It is interesting to note that when man was created, his needs were all around him. Some were obvious such as food and water, but other needs needed discovery like solar energy. Solar energy is the most ancient kind of energy known to man, however, man started researching it in the early 19th century.
It is unknown when people started using the sun for uses other than growing food. History records that Greeks used the sun when the Romans came to attack by holding hundreds of mirrors along the tops of their city walls. The sun reflected off the mirrors facing the sails of the Roman ships. The sails burst into flames and the Roman ships were destroyed. In 1839, Alexandre Edmond Becquerel explained how electricity can be generated from the sun. In 1866, a French scientist, Auguste Mouchot, was ordered by Napoleon III to devise ways of using the sun’s energy. He designed the first known solar cooker.
The sun is an enormous star compared to the Earth. The distance between the sun and the Earth is approximately 93 million miles and light from the sun takes about eight minutes and twenty seconds to travel the great distance. Scientists estimate that the sun is made up of about 70% hydrogen and 28% helium with traces of many other elements that make up the other 2%. The surface of the sun, also known as the photosphere, gives off energy in the form of heat and light. The interior of the sun is a region where the gases are dense and the temperatures are very high (up to 27 million
Solar energy and its use isn’t new to the world. It has been used by various societies beginning from 7thCentury B.C, when the sun’s heat was concentrated by glass and mirrors to light fires. Today, we have everything from solar-powered buildings to solar-powered vehicles. By and large solar technology has some environmental, economic, psychological and ethical implications for our society. Actions taken by companies and individuals to increase the use of solar technology will create good local jobs, improve our environment and reduce our dependence on foreign oil while doing what’s ethical and moral for our society.
When all of our natural fossil fuels are low or gone, solar energy will be one of the leading sources of energy that we will need in the future.
Sun and fire are the means of survival by the people as long as they exist in Earth. According to Knudson (2004), solar energy was used for greenhouses and cold frames, at least by the wealthy. The -2- invention of glass made it possible to turn some rooms into veritable "solar furnaces", using the "heat trap" principle, the basis of solar box cookers. Solar efforts include the success of early people in using the sun's energy to heat and cool living spaces. In Knudson’s paper “The Art of Solar Cooking; Early Uses of the Sun to Serve Humanity” discusses about the ancient invertors and how ancient people uses Sun or Solar Energy in many ways.
Imagine a world without light, a world filled with so much darkness that it would be nearly impossible to see anything, to use anything or to even function. A world without light would be a world without energy, without being able to use our phones 24/7, a world without all the comforts, mainly a world with hardships and struggles. We live in a world where energy is needed for everything. Nothing really works without electricity. For example, Energy is constantly being used to charge cellular devices, warm food in the microwave or even to charge electrical cars. The world is shifting it went from the extracting of unnatural fossil fuels to the discovery of a more natural way call solar energy. In order to know how crucial solar energy is it
Modern science tells us that the Sun is a big hot ball of hydrogen at the center of the Solar System, and all the planets orbit around it. But ancient people didn’t have access to the same scientific tools we have today. Their understanding about the Sun was much more primitive, and often… wrong. Let’s investigate the history of the Sun.
According to my research about solar energy I recommend that FPL develop more solar energy production facilities and assist individual homeowners in applying solar panels to their homes. My recommendation is based on many factors. One of the major factors for considering solar energy is that Florida is almost always sunny. There are about 8 hours of sunlight for a normal day and it seems logical to harness the sun’s energy for our needs.
Throughout the entire history of mankind, the technological advancements that civilisations have made have always been tied in with the development of energy sources. The first human energy technology was fire, along with human labour as the major energy source. This has bee supplemented by animals for agriculture and transportation since at least the dawn of agriculture some 10,000 years ago. Wind and waterpower for milling grain have also been used nearly as long.
