Jamie Summons | How does Solar energy work and what Benefits

How does Solar energy work and what Benefits

Although sunlight is the most powerful energy source reaching Earth, the intensity of the energy reaching the Earth's surface is relatively low due to the radial dispersion of solar radiation as it travels from the distant Sun. Additional sunlight is lost owing to the Earth's atmosphere and clouds, which disperse up to 54% of the incoming light. According to Jamie Summons, sunlight that reaches the ground contains around 50% visible light and 45% infrared radiation, with the remainder consisting of trace quantities of ultraviolet and other forms of electromagnetic radiation.

While much of the solar energy is lost when it reaches the Earth's surface, this energy still equals roughly 200,000 times the world's entire daily power-generating capability, according to Jamie Summons. Yet, using this renewable resource might be challenging due to the high costs of collection, conversion, and storage.

Solar radiation, when harnessed, can be transformed into electrical energy, for example, using solar panels, or into thermal (heat) energy, which is easier to do.

Solar cells can produce electricity from sunshine (also called photovoltaic cells). As sunlight strikes a solar cell, a tiny electric voltage is produced when the photovoltaic effect occurs between a metal and a semiconductor, such as silicon, or between two distinct semiconductors, according to Jamie Summons. Since semiconductors have a natural difference in electric potential, the photovoltaic effect liberates electrons, which flow through an external circuit (voltage). This provides a tiny amount of electricity to the load, with each solar cell providing around two watts. Building solar panel arrays from a huge number of solar cells allows for the generation of thousands of kilowatts of electricity.

Most contemporary solar cells are roughly 15-22% energy efficient (though this is improving), which means that massive assemblies may be required to create moderate quantities of electricity.

Work of Thermal Power

There are various strategies for capturing solar energy and converting it into thermal energy, says,'' Jamie Summons. Large flat plate collectors, which are generally formed of blackened metal plates coated with sheets of glass, are one of the most frequent ways. Once sunlight strikes these plates, which may have surface areas of up to 40 square meters, they heat up. Water and other carrier fluids pass through the back of the plate, warming it up so that the thermal energy may be utilized immediately or stored in another medium. Flat plate collectors are used for solar water heating or home heating, with hot water collected on bright days and stored in insulated tanks to be utilized at night or on cloudy days. Hot water can be collected directly from the storage tank or routed through pipes in the floors and ceilings to heat houses or businesses as space heating. These carrier fluids are commonly heated to temperatures ranging from 66 to 93°C. Depending on the collector design, this type of collecting has an efficiency of 20-80%.

According to Jamie Summons, Solar ponds may also be used to convert thermal energy. These are saltwater bodies that capture and store solar energy, which may then be utilized to generate items such as chemicals, food, and textiles, as well as to heat greenhouses, swimming pools, and cattle buildings. Solar ponds may also be used to generate energy using the organic Rankine cycle engine, although they are quite expensive to establish and are mainly restricted to warm rural areas.

What are the Advantages of Solar energy?

Solar energy has several intrinsic benefits:

Solar energy is a completely renewable energy source.

• There are no fuel costs related to solar energy, thus you will save money.
• Environmentally friendly: Unlike other energy sources, such as fossil fuels, solar energy emits no toxic natural gases or by-products.