Renewable resources

Solar Power

What is Solar Energy • The Earth receives solar radiation at the upper

atmosphere. 30% is reflected back to space while the rest is absorbed by clouds, oceans and land.

• Earth's land surface, oceans and atmosphere absorb solar radiation, and this raises their temperature. Warm air containing evaporated water from the oceans rises, causing atmospheric convection.

What is Solar Power• Well that is a good question solar power is the

conversion of sunlight into electricity. Sunlight can be converted directly into electricity using photovoltaic. Photovoltaic were initially, and still are, used to power small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to off-grid homes powered by a photovoltaic array. They are an important and relatively inexpensive source of electrical energy where grid power is inconvenient, unreasonably expensive to connect, or simply unavailable.

The First Solar Cell• A solar cell is a device that converts light into

electric current using the photoelectric effect. • The first solar cell was constructed by Charles

Fritts in the 1880s. Following the work of Russell Ohl in the 1940s, researchers Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin created the silicon solar cell in 1954. These early solar cells cost 286 USD/watt and reached efficiencies of converting 4.5–6% of the suns rays into energy.

Solar Power institutes • Since 1997, solar power PV development has

accelerated due to supply issues with oil and natural gas, global warming concerns, and the improving economic position of solar power relative to other energy technologies. Photovoltaic production growth has averaged 40% per year since 2000 and installed capacity reached 39.8 GW (giga watts) The largest photovoltaic (PV) power plants in the world are the Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant (Canada, 97 MW), Montalto di Castro Photovoltaic Power Station (Italy, 84.2 MW) and Finsterwalde Solar Park (Germany, 80.7 MW).

Is it true • Do solar panels lead to any lead to any harmful

emissions during operation?

• The answer is TRUE

• Does the production of the solar panels does give off some pollution?

• The answer is yes they do.

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