Advantages And Disadvantages Of Solar Power
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
Solar power is an important current issue with many factors and issues surrounding the matter of solar power. Solar power technologies use the sun’s energy and light to provide heat, light, hot water, electricity, and even cooling for such things as homes, businesses and industries. There are several primary solar technologies that are used, which include that of: photovoltaics, passive solar heating, concentrating solar power, and solar hot water and space heating and cooling.
Photovoltaics are solar cells which are used to directly convert sunlight into electricity. These solar power cells are made of semi conducting materials, and crystalline silicon is the leading commercial material for photovoltaic cells, which can be used in itself in many forms, including that of: single-crystalline or monocrystalline silicon, multicrystalline or polycrystalline silicon, ribbon and sheet silicon, and thin-layer silicon.
Passive solar power heating involves that of buildings which are designed for passive solar and daylighting incorporate design features such as that of south-facing windows and building materials that absorb and slowly release the sun’s heat. There are no mechanical means used in passive solar heating and passive solar designs can also include neutral ventilations for cooling.
The concentrating of solar power for the home involves that of technologies which use reflective materials such as mirrors in order to concentrate the sun’s energy; this then concentrated form of energy is converted into electricity. Solar hot water heaters on the other hand, use the sun to either heat water or a heat-transfer fluid in collectors. A typical solar hot water and space heating and cooling system will reduce the need for conventional water heating by about two-thirds, which is obviously considered as being quite dramatic.
We all know that solar power provides heat and light, but it also creates the winds we feel on Earth. Winds are created through different low pressure and high pressure zones, created by the atmosphere absorbing different amounts of heat and expanding differently, and air flows from high pressure to low pressure zones, thereby creating wind. Solar power is also responsible for fossil fuels such as that of petroleum and coal, as these substances are the result of large masses of decayed plant matter, which during their own lifetime, had absorbed solar energy.
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