How Does Solar Energy Work And What It Actually Is: April 19, 2021 April 19, 2021 Tim Collins

The sun provides enormous resources to generate clean and sustainable electricity without toxic pollutants or emissions leading to global warming.

Solar energy – the power of the sun – is an enormous, inexhaustible and clean natural resource.

Solar energy production is a clean alternative to electricity from fossil fuels.

  • no air and water pollution,
  • no overall global pollution,
  • no risk of jumps in electricity prices,
  • no risks to public health.

Solar resource

Only 18 sunny days on Earth contain the same amount of energy as is stored in the reserves of coal, oil and natural gas all over the planet.

Outside the atmosphere, solar energy contains about 1,300 watts per square meter. When it enters the atmosphere, about a third of this light is reflected back into space, while the rest goes towards the Earth’s surface.

A square meter averaged over the entire surface of the planet collects 4.2 kilowatt-hours of energy every day, or the approximate energy equivalent of almost a barrel of oil per year.

Deserts, with very dry air and little cloudiness, receive the most sunshine – an average of more than 6 kilowatt hours per day per square meter during the year.

Converting solar energy into electricity

Photovoltaic (PV) panels and solar power concentrating (CSP) devices capture sunlight and convert it into usable electricity. Roof solar panels make solar energy profitable in virtually every part of our country.

Like roof panels, large-scale photovoltaic projects use photovoltaic panels to convert sunlight into electricity. These projects often have a capacity of hundreds of megawatts, which could include millions of solar panels installed over a large area of ​​the earth. In addition to the scale, the outputs can be increased thanks to special tracking mechanisms that allow the panels to follow the sun and collect light at the optimal angle, which greatly increases the efficiency of the system.