solar energy

Firstly we introduced to solar energy in the “Race the Sun” movie with James Belushi and Halley Berry in the lead roles. It was a story about under achieving and low income Hawaiian students encouraged by their teacher to join the Solar Car race. In the movie, a car shaped like a roach and covered with solar panels used the sun rays as an alternative energy resource to run their car.

Solar energy is the light and the heat from the sun. Solar energy is free and its supplies are unlimited. There are air and water pollution caused about by using solar energy. But there are still some impacts on the environment, although indirect.

Photovoltaic cells used to convert sunlight into electricity uses silicon and produce some waste materials as well. There are large solar thermal farms also, and these farms may be harmful to the environment and desert ecosystems if not managed properly.

Solar energy can be used on different aspects. It can be used in agriculture. Greenhouses (which are entirely different from greenhouse gas) convert solar light to heat to be maximized in the plants and crops growth enhancing. Greenhouses have been around since the Roman times and modern greenhouses were built in Europe in 16th century. Greenhouses are still a horticulture important part nowadays.

Daylight systems are being used to maximize the energy released by the sun also. It is used to provide interior illumination replacing the artificial lighting. Daylight systems include saw tooth roofs, light shelf, skylights, and light tube. Daylight systems can reduce lighting-related energy consumption by 25 percent when they are implemented properly.

Solar energy can also be developed into solar thermal technologies which can be used for water heating, space heating, space cooling and process heat generation. Solar energy can also be used to distil water and make saline or brackish water potable or drinkable.

The solar water disinfection, or SODIS, involves water-filled plastic polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottles exposing. This process takes a long time, since the exposure time varies on the weather conditions. It requires a minimum of six hours to two days during the overcast conditions days. Currently, there are two million people use SODIS for their daily drinking water needs nowadays.

Sunlight can be converted into electricity using photovoltaics or PV also. PV has been used mainly to power small and medium-sized things like a single solar cell powered calculator. There are homes powered by photovoltaics. Using solar energy for water and space heating is the most widely use solar energy application while ventilation and solar air heating are also growing in popularity.

There are three major ways in solar energy using. The main way of solar energy using and converting is by using the solar cells. Solar cells convert light into electricity directly. Solar cells are also called photovoltaic or photoelectric cells.

Meanwhile, solar furnaces use a huge array of mirrors to concentrate the sun energy into a small space and produced very high temperatures. Solar furnaces are also called “solar cookers”. A solar cooker can be used in hot countries to cook food.

With all the benefits of using the solar energy, there is still a downside for this alternative energy source. It doesn’t work during night time. The cost of setting up solar stations is expensive, but the benefit of using solar energy when accumulated is significant.