field both in length and width. This space station needs a lot of power, but where does it get it from? The answer is simply solar panels. “The two new solar panels unscrolled slowly but steadily out of their boxes until they reached their full height of 115 feet. Together, they'll provide the station's systems with an amount of electricity that could to power eight to 10 homes on Earth” (Watson). Solar panels alone play a very important role for the ISS which translates into new discoveries about space and life in space with studies conducted within the space station. Another excellent example of new …show more content…

One of these methods is using solar thermal systems. So, what exactly is solar thermal power? According to Kathie Zipp, a managing editor of Solar Power World, “Solar thermal systems are a way to satisfy heating needs by capturing the thermal energy of the sun for heating applications such as buildings, hot water or swimming pools.” Solar thermal systems would work like water heaters except the heat would be provided directly from the sun. This could help reduce electricity costs for businesses and consumers that need a lot of heating. Solar thermal systems have a wide range of benefits and would work well alongside conventional power types such as natural …show more content…

It is going to take a committed government and people willing to go green for this type of plan to be achieved. Although it requires areas that get sun almost year-round, it is still a step forward in contributing to an eco-friendlier earth. With that said, concentrating solar power is also constantly improving with innovative breakthroughs just like solar panels. In this case, the CSP breakthrough was creating supercritical steam using solely solar power. According to the CSIRO, supercritical solar steam is ‘water pressurized at enormous force and heated using solar radiation’. Wonhas noted, “Instead of relying on burning fossil fuels to produce supercritical steam, this breakthrough demonstrates that the power plants of the future could instead be using the free, zero emission energy of the sun to achieve the same result” (Wright). This breakthrough suggests that soon we could see solar power directly competing with conventional electricity not only driving prices of electricity down but also promoting a cleaner

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