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Solar Energy

Solar Energy. Energy From the Sun By: Peachy Bethune, Claire Jennings, and Claire Rogozinski. What is Solar Energy?. It is the power of the sun rays that reach the Earth Its renewable and clean It has been in use for about a decade It is harnessed by solar panels

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Solar Energy

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  1. Solar Energy Energy From the Sun By: Peachy Bethune, Claire Jennings, and Claire Rogozinski

  2. What is Solar Energy? • It is the power of the sun rays that reach the Earth • Its renewable and clean • It has been in use for about a decade • It is harnessed by solar panels • Also called electromagnetic radiation

  3. Where do you find it? • It comes from the sun • It can be found all over the world • It is produced every second

  4. How does the sun generate Solar Energy? • Its produced in a spectrum or range of different lengths called wavelengths • The waves are made of the combined electrical and magnetic energy • The speed of the light is 299,792,458 miles per second • Energy is produced by the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in its core • The energy comes from the core of the sun • Only a little bit of the sun’s energy reaches earth

  5. What is Solar Energy used for? • Creates electricity • Dries clothing • Lights homes • Heats buildings • Can power small airplanes and cars • Powers lighthouses

  6. What equipment generates Solar Energy? • Solar panels • Solar cells • Heliostats • Solar furnaces • Can be stored in large batteries video.google.com/.webloc

  7. Solar Panels • Made of groups of solar cells that function as semi-conductors • Made of silicon, phosphorus, and boron • Expensive and hard to produce • Silicon cells are encased inside non-reflective glass panels • One plate of cells is made silicon and phosphorus, and the other is made of silicon and boron • The two plates are connected by conductive wires • Metal plates are placed on the top and bottom of each cell to channel energy

  8. What is Silicon? • The atom has four electrons • Its an element • It always looks for a way to fill its outer shell • When it combines with another silicon atom the shell becomes full and produces neither negative or positive charges AKA pure crystallite silicon • Atomic number fourteen • Used to make solar panels

  9. How do solar panels work? • When sunlight strikes the solar panels a certain amount is absorbed by the solar cell • The energy or heat gained from the sunlight or photons excites atoms and knocks loose the extra electron from the phosphorus atom • The extra electron from the silicon and phosphorus combo transfers to the free space in the silicon and boron combo creating an electrical charge • The charge is channeled by metal contacts into an inverter • The invertor changes the electrical current into basic voltage and AC electrical power

  10. Advantages • Renewable resource • Free • Clean • Silent • Low maintenance • Improving • Easy to install

  11. Disadvantages • Equipment is expensive • Weather can affect it • Doesn't’t generate at night • Pollution can affect solar cells • Location • Space issues • A substantial amount of pollution is made when solar panels are manufactured

  12. Fun Facts • If the sun were to disappear we would still have 8 minutes of energy • Albert Einstein was awarded a Nobel Peace prize in 1921 for experiments with solar power and photovoltaic • In the U.S. there are more than 10,000 homes that are run off of completely solar power • In 1990 an airplane successfully used solar energy to cross the United states

  13. Fun Facts cont. • The temperature of the core of the sun is 27,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit • Scientists have discovered the Sun will exhaust its hydrogen energy in about 5 billion years • The largest solar energy plant takes place in Canada • Less than 5% of stars in the milky way are brighter or more massive than the Sun

  14. The End! Hope you learned something new about solar energy!

  15. Bibliography • Richards, Julie. Solar Power. First. South Yarra, Australia: MACMILLAN EDUCATION AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, 2003. • Gibson, Diane. Solar Power. North Mankato, Minnesota: Smart Apple Media, 2002. • Sherman, Josepha. Solar Power. Mankato, Minnesota: Capstone Press, 2004. • Parker, Steve. Solar Power. Gareth Stevens, 2004. • Unknown, . "Solar Furnace Facts." . N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar 2012. http://www.ehow.co.uk/ • Coffey, Jerry. "How does the sun produce energy." . N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar 2012. <http://www.universetoday.com/75803/how-does-the-sun- produce-energy/>. • Want to know it, . "How do solar panels work." . N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar 2012. <http://wanttoknowit.com/how-do-solar-panels-work/>.

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