What Is Solar Energy?

Solar power is used with solar energy but can also mean the conversion of sunlight into electricity.

Did you know that enough energy hits the earth from the sun every minute to satisfy our demands for an entire year. There is still some way to go before we can harness all of this energy, but developments are striding forward all the time..

Solar Energy Is...

Solar Energy simply put is energy that the sun gives off that sustains all life on earth. Without the sun we would have no crops,

no weather, and no life on this planet. Solar Energy is used in nature by plants. It determines when some animals are awake and others asleep. Plants use solar energy to grow and live.

So how do we harness such energy? We have technology that can harness the sun's Solar Energy. We use many devices to harness these rays. One is called the Solar Cell also called a photovoltaic.

Approximately 174 Petawatts of Solar Radiation at any given time. About 6% of this number is reflected back into space, and about 16% is absorbed. Atmospheric conditions also modify this number based on (Cloud cover, Rain, Snow, Dust, and Pollutants)

These pollutants can farther reduce the percent by 20 to reflection and 3 for absorption. Absorption of Solar energy threw atmospheric convection, evaporation, and condensation of water effects wind and water cycles. Upon reaching the surface sunlight is absorbed by the oceans, land, and plants. Solar Energy is also responsible for controlling the temperature driven ocean currents.

Energy from the sun and the Greenhouse Effect raise the surface temperature of the earth by 14 degree Celsius. All plants transfer Solar Energy using Photosynthesis. All of the planets that are eaten by animals, essentially all the meat we eat also, the wood we build with, and fossil fuels we use work because of Solar Energy.

Solar Energy can produce more then just light, it can also produce electricity and Heat. In 1830’s a British Astronomer named John Herschel Thermal Collector Box to cook his food in Africa. Today we use the suns energy to heat water for homes, pools, and buildings. We also use it to heat Greenhouses, homes, and buildings.

As mentioned the Solar Cells change heat from the sun into electricity. On a smaller scale some watches, stop lights, and calculators use solar technology to function. These Cells can only handle so much electricity before they are fully charged. They are not normally connected to any grid.

Solar Plants utilize many Solar panels, these panels use the suns heat to power an entire plant. Some plants however use thermal collectors to create steam that produces electricity. 15 plants are known to exist so far, 10 are in California, and 5 in Arizona. These statistics are not fully accurate as more plants can exist in the United States, but if they do not produce at least 1 Megawatt of Electricity then they are not studied.

There are also some problems that are associated with collecting Solar Energy. One being that you cannot count on a steady supply of power, weather conditions, pollution, and other factors can cause a plant to not produce as much energy as it could potentially.  The second reason is that the sun does not deliver enough energy in one concentrated spot to produce many results.

As a whole solar energy has many advancements left to attain, but the right agencies can get this system to work better and find a way to harness more power. It is better and cheaper to run then normal electricity.