How Is Solar Energy Used
Over time, humans have discovered many ways to harness the suns energy. Obviously, solar panels immediately come to mind, as photovoltaic solar panels are an efficient way to use the sun to generate electricity. Many people have utility scale solar plants in mind with large solar panel fields. However, there are many more technologies that can capture energy from the sun for a variety of uses.
Lets start by discussing our bread and butter photovoltaic solar panels and then dig into the lesser-known-but-just-as-interesting ways to utilize the sun.
What Are We Doing To Bring More Solar Power Onto The Grid In The Uk
National Grid ESO is preparing Britains electricity system to be able to run on purely zero-carbon electricity by 2025 ready to accommodate whatever quantity of renewable electricity, including solar power, is being generated.
In order to bring ever increasing amounts of renewable energy onto the grid, and keep costs down for customers, theyre working to overcome two intertwined challenges: ensuring that demand for power is balanced by electricity generated and updating the foundations of the electricity system. Electricity has historically relied on fossil fuels, so theyre designing new approaches and incorporating new technologies.
In a recent successful test, as part of the Power Potential project, the inverters at a solar plant were upgraded so that, on top of providing power during the sunshine of the day, the plant could also provide a use at night time, smoothing fluctuations in voltage and keep the grid stable.
Solar power also plays a role in providing frequency response, one of the balancing tools that the ESO uses to keep the electricity system in balance.
A recent trial saw a contract made up entirely of domestic users, allowing them to get paid to export their excess energy to the grid and help to balance supply and demand with cleaner, decentralised power at the same time.
Collecting And Using Solar Thermal Energy
An example of an early solar energy collection device is the solar oven . In the 1830s, British astronomer John Herschel used a solar oven to cook food during an expedition to Africa. People now use many different technologies for collecting and converting solar radiation into useful heat energy for a variety of purposes.
We use solar thermal energy systems to heat:
- Water for use in homes, buildings, or swimming pools
- The inside of homes, greenhouses, and other buildings
- Fluids to high temperatures in solar thermal power plants
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The Most Efficient Solar Panels
There are two types of solar panels: PV and thermal. The type most commonly used is photovoltaic solar panels these catch the suns energy and convert it into electricity. These enable you to power your home appliances. The other type of panel is solar thermal. These enable you to heat water for your home. Most homes will install solar PV as we tend to use far more electricity so this is the most efficient way to cut down on bills.
How Does Solar Power Work
There are two main types of solar power technology, solar photovoltaic and solar thermal.
1. Solar photovoltaic
Solar photovoltaic converts sunlight directly into electricity using a technology known as a semiconductor cell or solar PV cell.
The most common form of solar PV cell is typically encased in glass and an aluminium frame to form a solar panel. One or more panels can be installed to power a single light, cover the roof of a house for residential use, or be assembled into a large-scale solar farm generating hundreds of megawatts of electricity.
Solar PV panels are currently the most widespread type of solar PV technology, however other types of solar PV are being developed for targeted applications including PV that can be integrated into buildings, flexible PV and even PV paint.
2. Solar thermal
Solar thermal converts sunlight into heat , which can be used for a variety of purposes including creating steam to drive an electricity generator. This energy can be used to drive a refrigeration cycle to provide solar-based cooling.
There are two main types of solar thermal technologies.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Solar Power
Theres a lot to learn about solar energy here are a few quick answers to common questions.
How does solar energy work?
Solar power generation starts when solar panels absorb photons, or particles of light, with photovoltaic cells, generating this direct current energy and then converting it to usable alternating current energy with the help of inverter technology. AC energy then flows through the homes electrical panel and is distributed accordingly.
What is solar power used for?
Solar power is used in two main ways: generating electricity or generating thermal energy . For most homeowners, solar panels that convert solar energy to electricity is the best use of solar energy because it allows them to save on electric bills.
How long do solar panels last?
Solar panels usually last for 25 to 30 years before they start to see steeper drops in performance than is useful for many homes. For those almost three decades, however, youll be generating free solar electricity from the sun.
A Turning Point: Government Ends Solar Farm Uncertainty
Solar Energy UK7 December 2022
Rishi Sunaks administration will support the growth of solar farms and has rejected the prospect of an effective ban put forward under Liz Truss.
Yesterday, two ministers ruled out extending planning protections for high-grade farmland to moderate quality 3b land, as had been floated by former Environment Secretary Ranil Jayawardena. As almost all solar farms are situated on such land, it would have had a seriously adverse impact on the ability of the sector to deliver on the Governments target to reach 70GW of generation capacity by 2035, cutting bills and carbon on the way.
