Have you ever wondered why the world isn’t taking advantage of the energy that our sun offers us? It’s free and it’s always there. Unlike natural gas or oil, which gets depleted, solar energy is clean and renewable.
Such energy will still be around, even when we humans won’t be. Other renewable energy sources include hydroelectricity and wind, or the use of water to run turbines to generate electricity. If you’re interested in solar energy, here is a guide for you.
What is solar energy?
The sun has been our source of life. Most of the energy on Earth comes from the sun. This star keeps us warm, helps us grow plants to consume and to feed our animals. Flora and fauna from the past depended on the sun’s energy to thrive too.
When they died, their bodies broke down and became fossil fuel. Today, this product today is usually refined and used to provide energy for machines and vehicles. Unfortunately, this energy source won’t last since it’s not renewable. This is where solar energy comes in. Even if you run your vehicle or machines all day, every day, you cannot deplete the energy of the sun – that is, if we can harness this energy effectively. Solar power is the use of solar energy directly to produce electricity or heat.
Research on the importance of solar energy
In harnessing the energy of the sun, we must be very careful. If it’s not done right, it can affect the environment negatively. For instance, in a study done by a professor and his students, they found out that a huge amount of valuable agricultural land and forest habitat is disappearing because of solar farms development. They conducted this research to examine the effects of solar farms on rural areas. According to the findings, the land used by the development of solar farms is equal to about a third of Worchester city’s land area!
They also found that in today’s solar farms’ sighting regulations, the developers didn’t take into account the environmental effects. This means that the development of solar farms has caused the loss of forests and the environment’s fragmentation, both of which aren’t good for various species.
In addition, the researchers voiced their concerns about transforming agricultural fields to solar farms since doing this will take the lands out of production. It was further discovered that solar farms could range in size from the equivalent of one-fifth of the size of a football field to the equivalent of twenty-six football fields. The researchers also suggested that there is a chance to encourage more solar panel development on the rooftops of urban areas where there is the highest demand for electricity.
Learn about solar energy through essay samples
Whenever you try to learn about important issues for a college assignment, you need to find sources that provide reliable information for students. For example, when you’re learning about solar energy and you have an assignment, you need to do some research. If you’re stuck, you can always reach out to do my research paper service StudyClerk. Here, you can go through many solar energy articles for students that will help you while you’re learning solar energy and how it affects us.
Harnessing solar energy for electricity
Photovoltaic cells absorb light and convert it into electricity directly. A group of these cells is commonly called a solar panel. Many of us have seen these solar panels installed on electric road signs, parking areas, or in houses to provide light.
Houses powered by solar panels now purchase less electricity from the utility companies since they produce some electricity on their own. If they have more solar panels, they can even generate more power than they need. In some states, this could mean that people can run their electric meter backward, then give their excess electricity to the rest of the people in the community.
Harnessing solar energy for heat
You can use solar power to heat air or water and you can do this actively or passively. With passive heating systems, you would use solar energy without using mechanical parts for moving the heated air or water elsewhere. You may include this passive heating in the design before construction.
Conclusion
Solar power is renewable energy generated by the sun in the form of either thermal or electric energy. We can capture solar energy in different ways but the most common of these is through the use of photovoltaic solar panel systems that convert the rays of the sun into energy we can use.
There is a growing field of study that combines agriculture and solar called Agrivoltaics. Interesting things are happening on that front.