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- Some solar energy technologies include photovoltaic cells and panels, concentrated solar energy, and solar architecture. There are different ways of capturing solar radiation and converting it into usable energy. The methods use either active solar energy or passive solar energy.
www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/solar-energy/
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Apr 3, 2024 · Some solar energy technologies include photovoltaic cells and panels, concentrated solar energy, and solar architecture. There are different ways of capturing solar radiation and converting it into usable energy. The methods use either active solar energy or passive solar energy.
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Solar energy is the radiation from the Sun capable of producing heat, causing chemical reactions, or generating electricity. The total amount of solar energy received on Earth is vastly more than the world's current and anticipated energy requirements. If suitably harnessed, solar energy has the potential to satisfy all future energy needs.
What are the common uses of solar energy?
Solar energy is commonly used for solar water heaters and house heating. The heat from solar ponds enables the production of chemicals, food, textiles, warm greenhouses, swimming pools, and livestock buildings. Cooking and providing a power source for electronic devices can also be achieved by using solar energy.
How is solar energy collected?
The most common devices used to collect solar energy and convert it to thermal energy are flat-plate collectors. Another method of thermal energy conversion is found in solar ponds, which are bodies of salt water designed to collect and store solar energy. Solar radiation may also be converted directly into electricity by solar cells, or photovoltaic cells, or harnessed to cook food in specially designed solar ovens, which typically concentrate sunlight from over a wide area to a central point.
solar energy, radiation from the Sun capable of producing heat, causing chemical reactions, or generating electricity. The total amount of solar energy incident on Earth is vastly in excess of the world’s current and anticipated energy requirements. If suitably harnessed, this highly diffused source has the potential to satisfy all future energy needs. In the 21st century solar energy is expected to become increasingly attractive as a renewable energy source because of its inexhaustible supply and its nonpolluting character, in stark contrast to the finite fossil fuels coal, petroleum, and natural gas.
Among the most common devices used to capture solar energy and convert it to thermal energy are flat-plate collectors, which are used for solar heating applications. Because the intensity of solar radiation at Earth’s surface is so low, these collectors must be large in area. Even in sunny parts of the world’s temperate regions, for instance, a collector must have a surface area of about 40 square metres (430 square feet) to gather enough energy to serve the energy needs of one person.
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The most widely used flat-plate collectors consist of a blackened metal plate, covered with one or two sheets of glass, that is heated by the sunlight falling on it. This heat is then transferred to air or water, called carrier fluids, that flow past the back of the plate. The heat may be used directly, or it may be transferred to another medium for storage. Flat-plate collectors are commonly used for solar water heaters and house heating. The storage of heat for use at night or on cloudy days is commonly accomplished by using insulated tanks to store the water heated during sunny periods. Such a system can supply a home with hot water drawn from the storage tank, or, with the warmed water flowing through tubes in floors and ceilings, it can provide space heating. Flat-plate collectors typically heat carrier fluids to temperatures ranging from 66 to 93 °C (150 to 200 °F). The efficiency of such collectors (i.e., the proportion of the energy received that they convert into usable energy) ranges from 20 to 80 percent, depending on the design of the collector.
Another method of thermal energy conversion is found in solar ponds, which are bodies of salt water designed to collect and store solar energy. The heat extracted from such ponds enables the production of chemicals, food, textiles, and other industrial products and can also be used to warm greenhouses, swimming pools, and livestock buildings. Solar ponds are sometimes used to produce electricity through the use of the organic Rankine cycle engine, a relatively efficient and economical means of solar energy conversion, which is especially useful in remote locations. Solar ponds are fairly expensive to install and maintain and are generally limited to warm rural areas.
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- Photovoltaic solar panels. Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels use the sun's power to create a flow of electricity. This is the most widely adopted method of harvesting solar energy today.
- Thermal energy harvesting: Energy of electromagnetic radiation. The sun produces a broad spectrum of radiation of many different wavelengths, including infrared.
- Solar water heaters. A great example of a thermal solar energy harvesting application that's commonly implemented in sunny climates around the globe is a solar water heater.
- Vacuum Tube Solar Water Heater. More advanced and efficient solar water heating systems utilize vacuum tubes and self-contained heat pipes to transfer thermal energy to a secondary tank.
Mar 2, 2024 · There are about 5 different methods of solar energy harvesting. Sometimes these methods are also referred to as solar energy harvesting devices. 1. Black Bodies. You are aware that black absorbs most thermal energy and this is another method through which solar energy harvesting is done.
Apr 18, 2022 · Researchers have taken a step forward in developing an energy system that makes it possible to capture solar energy, store it for up to 18 years, and release it when and where it is needed. They have now succeeded in getting the system to produce electricity by connecting it to a thermoelectric generator, after previously demonstrating how the ...
Solar-assisted heat pump. Solar aircraft. See also. References. Further reading. Solar energy. The Sun produces electromagnetic radiation that can be harnessed as useful energy.
May 16, 2024 · Instead, the solar panels, known as "collectors," transform solar energy into heat. Sunlight passes through a collector's glass covering, striking a component called an absorber plate, which has a coating designed to capture solar energy and convert it to heat.
