News about Solar, Wind and alternative green power technologies

Defining solar energy

The sun does everyday radiate (diffuse) a colossal mass of energy; this energy is called solar energy. The mass of energy radiated per second is much more than the energy that man has created since his first step on the earth. The source of this immeasurable energy is produced within the sun itself.

The sun is like most stars. It is a gigantic gas ball constituted of helium and hydrogen gas. The sun produces its energy through the process known as nuclear fusion. The fusion process allows four atoms of hydrogen to be combined to create a single atom of helium. However, this fusion process experiences a loss of matter. This particular matter is the radiant energy that is emitted.

Eventually, only a minor portion of the solar energy is radiated into the space. In this portion only a comparatively diminutive mass of energy reaches the earth, nevertheless it is still more than enough. The mass of energy that could potentially be harnessed during a day could be enough to full a country for a year.

The solar rays emitted by the sun travel at a speed of 186,000 Mps, which is the speed of light. This implies that it takes practically eight minutes and some seconds to travel from the sun to the earth, over 93 million miles.

It is only recently, human have begun to utilize solar energy to harness heat for buildings and water as well as to produce electricity.

Solar Collectors

It appears simply, however, heating via the use of solar energy is more troubling than you might imagine. The difficulty in capturing sunlight is that solar energy reaches the earth on a wide surface area. There isn’t really that much energy at every spot and time.

More precisely the mass of solar energy that can be harnessed fluctuates depending on various factors. It depends on the season of the year, time of the day, the weather and eventually the proximity to the middle of the earth, the equator.

It is essential to understand that capturing sunlight for producing heat energy is only one method to benefit from solar energy. A more comprehensive explanation of how solar collectors really work, just consider your car. A car parked in a sunny spot with closed doors is metaphorically a solar collector. The solar energy radiates through the windows of the car and is thereafter absorbed by walls, floors, covers and seats of the car. In simple sense, light is converted into heat. The windows allow light to come in but not to travel out. This is why a closed car gets very hot during sunny days

Typical Solar Heating

There are various space heating systems installed to allow areas in buildings to be heated. This is often referred to as solar space heating. There are several households that use solar energy for space heating. This is where; “passive solar homes” comes into the game. Passive solar homes are architecture in a way to allow the maximum amount of sunlight to penetrate the house, making it symbolic to a solar collector.

Once, again similarly, to the car metaphor, solar energy penetrates through the windows and the walls as well as the floor in the house get heated. The light enters and the heat is concealed inside. Designing a house-using passive solar energy does not make use of mechanical equipment; it simply requires sunlight to be radiated into the building.

Nevertheless, a second type of household is an active solar home. This type of structure uses particular equipment to harness the energy from the sun. The common type of system used known as solar thermal water heaters are apparently glass boxes. Normally, these advanced solar collectors are usually fixed on the rooftop and faced to the south. The south direction is used to maximize the solar energy provided during winters.

In this particular system, metal plates of a dark colour are found inside these glass boxes that absorb the heat. Moreover, black is used as it absorbs sunlight much better than any other colour schemes. These systems are used to heat water, the glass tubes generate heat that causes water or warm air to circulate through the installed distribution channels in the house. In simple terms, it works exactly the same was as ordinary furnace systems.

Humanity is taking solar energy seriously. The speed at which solar photovoltaic, solar thermal electricity and solar water heating systems are evolving and spreading is phenomenal. Ten years ago, solar energy was considered as a futuristic and expensive source of energy. Nowadays, it is already pervasively used.

Read Part 2: Critical Overview of Solar Energy:

Source: Intermediate Energy InfoBook