Solar energy is any type of energy generated by the sun. As you all know🙂
Solar energy is created by nuclear fusion that takes place in the sun. Fusion occurs when protons of hydrogen atoms violently collide in the sun’s core and fuse to create a helium atom.
You can also check: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/solar-energy/
This process, known as a PP (proton-proton) chain reaction, emits an enormous amount of energy. In its core, the sun fuses about 620 million metric tons of hydrogen every second. The PP chain reaction occurs in other stars that are about the size of our sun, and provides them with continuous energy and heat. The temperature for these stars is around 4 million degrees on the Kelvin scale (about 4 million degrees Celsius, 7 million degrees Fahrenheit).
In stars that are about 1.3 times bigger than the sun, the CNO cycle drives the creation of energy. The CNO cycle also converts hydrogen to helium, but relies on carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen (C, N, and O) to do so. Currently, less than 2% of the sun’s energy is created by the CNO cycle.
Nuclear fusion by the PP chain reaction or CNO cycle releases tremendous amounts of energy in the form of waves and particles. Solar energy is constantly flowing away from the sun and throughout the solar system. Solar energy warms the Earth, causes wind and weather, and sustains plant and animal life.
The energy, heat, and light from the sun flow away in the form of electromagnetic radiation (EMR).
The electromagnetic spectrum exists as waves of different frequencies and wavelengths. The frequency of a wave represents how many times the wave repeats itself in a certain unit of time. Waves with very short wavelengths repeat themselves several times in a given unit of time, so they are high-frequency. In contrast, low-frequency waves have much longer wavelengths.
The vast majority of electromagnetic waves are invisible to us. The most high-frequency waves emitted by the sun are gamma rays, X-rays, and ultraviolet radiation (UV rays). The most harmful UV rays are almost completely absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere. Less potent UV rays travel through the atmosphere, and can cause sunburn.
The sun also emits infrared radiation, whose waves are much lower-frequency. Most heat from the sun arrives as infrared energy.
Sandwiched between infrared and UV is the visible spectrum, which contains all the colors we see on Earth. The color red has the longest wavelengths (closest to infrared), and violet (closest to UV) the shortest.
Natural Solar Energy
Greenhouse Effect - (recently predicted cause of disaster)
The infrared, visible, and UV waves that reach the Earth take part in a process of warming the planet and making life possible—the so-called “greenhouse effect.”
About 30% of the solar energy that reaches Earth is reflected back into space. The rest is absorbed into Earth’s atmosphere. The radiation warms the Earth’s surface, and the surface radiates some of the energy back out in the form of infrared waves. As they rise through the atmosphere, they are intercepted by greenhouse gases, such as water vapor and carbon dioxide.
Greenhouse gases trap the heat that reflects back up into the atmosphere. In this way, they act like the glass walls of a greenhouse. This greenhouse effect keeps the Earth warm enough to sustain life.
Photosynthesis - remember those green plants
Almost all life on Earth relies on solar energy for food, either directly or indirectly.
Producers rely directly on solar energy. They absorb sunlight and convert it into nutrients through a process called photosynthesis. Producers, also called autotrophs, include plants, algae, bacteria, and fungi. Autotrophs are the foundation of the food web.
Consumers rely on producers for nutrients. Herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and detritivores rely on solar energy indirectly. Herbivores eat plants and other producers. Carnivores and omnivores eat both producers and herbivores. Detritivores decompose plant and animal matter by consuming it.
Fossil Fuels
Photosynthesis is also responsible for all of the fossil fuels on Earth. Scientists estimate that about 3 billion years ago, the first autotrophs evolved in aquatic settings. Sunlight allowed plant life to thrive and evolve. After the autotrophs died, they decomposed and shifted deeper into the Earth, sometimes thousands of meters. This process continued for millions of years.
Under intense pressure and high temperatures, these remains became what we know as fossil fuels. Microorganisms became petroleum, natural gas, and coal.
People have developed processes for extracting these fossil fuels and using them for energy. However, fossil fuels are a nonrenewable resource. They take millions of years to form.
Harnessing Solar Energy
Solar energy is a renewable resource, and many technologies can harvest it directly for use in homes, businesses, schools, and hospitals. Some solar energy technologies include photovoltaic cells and panels, concentrated solar energy, and solar architecture.
There are different ways of capturing solar radiation and converting it into usable energy. The methods use either active solar energy or passive solar energy.
Active solar technologies use electrical or mechanical devices to actively convert solar energy into another form of energy, most often heat or electricity. Passive solar technologies do not use any external devices. Instead, they take advantage of the local climate to heat structures during the winter, and reflect heat during the summer.
Photovoltaics-dont tell me you have not seen them before
Photovoltaics is a form of active solar technology that was discovered in 1839 by 19-year-old French physicist Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel. That guy was my old friend, we both lived at Isawo 😀🙂🤗. Becquerel discovered that when he placed silver-chloride in an acidic solution and exposed it to sunlight, the platinum electrodes attached to it generated an electric current. This process of generating electricity directly from solar radiation is called the photovoltaic effect, or photovoltaics.
Today, photovoltaics is probably the most familiar way to harness solar energy. Photovoltaic arrays usually involve solar panels, a collection of dozens or even hundreds of solar cells.
Each solar cell contains a semiconductor, usually made of silicon. When the semiconductor absorbs sunlight, it knocks electrons loose. An electrical field directs these loose electrons into an electric current, flowing in one direction. Metal contacts at the top and bottom of a solar cell direct that current to an external object. The external object can be as small as a solar-powered calculator or as large as a power station.
Photovoltaics was first widely used on spacecraft. Many satellites, including the International Space Station, feature wide, reflective “wings” of solar panels. The ISS has two solar array wings (SAWs), each using about 33,000 solar cells. These photovoltaic cells supply all electricity to the ISS, allowing astronauts to operate the station, safely live in space for months at a time, and conduct scientific and engineering experiments.
Photovoltaic power stations have been built all over the world. The largest stations are in the United States, India, and China. These power stations emit hundreds of megawatts of electricity, used to supply homes, businesses, schools, and hospitals.
Photovoltaic technology can also be installed on a smaller scale. Solar panels and cells can be fixed to the roofs or exterior walls of buildings, supplying electricity for the structure. They can be placed along roads to light highways. Solar cells are small enough to power even smaller devices, such as calculators, parking meters, trash compactors, and water pumps. We have them every where in solar touch lights, and many other devices. I believe we now know the importance of our sun😊
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By: Oshinowo Testimony
Antimony
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