The lowest grades of land 4 and 5 are generally in upland areas, far away from access to the grid and often subject to development restrictions.
Speaking to the Commons Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey backed a lot more solar generation on farms, including on 3b land. She also raised a challenge that solar farms commonly face connecting to the grid. Coffey earlier told the MPs that that she would be driven by the evidence on land use and food security, an implicit rejection of false claims that the solar industry presents a threat to food security.
Coffey had previously given a more ambiguous response when questioned on 3b reform by Labours Shadow Climate Minister Kerry McCarthy MP.
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Solar Energy Projects Enlist Legal Help Amid Trade Disputes
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Governments and campaigners agree that solar power must be scaled up if the world is to combat global warming. But that does not mean the industry is immune to knotty legal disputes.
Although solar is now the fastest-growing energy source in the US, most of the cells needed to produce it are imported from abroad. As a result, the solar sector has been caught up in some of the biggest trade disagreements in recent years.
Back in 2012, when US president Barack Obama first imposed solar tariffs on China, Canada and south-east Asian countries stepped in to fill the void. But Canadas solar industry was soon caught in the middle of a US-Canada trade war solar panels were one of many products, including aluminium and paper, that the US added to its tariff list.
In 2018, this led to a political fight between the subsequent US president Donald Trump and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. That year, the Trump administration had imposed tariffs on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, to spur domestic production. Our action today helps to create jobs in America for Americans, Trump claimed at the time.
How Does Solar Energy Work
If youve ever taken a science class, you know that our sun just like every other star in the universe is a giant nuclear ball of gas. Comprised of mostly hydrogen and helium, the sun is an enormous nuclear fusion reactor, and nuclear fusion is how the sun generates energy.
Deep within the suns core, where the pressure and temperature are unbelievably high, hydrogen undergoes a series of reactions to eventually become an entirely different element helium through nuclear fusion. Eventually, helium atoms fuse to become even heavier elements. This union of atoms where lighter elements become heavier ones releases massive amounts of energy into space in the form of light and heat. That energy from the sun then radiates outward in the form of electromagnetic radiation, where it eventually reaches the Earths surface at the speed of light.
Confused yet? Let us explain. Youve probably heard of UV rays. This is a type of electromagnetic radiation emitted from the sun. Most humans see only a very small spectrum of radiation or visible light waves that strikes the Earth from our sun. Other types of waves such as microwaves and infrared rays are also invisible to us.
These electromagnetic waves essentially deliver the suns energy to us! We can harness the suns energy from these waves to generate clean, renewable energy used to power homes and businesses. No emissions and no pollution.
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Solar To Produce Thermal Energy
There are a couple of other ways to capture thermal energy from solar, including solar space heating and cooling and solar hot water heating collectors. The difference between these methods and CSP plants is that space heating and water heating doesnt generate electricity. Rather, these systems manipulate solars heating characteristics to regulate building temperatures, which can save on water heating costs. You might call it solar thermal power.
Solar Space Heating & Cooling
Perhaps the simplest method of using solar power, you can implement it in your home today! Just by strategically opening and closing your curtains and windows to heat and cool your home, you have created a passive solar home. Youre using the heat of the sun to regulate your homes climate without the use of electricity.
You can create an active solar home, but that requires additional equipment. To truly save on heating costs, youd need rooftop solar collectors, black boxes that absorb sunlight and trap heat, to distribute heat throughout the house.
Solar Water Heating Collectors
Water heating accounts for nearly 20% of your energy bill.7 A solar water heater is an environmentally-friendly solution to help you reduce your bill each month.
Solar water heaters work like solar space heaters. After the solar collector is installed, the hot water heater uses a heat transfer fluid to transmute heat from the collector to the water tank. Once heated, you can use the hot water in your home!
Types Of Solar Energy
Solar energy can be classified into two categories depending upon the mode of conversion and type of energy it is converted into. Passive solar energy and active solar energy belong to the mode of conversion and solar thermal energy, photovoltaic solar power and concentrating solar power.
- Passive solar energy refers to trapping the suns energy without using mechanical devices.
- Active solar energy uses mechanical devices to collect, store, and distribute energy.
- Solar thermal energy: This energy is obtained by converting solar energy into heat.
- Concentrating solar power: This is a type of thermal energy used to generate solar power electricity.
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Read A Brief Summary Of This Topic
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 worlds 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 fuelscoal, petroleum, and natural gas.
