1/30/2021 Solar energy -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

Solar energy
Solar energy, radiation from the Sun capable of producing
TABLE OF CONTENTS
heat, causing chemical reactions, or generating electricity.
The total amount of solar energy incident on Earth is vastly in Introduction
excess of the world’s current and anticipated energy Thermal energy

requirements. If suitably harnessed, this highly diffused Electricity generation

source has the potential to satisfy all future energy needs. In Other applications

the 21st century solar energy is expected to become

increasingly attractive as a renewable energy source because
of its inexhaustible supply and its nonpolluting character, in stark contrast to the finite fossil
fuels coal, petroleum, and natural gas.

The Sun is an extremely powerful energy source, and

sunlight is by far the largest source of energy received
by Earth, but its intensity at Earth’s surface is actually
quite low. This is essentially because of the enormous
radial spreading of radiation from the distant Sun. A
relatively minor additional loss is due to Earth’s
solar panels
Solar panel array on a rooftop.
atmosphere and clouds, which absorb or scatter as much
© flucas/Fotolia as 54 percent of the incoming sunlight. The sunlight that
reaches the ground consists of nearly 50 percent visible
light, 45 percent infrared radiation, and smaller amounts of ultraviolet and other forms of
electromagnetic radiation.

The potential for solar energy is enormous, since about

200,000 times the world’s total daily electric-generating
capacity is received by Earth every day in the form of
solar energy. Unfortunately, though solar energy itself is
free, the high cost of its collection, conversion, and
storage still limits its exploitation in many places. Solar
solar energy
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Reflection and absorption of solar energy.

radiation can be converted either into thermal energy
Although some incoming sunlight is reflected
by Earth's atmosphere and surface, most is (heat) or into electrical energy, though the former is
absorbed by the surface, which is warmed.
© Merriam-Webster Inc.
easier to accomplish.

Thermal energy
solar energy potential
Earth's photovoltaic power potential.
Among the most common devices used to capture solar
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny
Chmielewski energy and convert it to thermal energy are flat-plate
collectors, which are used for solar heating applications.
Because the intensity of solar radiation at Earth’s surface is so low, these collectors must be
large in area. Even in sunny parts of the world’s temperate regions, for instance, a collector
must have a surface area of about 40 square metres (430 square feet) to gather enough energy
to serve the energy needs of one person.

The most widely used flat-plate collectors consist of a blackened metal plate, covered with one
or two sheets of glass, that is heated by the sunlight falling on it. This heat is then transferred
to air or water, called carrier fluids, that flow past the back of the plate. The heat may be used
directly, or it may be transferred to another medium for storage. Flat-plate collectors are
commonly used for solar water heaters and house heating. The storage of heat for use at night
or on cloudy days is commonly accomplished by using insulated tanks to store the water
heated during sunny periods. Such a system can supply a home with hot water drawn from the
storage tank, or, with the warmed water flowing through tubes in floors and ceilings, it can
provide space heating. Flat-plate collectors typically heat carrier fluids to temperatures ranging
from 66 to 93 °C (150 to 200 °F). The efficiency of such collectors (i.e., the proportion of the
energy received that they convert into usable energy) ranges from 20 to 80 percent, depending
on the design of the collector.

Another method of thermal energy conversion is found

solar heating
A building roof with flat-plate collectors that in solar ponds, which are bodies of salt water designed
capture solar energy to heat air or water.
Alan Mak
to collect and store solar energy. The heat extracted from
such ponds enables the production of chemicals, food,
textiles, and other industrial products and can also be used to warm greenhouses, swimming

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pools, and livestock buildings. Solar ponds are sometimes used to produce electricity through
the use of the organic Rankine cycle engine, a relatively efficient and economical means of
solar energy conversion, which is especially useful in remote locations. Solar ponds are fairly
expensive to install and maintain and are generally limited to warm rural areas.

On a smaller scale, the Sun’s energy can also be harnessed to cook food in specially designed
solar ovens. Solar ovens typically concentrate sunlight from over a wide area to a central
point, where a black-surfaced vessel converts the sunlight into heat. The ovens are typically
portable and require no other fuel inputs.

Electricity generation
solar-powered cookstove
A solar-powered cookstove in the Potala
Palace, Lhasa, Tibet.
Solar radiation may be converted directly into electricity
© Elena Slepitskaya/Dreamstime.com by solar cells (photovoltaic cells). In such cells, a small
electric voltage is generated when light strikes the
junction between a metal and a semiconductor (such as silicon) or the junction between two
different semiconductors. (See photovoltaic effect.) The power generated by a single
photovoltaic cell is typically only about two watts. By connecting large numbers of individual
cells together, however, as in solar-panel arrays, hundreds or even thousands of kilowatts of
electric power can be generated in a solar electric plant or in a large household array. The
energy efficiency of most present-day photovoltaic cells is only about 15 to 20 percent, and,
since the intensity of solar radiation is low to begin with, large and costly assemblies of such
cells are required to produce even moderate amounts of power.

Small photovoltaic cells that operate on sunlight or

solar cell
When sunlight strikes a solar cell, an artificial light have found major use in low-power
electron is freed by the photoelectric effect.
applications—as power sources for calculators and
The two dissimilar semiconductors possess a
natural difference in electric potential watches, for example. Larger units have been used to
(voltage), which causes the electrons to flow
through the external circuit, supplying power provide power for water pumps and communications
to the load. The flow of electricity results
systems in remote areas and for weather and
from the characteristics of the
semiconductors and is powered entirely by communications satellites. Classic crystalline silicon
light striking the cell.
panels and emerging technologies using thin-film solar
© Merriam-Webster Inc.

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cells, including building-integrated photovoltaics, can be

installed by homeowners and businesses on their rooftops to replace or augment the
conventional electric supply.

Concentrated solar power plants employ concentrating,

solar power
Single-family house with solar panels on the or focusing, collectors to concentrate sunlight received
roof.
from a wide area onto a small blackened receiver,
© Andreas Weber/Dreamstime.com
thereby considerably increasing the light’s intensity in
order to produce high temperatures. The arrays of carefully aligned mirrors or lenses can focus
enough sunlight to heat a target to temperatures of 2,000 °C (3,600 °F) or more. This heat can
then be used to operate a boiler, which in turn generates steam for a steam turbine electric
generator power plant. For producing steam directly, the movable mirrors can be arranged so
as to concentrate large amounts of solar radiation upon blackened pipes through which water
is circulated and thereby heated.

Other applications
concentrated solar-power plant
Nevada Solar One, a concentrated solar-
Solar energy is also used on a small scale for purposes
power plant.
PRNewsFoto/ACCIONA/AP Images other than those described above. In some countries, for
instance, solar energy is used to produce salt from
solar reflector
seawater by evaporation. Similarly, solar-powered
One of the reflectors at the Solar Two power
plant, Mojave Desert, California. desalination units transform salt water into drinking
kjkolb
water by converting the Sun’s energy to heat, directly or
indirectly, to drive the desalination process.

Solar technology has also emerged for the clean and renewable production of hydrogen as an
alternative energy source. Mimicking the process of photosynthesis, artificial leaves are
silicon-based devices that use solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, leaving
virtually no pollutants. Further work is needed to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness
of these devices for industrial use.

S. Ashok The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Citation Information
Article Title: Solar energy
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 01 June 2020
URL: https://www.britannica.com/science/solar-energy
Access Date: January 30, 2021

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