Solar Energy Facts
Even though solar energy is not a new or revolutionary topic, there is a lot of unknown solar energy facts. Let’s take a moment to dissect what exactly is solar energy and figure out the facts from there.
Using solar energy is as old as history itself. Even our forefathers understood that sitting in the sun allowed them to warm themselves.
We’ve taken that principle to extremes in the past 20 years in the realm of science.
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…there are practical power generating plants using the concept of solar power towers…
For example, there are practical power generating plants using the concept of solar power towers. The whole concept relies on the fact that several mirrors reflect sunlight to a centralized tower that is heating water to steam, much like a coal or nuclear power plant would heat water to create steam to run a electric turbine.
Simple technology, but extremely effective. So, we have established that we can heat water or other liquid by the sun to create electricity driving a turbine. But how is that practical for our uses within our homes?
What comes to mind is we could use a solar collector to heat water or other coolant and pass that heated liquid to a heat transfer unit and transfer that heat to a pool, or provide our daily hot water or heat water the is in a boiler that would heat our homes in the cooler winters.
…we can definitely use the sunlight to directly heat our environment in one form or another…
So, we can definitely use the sunlight to directly heat our environment in one form or another. That’s the first of solar energy facts.
Next, we can use technology to convert not the heat of the sun but the actual light energy to create electricity from the sun. The solar cells that you see on many calculators are called photovoltaic cells or modules.
These photovoltaic cells, (also called PV cells), have something called semiconductor materials on them that basically will create electricity when light strikes the cell.
On a more scientific level, photonic energy from light strikes the surface of the semiconductor material within the PV cell causing electrons to be moved and thus creating a flow of electrical energy.
The best solar cells are only about 15% efficient
Unfortunately, PV cells are still quite inefficient at converting sunlight to electricity. At this time, the best solar cells are only about 15% efficient. This number has risen quite a bit in the past 10 years but there is definitely room for improvement.
What does this mean? We can have less panels creating the same electricity as less efficient solar panel array.
There are other solar energy facts that must be observed when using PV cells to create electricity. For example, you must make sure that your panels are facing the sun as directly as possible. The greater the amount a panel is angled away from the sun, the less a panel will generate in electricity.
Other solar energy facts that you must observe with PV cells is potential shading of the cells on the solar panel arrays. Even if just one of the several PV cells that comprise a solar panel is shaded by nearby trees or buildings can reduce the power generation capabilities of the whole panel by more than half.
Finally, one more point that is important is the actual geographic region of the solar panel installation. The shorter the days, the cloudier the sky or further away from the equator your solar panels are located also diminishes the power generating capabilities of your solar panels.
…augmenting your power with a top up from the electrical company
can offer still you some of the benefits of using solar energy.
Now, this doesn’t take you out of the equation if you are living very far away from the equator, you just have to compensate for these unavoidable conditions. Either using larger solar arrays or just augmenting your power with a top up from the electrical company can still offer you some of the benefits of using solar energy.
To conclude, we’ve taken a look at some solar energy facts. First we peeked at direct heating of a liquid from heat of the sun and finally, we wrapped up looking at using the suns light energy to convert it directly to electricity.
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