Solar energy facts for kids
Solar energy is the transformation of heat, the energy that comes from the sun. It has been used for thousands of years in many different ways by people all over the world. The oldest uses of solar energy is for heating, cooking, and drying. Today, it is also used to make electricity where other power supplies are not there, such as in places far away from where people live, and in outer space.
It is becoming cheaper to make electricity from solar energy. Because the Sun always gives heat, solar energy can be considered a renewable energy and an alternative to non-renewable resources like coal and oil.
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Energy uses
Solar energy is used today in a number of ways:
- As heat for making hot water, heating buildings and cooking
- To generate electricity with solar cells or heat engines
- To take the salt away from sea water.
- To use sun rays for drying clothes and towels.
- It is used by plants for the process of photosynthesis.
- To use in cooking (solar cookers).
Energy from the Sun
After passing through the Earth's atmosphere, most of the Sun's energy is in the form of visible light and infrared light radiation. Plants convert the energy in sunlight into chemical energy (sugars and starches) through the process of photosynthesis. Humans regularly use this store of energy in various ways, as when they burn wood off fossil fuels, or when simply eating plants, fish and animals.
Solar radiation reaches the Earth's upper atmosphere with the power of 1366 watts per square meter (W/m2). Since the Earth is round, the surface nearer its poles is angled away from the Sun and receives much less solar energy than the surface nearer the equator.
At present, solar cell panels convert, at best, about 15% of the sunlight hitting them into electricity. The dark disks in the third diagram on the right are imaginary examples of the amount of land that, if covered with 8% efficient solar panels, would produce slightly more energy in the form of electricity than the world needed in 2003.
Types of technologies
Many technologies have been developed to make use of solar radiation. Some of these technologies make direct use of the solar energy (e.g. to provide light, heat, etc.), while others produce electricity.
Solar power plants
Solar power plants convert sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaics converts light into electric current using the photoelectric effect.
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Solar cooker
Solar cooking uses the Sun as the source of energy instead of standard cooking fuels such as charcoal, coal or gas. Solar cookers are an inexpensive and environmentally sound alternative to traditional ovens. They are becoming widely used in areas of the developing world where deforestation is an issue, financial resources to purchase fuel are limited, and where open flames would pose a serious risk to people and the environment. Solar cookers are covered with a glass plate. They achieve a higher temperature by using mirrors to focus the rays of the sun.
Solar heater
The Sun may be used to heat water instead of electricity or gas. There are two basic types of active solar heating systems based on the type of fluid — either liquid or air — that is heated in the solar energy collectors. (The collector is the device in which a fluid is heated by the Sun.)
Liquid-based systems heat water or an antifreeze solution in a "hydronic" collector, whereas air-based systems heat air in an "air collector." Both air and liquid systems can supplement forced air systems.
Solar cells
Solar cells can be used to generate electricity from sunlight. It is a device that converts light energy into electrical energy. Sometimes the term solar cell is reserved for devices intended specifically to capture energy from sunlight, while the term photovoltaic cell is used when the light source is unspecified.
Solar cells have many applications. They have long been used in situations where electrical power from the grid is unavailable, such as in remote area power systems, Earth-orbiting satellites and space probes, consumer systems, e.g. handheld calculators or wrist watches, remote radiotelephones and water pumping applications. A large no. of solar cells are combined in an arrangement called solar cell panel that can deliver enough electricity for practical use. Electricity produced by solar panels can be stored in rechargeable solar batteries, which is then drawn upon when required.
Related pages
Images for kids
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The source of solar power: the Sun
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Solar water heaters facing the Sun to maximize gain
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MIT's Solar House #1, built in 1939 in the US, used seasonal thermal energy storage for year-round heating.
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Parabolic dish produces steam for cooking, in Auroville, India.
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Solar water disinfection in Indonesia
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Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany, won the 2007 Solar Decathlon in Washington, DC with this passive house designed for humid and hot subtropical climate.
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Greenhouses like these in the Westland municipality of the Netherlands grow vegetables, fruits and flowers.
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Concentrated solar panels are getting a power boost. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) will be testing a new concentrated solar power system – one that can help natural gas power plants reduce their fuel usage by up to 20 percent.
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Thermal energy storage. The Andasol CSP plant uses tanks of molten salt to store solar energy.
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Cost development of solar PV modules per watt
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In 2016, Solar Impulse 2 was the first solar-powered aircraft to complete a circumnavigation of the world.
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See also
In Spanish: Energía solar para niños
