Formatting

The beginning of each post will include a brief statement a summary of what we did in class. Every blog post will usually have a 3 2 1 section as mandated - 3 things I learned, 2 questions I have, and 1 intriguing idea. As easy as 3 2 1!

I will also include a brief ramble of thoughts after this mandated section, if available. Now, on to today’s content!

Today, we chose new groups for the new unit. The debatable question was whether or not solar panels should be mandated on people’s homes,

Today I learned…

Solar roofs have tremendous potential to save us on energy, but it will be a long and complicated process to implement on everyone’s houses. Today’s solar panels are not the most reliable, but as technology improves we should be able to capture more energy and convert it more efficiently. It this was done, it would reduce the need for fossil fuels and possibly solve the world’s energy problem - there’s almost unlimited energy from the sun.

The Tesla Solar Roof, it looks pretty much like any normal roofing shingles

Energy is not power, energy is the ability to do work. Power is the rate at which energy is used.

Work is when a force causes an object to be displaced. A net force of zero means that no work is done.

Asides

Bullying can be a serious problem in schools, and many children do not fully understand it. Even though bullying awareness has been going on for quite a long time, bullying is still present and it appears that the awareness has gone to waste.

Today I wondered…

How can we measure the rate at which energy is used? What can we use to measure energy (an ability to do work)?

Why is 60% of the power generated in America gone to waste? That is an extremely high percentage, and is extremely inefficient.

Today I had an intriguing idea…

Why don’t we just reduce the number of time power has to be transformed for maximum efficiency? For example, when transferring electricity, less transformations would mean that less power and lost, and more efficiency is gained.

After Unit Reflection

This post connects to requirement #2. It discusses the impacts of solar roofs, and there are truly a lot of impacts if solar roofs are commercially viable and found to be useful for generating energy. As mentioned above, it would solve a lot of energy problems - especially for power generation. It would also impact things like power distribution, as this could be installed on everyone’s houses and as batteries get bigger and better, more power could be stored. There is a picture of a tesla solar roof, which is one of the solar roofs that are currently available. Of course, as the tech improves more types of roofs will be avaiable, increasing competition, increasing innovation, and lowering prices.