Solar Photovoltaics Summary

Names: Melissa Chau, Daniel Camarena, Roxy Raygoza, Lyheng Phey, Sarah W.

Pros of Photovoltaic: Photovoltaic cells are a technology that is capable of converting sunlight into electricity. Solar panels provide clean energy that give off no emissions, due to the clean green process during the conversion. It’s generally a fixed energy price for U.S. residents for the past decade, contrary to normal utility providers whose price can fluctuate. Photovoltaics are durable and require little maintenance, can be mostly subsidized by the government and tax deductible, and can be sold back into the grid. Solar energy accumulates all day, from morning to evening- with a utility meter storing excess until needed (during night).

Cons of Photovoltaic: The efficiency is only about 14% to 25% It does not work well in polluted areas due to the smog. Photovoltaics are very expensive to purchase and install which excludes a lot of low socioeconomic status families. Only functional when weather is in peak conditions. Snow, fog, rain, overcast, and night all inhibit the effectiveness of the panels. Not all places receive equal amount of sunlight. Photovoltaics use rare elements. Poisonous elements in constructing the panels are harmful to those who manufacture the panels. New photovoltaics are constantly being designed to be better which quickly outdates existing ones therefore diminishing owner’s investment.

CRITIQUES

Pro *solar energy is good for the environment (clean process) *solar energy can be provided and produced anywhere *Addressed cost of using solar panels and benefits from making renewable energy Grade:  85 30, 39, 36

Cons of Solar Panels *Solar panels are not free energy, they addresses the high costs of installing them  * No sunlight, no energy *Not all places in the world receive the same amount of sunlight *14 % to 25 % efficiency in todays solar panels *Storing energy is for the high social economic statues people because its too expensive *Making the solar panels actually hurts the environment more *Dangerous chemicals are used to make them that can be harmful to the environment and the people who make them *Every year new solar panel technology is created and the efficiency goes up resulting in many people's solar panels become outdated *Expensive to repair *Needed to be more prepares for questions specially on the pro side

Notes:  This is more of a summary than a critique.  A critique possibly would be providing statistics contradicting a statement made during the presentation.

Solar Photovoltaics presentation from class yesterday    10/11

Pros: -Great use of images to help visualize concepts -Good use of picture examples to show what this technology actually is and how it works -Explained their acronyms which was helpful to actually understand the topics -Used a real world example (real estate) which is actually applicable to the interests of the class -Good balance of pros vs cons within the group -The cons gentlemen had very convincing arguments and came across as much more passionate about and convincing of the arguments they were presenting -Related their topic to the past, present, & future which gave the audience some good food for thought -Both sides were able to debate and support their own arguments well -Did a good job of adequately responding to most questions asked by the class Grade:  95 40, 50, 41, 23

Cons: -Group members were frequently reading off notes instead of directly addressing the audience -Made sweeping generalizations without backing up their evidence (e.g. “good for the environment”) -Some slides were text heavy which was hard to read and listen at the same time (we’d suggest using bullet points to highlight the pertinent information) -The ‘cons’ side didn’t have title labels on all the slides they were discussing which made it difficult to understand what the main point they were trying to highlight was -The pro side presented information that, when asked about, they weren’t able to answer or talk about in more detail

Solar   10/16

Pros: · Good visuals and analogies of real life applications · Good comparisons between fuel sources, like solar and car exhaust · Very knowledgeable on photovoltaic cells and units · Good emotions and enthusiasm that gets the audience involved · Humanized the process of the harms of photovoltaic cells · Great graphs because they compare different countries (good specifics) · Added that photovoltaic cells are not very viable to some part of the world. Grade:  90 44, 22

Cons: · Did not make eye contact with audience because shuffling and reading from notes · Misleading information on electric bills and efficiency (good observation, I didn’t catch anything misleading)

Solar Photovoltaic Energy Critique Positive ● Explained well why the cons of having solar panels had a higher impact due to their highly developing technology ● Good explanation and use of graph of manufacturing pollution of solar panels ● Each presenter was familiar and comfortable with the topics they talked about especially giving more detail than on the PowerPoint. ● The transition from the for / against solar seemed pretty smooth Grade: 95 54, 31, 32

Negative ● Some of the content could have been explained more simply by avoiding repetition and stating a concise point ● I believe they could have researched the pros and cons of each side a little bit more. Especially go into net metering a little deeper as well as selling energy back to the grid. ● I feel they should have debated and asked each other more in depth questions to sway the listeners either way ● Not much eye contact, read from notes a lot ● Images in PowerPoint was confusing, not relating to the content being spoken ● Exaggeration of how inefficient solar panels are/how quickly they become out-of-date.

