Activity 3.2.3.1 - Solar Power and Energy Policy

 Six-Point Critical Analysis of Current Event  

1. Exploratory 

Probe basic facts and knowledge found in the reading. (What research evidence supports _________?Type up several facts and basic knowledge from the reading. Relate this to what you find in other resources, prior activities for stronger scores.))

    The U.S. is the second largest market for solar in the world, after China (Hsu, A., & Kelly, M. L., 2019). There is a solar company that is based in South Korea that came to Georgia. The new plant was announced in May of 2018 and started production in February 2019. The Dalton Plant works 24 hours a day 7 days a week and has 600 people employed. Solar cells are what convert sunlight into electricity. They were making 10,000 panels a day. The cost of solar installations have dropped 70% in the past decade which makes it even more competitive to obtain. “Solar companies had used historical data to pinpoint where they could get good sunlight on large tracts of land near transmission lines” (Hsu, A., & Kelly, M. L., 2019). There is also a new project with Silicon Ranch that helps to produce energy for around 8,500 EMC households (Silicon Ranch, 2017). There were more than 300 people that worked on this project. There were also more than 250,000 manual hours during the construction of the project. This reminds me of the assignment that we did where we had to choose a type of renewable energy source and explain it. 

 

2. Diagnostic 

Probe motives or causes. (Why?Tell your reader why this occurs. Explain the causes in detail.)

    The reason why they choose to do this in Georgia is because they have many areas that are perfect for solar farms. They choose to use solar power because it does not cause any pollution and it is not too expensive. “Ever cheaper and better solar technology, available land and lots of sunshine are driving demand for massive, utility-scale solar projects across the American Southeast” (Hsu, A., & Kelly, M. L., 2019). 

 

3. Cause and Effect 

Causal relationships between ideas, actions, or events. (If __________ occurs, what happens?)

    If more solar plants are created, then the environment will be better because it would help to reduce pollution. “There’s no downside. I don’t see how it could be,” Merritt says. “We don’t have pollution. We don’t have smell. You know, there’s just nothing. They’re just there” (Hsu, A., & Kelly, M. L., 2019). This is way better for the environment than other forms of renewable energy that does produce pollution. 

 

4. Priority 

Seek to identify the most important issue. (What is the most important issue?)

    The most important issue is that many other renewable energy sources cause pollution, while solar power does not. This is because solar power uses the sun and converts it into energy. “...solar is now cost-competitive with traditional forms of energy, even natural gas” (Hsu, A., & Kelly, M. L., 2019). 

 

5. Application 

Probe for relationships and connect theory to practice. (How does this apply to you? How is this related to culture as we have studied so far?)

    This applies to me because it is something that is being used more frequently and it is more beneficial since it does not cause pollution. This is related to culture because it means that we will be making more trades with other countries. “Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, Hanwha showed up in Dalton in early 2018, says Mayor Dennis Mock” (Hsu, A., & Kelly, M. L., 2019). 

 

6. Critical 

Analyze how this challenges your thinking/assumptions. (How did this change your thinking? Did it? Why?)

    I would not really say that this changed my thinking because I already knew that solar energy was a good alternative to other renewable resources. If anything, this gave me more information on the topic of solar energy that I did not know before. One of those things would be how cheap it is. “The cost of installing solar has fallen by more than 70% in the past decade, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association” (Hsu, A., & Kelly, M. L., 2019). 

 

Resources 

Hsu, A., & Kelly, M. L. (2019, June 24). How solar grew in Georgia despite lack of mandates on renewable energy. National Public Radio. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2019/06/24/733795962/how-georgia-became-a-surprising-bright-spot-in-the-u-s-solar-industryLinks to an external site. 

Silicon Ranch. (2017). Silicon Ranch Hazlehurst II Project on Georgia Farm Bureau TVLinks to an external site. [Video]. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/217896697