How Does Solar Power Work – Process of Solar Energy Panels Generating Power

Solar Power

Sun Power is the largest source of light in the is universe. It helps in providing food & oxygen for us, where sunlight is captured by plants in the process of photosynthesis. It helps maintaining the environmental balance by the continuous formation of vapours & condensation as rains. On a bright, sunny day, the sun’s rays give off approximately 1,000 watts of energy per square meter of the planet’s surface. If we could collect all of that energy, it could easily power our homes and offices for free. Other than these natural benefits, that the solar energy provides, it has many commercial usage too. Countries like Germany generate almost 20 GW of power from the Sun. Italy, Spain & Japan too generate a lot of electricity through the sun. Some of the smaller European countries like Czech,Belgium too are generating lots of solar energy through proactive Green policies.The bigger countries in the world like USA,China and India are slowly realizing the potential of Solar Energy and are rapidly increasing the amount of Solar Energy products. Solar Energy despite many years of development is not used in the generation of Electricity due to its higher costs.However that is going to change as Solar Energy is the only form of Energy whose costs are continuously declining compared to other forms of Energy.

The Basic Process:

Photovoltaic cells are made up of semiconductors. The most commonly used is silicon. When the light strikes the cell, a certain portion of it is absorbed within the semiconductor material. This energy knocks the electrons loose, allowing them to flow freely, in a certain direction. This flow of electrons is a current, and by placing metal contacts on the top and bottom of the PV cell, one can draw that current off for external use.
The type of current produced by a solar panel is called direct current (DC). Before it can be used to power a home or office, it is converted to alternating current (AC) by an electronic inverter.

Some of the any benefits that Sun Power offers are:

• Environment Friendly – Solar Energy does not lead to any major mining activity,does not lead to significant GHG emissions,does not lead to health hazards like thermal power.
• No Fuel and Low Maintainance – Solar Energy does not require any fuel like Wind Energy and the Operation and Maintainance Costs are extremely low.This is a huge advantage in these days when gas and oil disruptions are causing energy insecurity.
• No Pollution and Deaths– Solar Energy does not lead to pollution disasters like the BP Oil Spill and Coal Deaths which are directly related to Dirty Energy Production.
• Size Advantages – Solar Installations can be installed in various sizes with as little as 200 Watts and as big as a 1000 MW.This is not possible for other energy forms which require a minimum large size such as Coal,Nuclear etc.

The sun power has been utilised in many commercial ways by mankind. Some of the ways how solar energy can work are:

• ELECTRICITY – as we know sunlight is the largest source of light & energy. This light is absorbed by the solar cells by the “Photovoltaic Effect” converting them into usable electricity. This is a greener approach with no pollution. This is also much cheaper, reducing the electricity bills.
• LIGHTING – Use of solar lighting is a foot forward to a cleaner environment since it is less polluting.Residential, commercial and institutional customers can all benefit from solar lighting. Solar lights can be used anywhere ranging from homes, gardens, industries to parking lots, private roads, campuses, walkways, pathways. Other than the benefits of lighting that it provides, solar lights are very efficient in cutting electricity bills, involve no operating costs and are easy to instal.
• HEATING – Solar thermal technology is used to heat water for applications such as pool heating and water heating for homes and businesses. Solar water heating systems use solar panels often called collectors that fits on the roof, collects heat from the sun & then heats water which is stored in a hot water cylinder. The benefits of solar water heating will be hot water throughout the year & that too at costs much cheaper than the electric geysers.
• COOKING – A solar cooker is a low- tech, relatively cheap device that uses the energy of sunlight to heat food or drink to cook it or sterilise it. They help reduce fuel costs & air pollution, since they use no fuel and cost nothing to operate. It is useful for outdoor cooking and is often used in situations where minimal fuel consumption is important, or the danger of accidental fires is high. There are three types of solar cookers/ solar ovens – box cookers, panel cookers and reflector cookers.
• TRANSPORT – Nowadays a number of cars and ships are being powered by solar energy.Though most of these vehicles are pilot in nature and not mass produced,its only a matter of time as solar products get cheaper that they are adopted on a mass scale.

Newer uses of Sun Power for Kids

• SPACE TRAVEL- Satellites and space Vehicles already use arrays of Solar Energy to power themselves as there are no other renewable forms of energy that can work in the vacuum of space.High Efficiency Multijunction Solar Cells are used by spacecraft to power themselves.In the future as humans increase their activities in space,expect Space Ships to be driven by Solar Power.
• CLOTHING -Prototypes are being developed that will have clothes embedded with Solar Cells that can charge themselves with Solar Energy and provide power to the devices that we use such as cellphones and even make our clothes smarter changing colors etc.
• ARCHITECTURE – Whole building and windows will be built of solar products that can extract energy from the sun rays.They will be integrated into the walls and windows .Already BIPV products have been developed where the aesthetics are also taken care of .There are Solar Shingles which can be used to make Solar Roofs of Houses and Solar Carports are already available.