Photovoltaics Debate   10/16 Pros: ● Made valid arguments during open discussion; able to retort the questions asked by the audience. (ANTI). ● Spoke well and sounded confident in claims. (PRO) ● Lead the debate well, allowed for equal Q&A from both sides. (BOTH) ● Had good visual aids and did well in not reading straight off the board. Grade:  90 56, 46, 48

Cons: ● Didn’t cater to the audience; spoke more about the ethics of the situation without backing the economics of the buying vs not buying solar panels. (BOTH) ● When describing the power production v.s. economic value of solar panels there wasn’t any evidence or data to back any claims (good or bad) of the benefits. (BOTH ● Soft spoken and lack of direction regarding topics and argument. (PRO) ● Didn’t give evidence of the concentration of pollution and waste at the plants that produce cells

2nd Presentation Critique - Photovoltaics Pros: Roxy used slides very well Roxy did not read off notebook Roxy spoke clearly Sarah did better further into her presentation Most memebers spoke loud and clear Daniel knew his topic and information Group was mainly energetic Group answered questions well Lee listened to his partner and spoke on his point Mainly used slides as a good tool No specifics on content!!! Grade:  85 49, 24

Cons: Roxy did not have good response to questions or challenge by opposing team Sarah seemed unprepared at first Melissa had way too much information on slides and spoke for a short time Slides of the anti-solar were much too simple and almost useless  (Only content Critique) Hard to follow some of the speakers when they seemed unprepared

2nd Critique - Photovoltaics Pros: - Good visual aid and the slides were not cluttered with too many words - The pro side did a good job in discussing all the different ways solar panels can be applied such as in calculators and backpacks - The Cons team provided very solid facts on why photovoltaics are not viable at this time for most people - One member answered a question with a personal anecdote about a friend who was house shopping and their experience with solar panels, this was a good real life example of their argument against the idea that solar panels are affordable - While the Pro side made very solid points to support their side of the argument, the Con side was well informed about the topic and was able to properly argue against the pro side to further advance their point about the negativity of the subject - Overall well thought out, and original idea for presentation. Grade:  95 35, 37, 29, 51, 52

Cons: - The intro was read from notes, not enough eye contact with audience - There was not much debate between the For and Against teams, would have been beneficial to them if they could debate their position more - The Pro Photovoltaics side didn’t discuss in detail how they actually work or how they are designed. - The pro side was a little disorganized and unclear with how they presented, it seemed like they did not spend that much time structuring their argument or researching the topic in depth to give background info or respond to questions on their topic - When asked questions, the pro side did not seem knowledgeable and could not fully answer the questions given. - Overall, lacked detail to take the presentation to the next level

Solar   10/16 Pros 1) The group had great visuals to supplement the information 2) They had many examples of how PV can be implemented 3) Mentioned an economic analysis & tax incentives 4) Thoroughly analyzed pros & cons Grade:  95 42, 27

Cons 1) Didn't talk about axis control systems for various PV systems 2) The claim of efficiency changes every 1-2 years is a lie. As knowledge of materials grows, the efficiency can then grow. But its not every 2 years 3) Some members did not maintain great eye contact

Critique: 10/16 Pros •           Both sides had a well rounded argument •           PowerPoint was put together well •           Voices were loud and clear •           Both sides presented very good facts Grade:  70 38, 53, 34

Cons •           Could have done a better job answering the audience questions •           Could have asked more questions to the opposing side Critiques has no details; without date, no mention of any details; even solar panels.