I have an energy project due very soon and I was assigned solar energy this question is one of the requirements
2 thoughts on “How is solar energy turned into energy we can use?”
Wolf Harper
Depends. How do you feel about heat? Solar energy gives us lots of heat, it’s by far the easiest energy to capture from the sun. Just put a panel on your roof and you’re done. You can also make heat into other kinds of energy, notably electricity – you concentrate solar energy with a lens, use it to boil water and use steam pressure to run generators.
You can get electricity directly from the sun via solar panels.
Everything else is indirect. The sun heats the earth, that causes wind, we run windmills. Plants like the sun, we grow plants, we burn plants and get heat energy. We eat plants, or we feed plants to animals and eat animals… that powers us.
Nelda
Hey hold on to your hat.
Solar energy is the ONLY form of energy we have. Well not quite, there is nuclear.
But nothing on earth would function without the input of solar energy.
All green plants use solar energy to manufacture plant tissue.
So all the plants we eat (tomatoes, wheat etc) that are on our dinner plate, are there because solar energy created them.
All animals either eat plants or other animals, so solar energy is used to make beef steak and milk etc.
As far as devices that specifically turn solar energy into energy we use, there are a few devices.
There is simple heating. Water from a swimming pool can be pumped up onto a roof, then circulate through pipes that are in the sun. The water gets hot and is then added to the pool to heat the pool.
The main devices are those that turn solar energy into electricity. That electricity then can then supplement the power supplied by the power company.
There are various devices on the market. None of them is very efficient, and they are expensive to make.
Therefore they are not a good option at present for private use.
The world is waiting for the invention of a more efficient device, and it must be inexpensive to manufacure.
As far as I know, there is no government money (from any country) going into this research.
Depends. How do you feel about heat? Solar energy gives us lots of heat, it’s by far the easiest energy to capture from the sun. Just put a panel on your roof and you’re done. You can also make heat into other kinds of energy, notably electricity – you concentrate solar energy with a lens, use it to boil water and use steam pressure to run generators.
You can get electricity directly from the sun via solar panels.
Everything else is indirect. The sun heats the earth, that causes wind, we run windmills. Plants like the sun, we grow plants, we burn plants and get heat energy. We eat plants, or we feed plants to animals and eat animals… that powers us.
Hey hold on to your hat.
Solar energy is the ONLY form of energy we have. Well not quite, there is nuclear.
But nothing on earth would function without the input of solar energy.
All green plants use solar energy to manufacture plant tissue.
So all the plants we eat (tomatoes, wheat etc) that are on our dinner plate, are there because solar energy created them.
All animals either eat plants or other animals, so solar energy is used to make beef steak and milk etc.
As far as devices that specifically turn solar energy into energy we use, there are a few devices.
There is simple heating. Water from a swimming pool can be pumped up onto a roof, then circulate through pipes that are in the sun. The water gets hot and is then added to the pool to heat the pool.
The main devices are those that turn solar energy into electricity. That electricity then can then supplement the power supplied by the power company.
There are various devices on the market. None of them is very efficient, and they are expensive to make.
Therefore they are not a good option at present for private use.
The world is waiting for the invention of a more efficient device, and it must be inexpensive to manufacure.
As far as I know, there is no government money (from any country) going into this research.