SOLAR POWERBy: Eric. N

USES OF SOLAR POWER

Solar power is mainly used for creating electricity by using the sun light or heat to create electricity. This electricity can then be distributed to transmission lines that transport electricity for homes, buildings, stores, facilities, factories etc.

Solar energy can also be used to heat water by directly using the suns heat.

This direct heat can also be used for heating air

The sun can also be used to create steam by using mirrors to concentrate the suns heat and the steam can then turn a steam turbine generator.

Solar heater

Solar panels

BENEFITS OF USING SOLAR POWER The most important benefit of solar power is that it

is renewable meaning it will never run out and is a completely reliable energy source.

An important advantage is that it is clean energy that doesn’t produce pollution or emissions. This makes it environmentally friendly.

Solar panels only requires little maintenance each year just to check if it’s still working.

Solar panels also create no noise as they produce electricity, unlike other sources that use generators which have noisy moving parts.

HOW IT WORKS Solar panels are made up of many photovoltaic cells which are

semi-conductors. These cells are activated by light to create electricity and therefore the efficiency depends on how much the solar panel is exposed to the sun.

Solar panels are used by individual homes on roofs or solar power plants where there is a lot of panels in a large area. The electricity travels from the power plants to transmission lines to substations then to our homes, or directly from the solar panels on the roof.

DISADVANTAGES OF SOLAR POWER Solar power can only be produced during the day and is

not efficient on cloudy or less sunny days. Personal solar powers are relatively expensive and also

costly to repair Solar stations take up a lot of space and are very

expensive. In countries with less sunlight like England and UK, solar

panels are very ineffective Personal Solar panels are usually used to charge a

battery so the electricity can be used at night as well. These heavy batteries take up storage space and need replacing over time.

AMOUNT OF SOLAR POWER USE GLOBALYRanking Country Installed PV [MW]1 Germany 32,4112 Italy 16,3613 China 8,3004 USA 7,7775 Japan 6,9146 Spain 5,1667 France 4,0038 Belgium 2,6509 Australia 2,65010 Czech Republic 2,072

WHERE IS IT USED AROUND THE WORLD

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