Winston, M, & Edelbach, R 2012, Society, ethics and technology, Cengage Learning, New York
The authors relate technology and the effect they have on the environment. They focus on ethical perspectives of technology and the effects they have in the environment. They argue that although technology is good with many benefits, there are various effects that come with using technology in a bad way. This is where ethical considerations come in. When a technology is being designed, most of these issues are not articulated. In part one, Richard Sclove raises the issues of ethics and political influences that come with technology. These are the issues that should be considered when analyzing technological influences.
Kamat, P. (2007). Meeting the clean energy demand: Nanostructure architectures for solar energy conversion. The Journal of Physical Chemistry. 32(2): 76-87.
There are various social and political implications that come up when using renewable energy like solar energy. There is a new generation of disparities between communities about how the solar energies are concentrated on the economy. The concentration of power and wealth will be affected by the solar energy and the way the communities are empowered with the use of the solar energy. It is coming out clear that the political will of the people about the use of solar energy is affected by the economic status of the people. The installation and the use of solar energy is becoming a tool that is used by the political class to argue their role and their development records and stand.
The introduction of solar energy is a big political implication as the smaller communities will have to be catered for by way of redistributing solar energy to them. Countries which do not have oil will no longer be dependent on oil but will be decentralized so that there is solar energy use. With decentralized power plants will come a decentralized social and political power. There will be reduced interdependence of communities and countries as the smaller communities will have their own power plants.
Wustenhagen, R., Wolsink, M. & Burer, M. (2007). Social acceptance of renewable energy innovation: An introduction to the concept. Energy Policy. 35(5): 2683-2691.
The use of solar power plants is the theme of many politicians in their campaigns as they strive to win the voters. The use of solar energy is argued to be a better bet for low-class people who would like to have power in their homes. Politicians argue that the use of solar energy is better when installation and maintenance is compared to other sources of energy.
Hough, T. (2007). Recent developments in solar energy. New York: Nova Publishers.
With the development of solar energy systems, the use of the power grid in developing countries has greatly reduced. This process of creating a central power grid in developing countries has created multi-billion debts in developing countries. With the introduction of solar energy, the use and the dependence of solar energy has greatly reduced.
The blackouts that have been experienced with the use of central power grid have been a major issue in political campaigns that have been undertaken. The power grid has been a let-down in the smaller communities. The social empowerments in the use of solar energy have given smaller communities to engage in social activities and businesses that would have not been possible without electricity. This is something that has been a major boost for the now-empowered. Solar energy is cheaper and cleaner when compared to other sources. The low-class have been able to use and tap the solar energy so that they are now able to get cheaper sources of energy and will be able to engage in productive activities.
Legal influences
Prakash, G, & Garg, H. (2000). Solar energy: Fundamentals and applications. NY: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Solar energy has many legal implications. One of the legal implications of solar use and installations is the structure of the transaction. For the clients who are looking to have solar energy, there may be no off-the-shelf and immediate solutions for installing the systems. There are three structures in which solar energies are structured. One of the arrangements for the consumer of solar energy is to purchase the solar energy from a third party in which case there will be power purchase agreements between the consumer and the generator of solar energy. In this regard, the solar energy system is physically located in the premises of the user but is owned and operated by a third party. Another arrangement is where the solar energy user owns and generates their own solar energy systems. They will use the electricity that they are generating for their own benefits. The last arrangement is where the solar energy is in a leased arrangement. The legal implications of these arrangements will require that the users of electricity from solar energy systems decide well in advance the structure they like.
Guemard, C. (2004). The sun’s total and spectral irradiance for solar energy applications and solar radiation models. Solar Energy. 76(4): 423-453.
The author brings another legal implication of solar energy developments; this is that of incentives. There are incentives for various programs that are geared at fostering the development of solar energy. These incentives have their binding legal implications. This is something that will have to be taken into consideration when undertaking solar rebates and solar energy installations. There are sponsors who have come up to fund solar energy generation for the various people who are interested in tapping the energy but do not have access or technology on how to undertake this technology.
Another legal implication is the financing of the solar energy project by the client. After the client has decided on the structure of the solar energy system that they are interested to get their energy through. They will have to determine the structure and the way the balance will be cleared from the solar energy system that has been installed. There will be the issue of debt and how the debt will be handled. There is a need to ensure that the debt will be undertaken in a legally safe way. The options that are available for the settling of the debts will include paying cash for the solar energy or settling by using equities.
References
Guemard, C. (2004). The sun’s total and spectral irradiance for solar energy applications and solar radiation models. Solar Energy. 76(4): 423-453.
Hough, T. (2007). Recent developments in solar energy. New York: Nova Publishers.
Kamat, P. (2007). Meeting the clean energy demand: Nanostructure architectures for solar energy conversion. The Journal of Physical Chemistry. 32(2): 76-87.
Prakash, G, & Garg, H. (2000). Solar energy: Fundamentals and applications. NY: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Winston, M, & Edelbach, R 2012, Society, ethics and technology, Cengage Learning, New York
Wustenhagen, R., Wolsink, M. & Burer, M. (2007). Social acceptance of renewable energy innovation: An introduction to the concept. Energy Policy. 35(5): 2683-2691.
