Solar Energy Information And Facts

Because the intensity of solar radiation at earth s surface is so low these collectors must be large in area.

Solar energy information and facts.

It is an essential source of renewable energy and its technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending. Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the sun that is harnessed using a range of ever evolving technologies such as solar heating photovoltaics solar thermal energy solar architecture molten salt power plants and artificial photosynthesis. All natural gas coal oil wind and biomass. Energy information administration frequently asked questions business insider here s how much of the world would need to be covered in solar panels to power earth org 11 facts about pollution the national renewable energy laboratory pv faqs world wildlife fund getting solar is easy s.

This property of solar energy may have been known by the ancient greeks and was practiced by persian alchemists in the 1500s. Solar energy is the technology used to harness the sun s energy and make it useable. Seven facts about solar energy one hour. Solar energy can be transformed directly indirectly into any other forms of.

Solar energy has a number of beneficial usages like producing electricity in the course of photovoltaic cells direct water heating for a range of other purposes. The consumption of non renewable sources like oil gas and coal is increasing at an alarming rate. Solar energy facts reveal that the first documented use of solar energy although extremely simple can be traced back to 7th century bc when people used magnifying glasses to light fires. As of 2011 the technology produced less than one tenth of one percent of global energy demand.

Another one of the more surprising solar energy facts is that solar energy can be used to purify water. When salt water is purified with solar energy the process is called solar desalination. The world s first solar collector was built in 1767 by a swiss scientist horace de saussure and it was used for cooking food and heating water. Even in sunny parts of the world s temperate regions for instance a collector must have a surface.

The time has finally come to look after some other renewable sources of energy i e solar wind and geothermal energy although many countries have started utilizing solar energy extensively they still have to go a long way to exploit this renewable energy to fulfill. 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. Every hour there s enough solar energy hitting the earth to replace all other energy sources humans use.