Solar Energy: A Renewable Energy Source

By Shelly Shinevar

Trivia

The Sun is 93 million miles away from the Earth. How many minutes does it take for light to travel this distance?

The Sun will exhaust its supply of hydrogen in about __ billion years, at which time it will collapse under it’s own weight and become very hot. Eventually, it will become big enough to swallow the orbits of Venus & the Earth.

More trivia:

Solar energy alone could meet the world’s energy supply needs simply by covering as little as ___% of the world’s deserts with photovoltaics.

Solar energy has been harnessed since ancient times:

The Greeks and the Chinese first began to build buildings facing the sun for light and heat.

This is an example of passive solar techniques.

Passive Solar Technology

Involves selecting materials capable of absorbing sunlight and heat such as wood, earth, concrete or asphalt or

Designing spaces to circulate air or to face the sun.

A traditional Chinese house made of mudbrick. The homes usually faced south to keep out the cold north wind.

An ancient Greek peasant hut, built of mud and embedding sticks and straws, would face the entrance towards the sun to utilize the heat.

Active solar technologies involve using photovoltaic panels, pumps and fans to

convert sunlight into useful applications.

The further away you get from the equator, the less sunlight is

available.

The ability to store solar energy is very important.

Various techniques and methods involved in using solar energy:

Greenhouses Daylighting systems Solar hot water systems Solar cookers Photovoltaics Concentrating solar power (CSP) Solar furnaces Solar ponds Solar cars and boats Solar thermoelectric plants and devices

More recent inventions make utilizing solar energy more energy efficient: For flat commercial roofs, a new line of “stick-

on” solar modules have been developed.

MIT chemical engineers have developed carbon nanotubes capable of concentrating solar energy up to 100 times more than a photovoltaic cell.

The crown heralding the largest operational PV plant in North America now belongs to the 100 megawatts on-line of the 290-megawatt Agua Caliente solar project in Yuma County, Arizona. Construction is still in progress, with completion expected in 2014.

Answers to Trivia

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