Monday, February 2, 2015
Solar Panels at UT
The UT campus is currently self sufficient in producing energy through natural gas production. However, the campus is looking into investing in solar panels but has encountered a few problems. For one, the natural gas production is cheaper right now, and secondly, there are some cultural connections to some of the buildings campus. In order to determine the economic effect of solar panels, researchers used the GIS application of LiDAR, using laser to measure return times to determine height and other factors of the buildings. As the campus continues its research in producing feasible connections to solar panels, one must keep in mind the price of solar panels will continue to decrease, creating more opportunities for the campus and other institutions funding it,
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It is always hard to measure the price of changing the way of producing energy. In my opinion, for the long-term consideration, solar panels will save more money than the natural gas production. On the other hand, using solar panels is less dangerous than producing energy through natural gas production.
ReplyDeleteEven though natural gas production is cheaper now, it is never to soon to invest in renewable technology. One day the natural gas deposits that UT has will run out. That is why it is better to start investing in a clean renewable energy source now when UT still has natural gas, instead of waiting until it runs out.
ReplyDeleteThe simple fact of natural gas production being cheaper right now is a fair enough reason for a college - which is essentially a business - to not switch over to Solar Panels for energy production. However, it is really interesting to me how GIS can be applied to determining if Solar Panels would be economically beneficial to certain buildings rather than others. As we learned in class, some people have placed Solar Panels on - for lack of a better word - stupid places on their homes.
ReplyDeleteUsing GIS, we can find out which route to take, investing in solar panels, or sticking to natural gases, that is better in the long and short run. With the technology GIS provides,researchers can achieve not only the most efficient way to produce energy but also the more environmental-healthy way as well. I have no doubt that the UT GIS researchers, in all due time, will figure out a way to properly sustain energy and the UT campus.
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