Solar power is nothing completely new; it has been used for years to power small devices from calculators to watches, but what is new is its improved efficiency. Solar panels can be used to collect energy from the sun and now are being used on a much larger scale. Homeowners and business can use energy generated from the panels to power their homes and offices and have it purchased by energy suppliers. Solar power is proving to be an economical energy source available to the public that is consumer friendly.
Solar energy is the most ancient kind of energy found on earth, for it is as old as the sun. "Solar" means from the sun. The earth is only one of the many planets which is bathed in the sun's overflowing energy. Every second the world receives 95.8 trillion watts of power…just think about that for a minute. Think about how much power the earth just received in the time it took you to read this sentence? It is well beyond the amount of power used in one day. It has the potential to satisfy all our energy needs forever without ever having to use the pollutive fossil fuels ever again. "The problem however, does not lie in the limited source, as do fossil fuels, but in harnessing
Every single person who lives on Earth has once seen that big ball of fire in the sky we call the sun. However, what does this bright light do other than blind our eyes and make us wear sunglasses? The sun is a large star that is located in the center of our solar system that is responsible for many things such as Earth’s gravity, temperature, and climate. This celestial star also provides a bright, shining light throughout the entire solar system we use to see, even at night when the moon reflects the light from the sun off of its surface. The sun is able to produce such as vast amount of luminous energy because of its extreme temperatures. Near the center of the sun the temperatures can reach as high as 15 million degrees Celsius while the sun’s surface still reaches a staggering temperature of 5600 degrees Celsius. (Sharp) Now obviously the Earth is not this hot because of how far the distance is between our planet and the sun, but it can still get extremely hot during the summer months. This just shows how powerful the sun is and how much it controls in our solar system. Even though the sun can get really annoying with its heatwaves and sun burns, we really do not appreciate how much that flaming ball does for the Earth we live on. For example, without the sun’s heat it provides, every body of water above ground and below would be completely frozen. Everything living on Earth from the small bacteria that inhabit mold to the animals that thrive in the
Solar energy is an eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuels. Our planet has been experiencing an average increase in global temperatures. Slowly but surely our planet is deteriorating, unless we change our form of energy into a greener alternative. Deterioration of our planet may occur at a faster rate. The depletion of fossil fuels is detrimental to our environment. By substituting fossil fuels with the solar energy, our planet will benefit. These benefits include: reduced climate change, beneficial economic opportunities on both a large scale benefitting our government and on a smaller scale helping individuals decrease their energy bills, and solar energy is renewable and sustainable.
When thinking of starting a contracting business for solar panels, many economic issues and concerns play a factor in the decision making process. Having a concern for the environment and knowing that solar panels have a cost saving for both households and business seems to be reason enough to start a business. However, before making such a financial investment you should first take a look solar panels in the economy in terms of (i) GDP growth rate, (ii) interest rates, (iii) level of unemployment, (iv) business cycle, (v) fiscal policy, (vi) monetary policy, (vii) international trade, and (viii) demographic.
Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work,” he said of his method of experimentation. “When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the ways that will work.” Up until the late 1830’s electricity was derived from many non-renewable sources such as coal, oil, and natural gases. These are also known as fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are the major energy sources that are being used in the world today. The production of fossil fuels account for more than one-third of U.S global emissions, which trap heat, steadily drive up the plant’s temperature, and create harmful impacts on our health, our environment, and our climate. Their sources are limited and depleting at a faster
Abstract: The current energy situation with fossil fuels as the main source of the world’s energy has two main flaws: fossil fuels contribute to global warming via the greenhouse effect and they are limited in the quantity that remains. Solar power solves both of these problems and can be captured by utilizing photovoltaic cells. However, photovoltaic cells have their own drawbacks due to their high costs of installation and maintenance.
The use of sunlight is to supply the needs of humans like energy is a primary source to survival on earth. The sun’s energy is able to feed animal need’s. Only green plants are able to convert the energy from the sun into fuel and food. Most of our food and fuel are made through the sun with a process of photosynthesis.