What is solar energy?
The solar energy is the energy that is produced by the sun, and it is perceived by us in radiation, it can generate heat, cause chemical reactions and even generating electricity, is known that the radiation of solar energy at the earth is capable of producing the total amount of energy consumed on earth and it still will be sufficient in the future, solar energy has the potential of fulfilling all of the energy needs.
There are around 109 giga watts of solar energy installed in the United States of America, which is enough to power nearly 19 million homes, also there are around 3 million individual photovoltaic installations that fulfill specific needs.
There are 3 main uses for the energy that comes from the sun:
Generating heat
The way that is used the energy for collecting heat consists mainly in using the radiation to store heat on a fluid, this fluid may be a liquid or a gas that have physical properties of thermal capabilities and good heat transfer rates.
knowing that the energy is not created or can be destroyed but can be transformed we can turn this solar radiation in to heat that later can be transformed in other types of energy such as electricity or mechanical energy.
the most common use of the heat that comes from the sun is heating water for homes and for the industry.
Generating electricity
Probably the first thing that comes to mind when talking about solar energy are the solar panels, the solar panels that are mainly made by silicon alloys can generate electricity with the solar energy using the photovoltaic effect, the photovoltaic effect can transform the radiation into an electricity flow from one part of the panel to another.
The photovoltaic energy is the electricity that is produced by the sun, but not all kinds of energy are the electricity. The photovoltaic energy generates an electricity flow in the form of direct current (DC), that can be later turn in to AC current with the help of an inverter.
Photovoltaic energy is getting every day more and more popular and is starting to be one of the most widely used types of energy since is one of the renewable energies that made the most sense.
Counties like the United States of America, Europe, China, and India are investing heavily in the electricity that can be generated by the sun.
Chemical reactions
The sunlight is a natural catalyst for chemical reactions, probably the most common chemical reaction that needs solar energy is the photosynthesis, and it is a very important one since the oxygen that we breath is produced with the help of the solar energy.
