What is Solar Energy?
Posted on January 11, 2010
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Harnessing solar energy in the most efficient and effective way involves both the direct use of radiated heat as well as converting it to electricity. There are three categories of solar energy technology: passive solar collection, designing a building with ample insulation and with its windows facing south so that its walls can absorb heat and light – active solar collection, which involves converting solar energy to a more usable form of heat or electricity such as using solar panels – and thermal application, heat collection and heat-driven mechanisms, ie. converting water to steam to power a steam engine that in turn generates electricity.
Collecting solar energy efficiently and cheaply is our biggest concern and there are many different technologies that exist to achieve this goal. Of the degree of concentration used in harnessing the suns energy such as concentrating systems that engage mirrors and lenses to direct the sunlight to the area of collection, non-concentrating type systems are what most of us are familiar with, eg. flat panel collectors found as rooftops or solar pool heaters. Because many people are concerned about the amount of availability of traditional energy sources, there has been further development of renewable energy technologies, such as solar devices. For this reason it’s sensible to expect continual improvement of existing solar technology and the invention of new solar power devices over the next few decades.
Applications and benefits of utilizing both solar energy and solar power technology:
- Solar cells, also known as photoelectric or photovoltaic cells, these are the most common devices that turn sunlight into electricity. Solar cells are combined into modules of which solar panels are comprised.
- Solar water heaters are basically, heat from the sun is used to heat water through glass panels which are installed on roofs, known as solar collectors. Solar collectors deal with heat from the sun (solar thermal energy) as opposed to light.
- Solar traffic lighting (with regard to traffic lights, there are obvious pros and cons of solar powered outdoor lighting).
- Solar furnaces use many strategically placed reflective surfaces, like mirrors, in order to concentrate all of the sunlight into a single point. This small space of concentrated energy creates an extreme amount of heat which can be used for making electricity, melting steel, or creating hydrogen fuel.
- Solar energy is a completely free and inexhaustible fuel source
- No fuel, waste, or pollution is expelled in its usage.
- In remote areas, or small villages, solar power can be the saving grace. Sometimes it is the only realistic way to provide energy to a place that is not capable of drawing energy from other sources.
- It can be used for low-power purposes as well as larger ones- from battery chargers, hand-held calculators, air conditioning, cars, and satellites, indoor oil-filled radiator heaters, which are available for wall mounting or portable, kitchen appliances, and exterior lighting, e.g. garden, patio, and security lighting.
The bottom line is that sunlight is available (in most places) regardless of whether we use it or not, but effectively, there is no need to process sunlight beyond the amount which a solar cell or solar collector is capable of producing (unlike fossil fuels or even other alternative energy sources, such as biomass.)
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