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Solar Panels Use Sun’s Supply of Energy for Multiple Uses
With the economy in a free-for-all, many states, hoping to save money, are implementing initiatives in which their utility companies must begin using solar power such as the Sun’s ultraviolet rays or wind energy to power things like solar panels in street signs.
Many of the southwestern states, where the sun is at its strongest, are requiring their utility companies to supply a portion, for now, of their electricity from renewable sources, in some cases this would include solar power. Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas and Utah are signing agreements to buy electricity from developers of solar power stations. These solar power stations collect the sun’s light through mirrors or lenses and focus it to create heat that can be used to produce electricity.
Many people wonder how does solar energy work and the simple answer is that the solar thermal energy, the sun’s ultraviolet rays, transfers heat directly to water or air to be used as electricity or to light up a solar sign along the highway. There are many uses for solar energy that will save the country millions of dollars in utility costs.
There are two types of solar energy conversion that make energy and both options use solar panels to harness the sun’s ultraviolet light. The first is solar thermal energy and the second is a photovoltaic.
Solar thermal energy uses the sun’s energy directly to generate heat while the solar panels collect the heat to be used for water and space heating in buildings and homes.
The photovoltaic method converts the sun’s power into electricity using a power grid and this is fairly complicated to explain.
Additionally, there are two types of solar energy, direct solar energy and indirect solar energy. Direct solar energy uses a one step process in transferring it into usable energy. An example of direct solar energy would be sunlight striking a solar cell in which electricity is immediately generated or sunlight absorbed by a fibre optic cable that is attached to the outside of a building and lights the inside.
Indirect solar energy uses more than one step to achieve maximum solar energy. Examples of indirect solar energy would be hydroelectric dams or wind turbines that derive their energy from the solar-caused wind, rain, or other such climate interactions.
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