My Outline

1. Intro

   1. Energy

      1. Our current energy consumption

         1. 3.3TW US

         2. 13TW World

      2. Our Projected Statistics

         1. 28TW World

      3. Our current mediums to extract energy

         1. Coal 51%

         2. Renewable 1%

      4. Reason why we are trying to go solar

         1. Too much CO2 Emissions

         2. Escalating our Ozone greenhouse effect

      5. Thesis: Based on scientific data, our resources for non-renewable fuel is both destroying our ecosystem as well as exhausting our supply for our resources. With the need for clean and renewable resources to fuel our planet, solar and wind farms are needed to become the or a major energy producer.

2. Body 1: Solar Pros

   1. Free energy

      1. Requires Sun

   2. The sun's rays can fuel our planet for an entire year for only one hour of required exposure time

   3. Compact can go on rooftops

   4. Can supply energy in remote areas

      1. http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2007/115-4/innovations.html

         1. Cooling vaccines using Solar power in places like Africa

         2. Cooling Vaccines need a constant temperature

            1. Excludes places that already have constant power

            2. For places that have little or no reliable power, this would be used

3. Body 1: Solar Cons

   1. Cost of the item

   2. Sun Exposure

      1. Washington

      2. Oregon

      3. Cloudy weather

      4. http://www.arpa.mil/sto/smallunitops/vhesc.html

         1. “east-west field of view (FOV) ≥ ±60°, a north-south FOV ≥ ±25° , a system power efficiency (SPE) ≥ 40%”

   3. Amount produced by a unit

4. Body 2: Wind Pros

   1. Free energy

   2. Clean energy

   3. Can place on farms and forget

   4. Can run at night

5. Body 2: Wind Cons

   1. Requires electric grid to be laid down before instillation

   2. Big upfront cost

   3. Wind is not a reliable and constant source

   4. Noise

6. Body 3: Which one is better?

   1. State → which one is better?

   2. Based on location and purpose

      1. Location

         1. Sun → Solar

         2. No sun → Wind

      2. Purpose

   3. Each need technical advances to be considerable

      1. Solar with solar paint

         1. Nate Lewis

7. Body 4: Possible Applications: Solar Street signs

   1. http://repository.up.ac.za/upspace/bitstream/2263/6510/1/Coetzee.pdf

   2. Fixes to street lights:

      1. Halogen → LED

      2. Solar

      3. Fixing when lights die

   3. Uses in places without electricity

      1. http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2007/115-4/innovations.html

      2. Seen above

8. Conclusion

   1. Address the need for improved technology

      1. Solar

         1. Solar paint

         2. Solar farms

      2. Wind

   2. They cannot be the leading producer at the moment, but transitioning would be great

Peer review

http://www.arpa.mil/sto/smallunitops/vhesc.html
Gives specifications on how to get a really accurate solar panel. I could not get the rest of the article, but it seems very promising to look further into.

http://repository.up.ac.za/upspace/bitstream/2263/6510/1/Coetzee.pdf
This one caught my eye from the start with a very common question, "Solar Panel Traffic Signals". 629-644pg. Goes in depth with the power usage of all the traffic lights (halogen and LED versions) and the savings. Gives the most effective locations, and how much it would cost to fit those locations with solar panel traffic lights. It also states in the conclusion that solar panels will help the traffic lights in the event of a blackout, which could provide to be quite useful in some cases.

http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2007/115-4/innovations.html
Even though this is criticized in places where electricity is readily available, this option still proves useful everywhere else. As the article explains, the Vaccines need to be cooled to 3~5 degrees Celsius, without power variation for the best results. Unfortunately, this is good news for places where power is hard to some by, and has a lot of sun.