The Sun is an extremely powerful energy source, and sunlight is by far the largest source of energy received by Earth, but its intensity at Earths surface is actually quite low. This is essentially because of the enormous radial spreading of radiation from the distant Sun. A relatively minor additional loss is due to Earths atmosphere and clouds, which absorb or scatter as much as 54 percent of the incoming sunlight. The sunlight that reaches the ground consists of nearly 50 percent visible light, 45 percent infrared radiation, and smaller amounts of ultraviolet and other forms of electromagnetic radiation.
A New Reason To Coexist
Whether it’s lettuce, sheep, bees or native wildflowers, it’s clear that the symbiotic nature of agrivoltaics can create more energy with lower carbon emissions, decrease our water demand and increase our food production. While research is still in the early phases, Dritenbas and Lloyd know that agrivoltaic projects like theirs are pushing solar innovation forward.
“Someone’s got to progress forward and see if it’ll work,” Dritenbas says. “We’re happy to be one of those industry leaders to take that risk and try to make it happen.”
Agrovoltaics is only one recent innovation in a trend called “smart farming,”which seeks to use the latest technologies to make farming and food production more efficient and reduce overall environmental impact.
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So What Is Solar Energy
We experience solar energy as sunlight and feel it in the form of heat. Scientifically speaking, this invisible force officially called solar radiation is actually comprised of tiny packets of energy called photons. These photons may be considered tiny, but they are the fundamental source of all climate and weather systems on Earth.2
Before you start to feel overwhelmed by all the hard science of solar power, rest assured that were going to answer a few important questions:
- How is solar energy generated?
- How do people use solar energy?
- What are the benefits of this powerful resource?
- How can you take advantage of this green energy?
So, lets dive in.
The Solar Panels And Farmers Benefit Too
The benefits aren’t just one-sided in this symbiotic relationship. Solar panels directly benefit from their relationship with the plants, too. This is where some real agrivoltaic magic happens.
In the hottest and most life-sucking places on Earth, like the Mojave Desert, solar panels don’t perform well .
When solar panels are positioned in deserts, they hold on to the heat they absorb from the barren ground below, creating a heat island effect that makes the surrounding area a lot hotter.
But plant vegetables in the ground below the panels and the plants transpire water from their leaves, cooling the surrounding air and, ipso facto, keep the panels cooler. The panels can perform better at cooler temperatures, turning more sunlight into electricity! Pretty cool, right?
Studies at Oregon State University found that solar panels like these with crops planted beneath were able to generate 10 percent more electricity.
Farmers or livestock owners also reap the benefits. Unfortunately, farmers have taken a financial hit in recent years. In 2020, there was a 23 percent increase in U.S. farm bankruptcies from the previous year. As older farmers hand over operations to children or another family member, some aren’t committed to the risky idea of long-term farming as a career.
Agrivoltaics also offers farmers the potential for higher yields and creates an additional revenue stream by allowing them to lease their land to solar developers.
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Heating Cooling And Ventilation
In the United States, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems account for 30% of the energy used in commercial buildings and nearly 50% of the energy used in residential buildings. Solar heating, cooling and ventilation technologies can be used to offset a portion of this energy. Use of solar for heating can roughly be divided into passive solar concepts and active solar concepts, depending on whether active elements such as sun tracking and solar concentrator optics are used.
Thermal mass is any material that can be used to store heatâheat from the Sun in the case of solar energy. Common thermal mass materials include stone, cement, and water. Historically they have been used in arid climates or warm temperate regions to keep buildings cool by absorbing solar energy during the day and radiating stored heat to the cooler atmosphere at night. However, they can be used in cold temperate areas to maintain warmth as well. The size and placement of thermal mass depend on several factors such as climate, daylighting, and shading conditions. When duly incorporated, thermal mass maintains space temperatures in a comfortable range and reduces the need for auxiliary heating and cooling equipment.
Active Vs Passive Solar Energy
Solar power can be active or passive, based on how you capture and utilize it. Active energy uses heating equipment to change solar energy into heat energy. Passive energy does not have any mechanical equipment.
Active solar energy utilizes mechanical tools like thermal collectors, PV devices, fans, and pumps to trap the energy produced by the sun. Passive solar energy does not require any mechanical equipment. It converts the produced solar power into heat energy directly. Passive energy utilizes walls, windows, buildings, trees, and other easy strategies to capture the sun’s rays for consumption. Thus, it is an excellent way to preserve solar energy. It also ensures maximum utilization of the captured energy.
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