Chip Shot. (Letters)."Hidden Costs: It takes much stuff to make one tiny chip" (SN: 11/16/02, p. 309) describes the economic and environmental costs of semiconductor chips. Interestingly, the impacts on the environment are very similar for the manufacture of solar cells solar cell, semiconductor devised to convert light to electric current. It is a specially constructed diode, usually made of silicon crystal. When light strikes the exposed active surface, it knocks electrons loose from their sites in the crystal. . Many environmentalists place such unrealistic expectations on solar cell energy that they overlook certain facts. First, solar cells yield at most 30 percent efficiency. Second, solar cells do not last forever. Most manufacturers only rate cells for 25 years. Third, manufacture of solar cells still requires large amounts of fossil fuel fossil fuel: see energy, sources of; fuel. fossil fuel Any of a class of materials of biologic origin occurring within the Earth's crust that can be used as a source of energy. Fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, and natural gas. because growing a single crystal requires lots of heat. SEAN n. 1. A seine. See Seine. WALTON, COLUMBUS, OHIO Columbus is the capital and the largest city of the American state of Ohio. Named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. |
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