Hello children! Or otherwise, parents who want to explain to their children how important and relevant solar energy is. We at SunPower by EcoSolar USA appreciate your visit here to our website and would like to extend our gratitude by helping you understand what solar energy really is about and how it affects all of our lives in the world.
Remember that lesson back in elementary (or was it kindergarten?) where the teacher revealed to us all that our very own bright and shining Mr. Sun is actually a really close star? That was quite a revelation, wasn’t it? What this means, however, is that the sun, like all the stars in the universe, produce tremendous amounts of heat and light. Not being able to look at the sun directly without damaging your eye is enough proof of this already– we are also against that idea, don’t try it please, it can cause blindness.
Rest assured, the sun, is one big ball of flame which makes our life possible. Since the sun also produces heat and light on a regular basis and possibly can for about billions of years more, it has lots of energy.
- Energy is the capacity or power to do work.
- This work can be anything from heating something, moving something, or providing light.
- The energy released and emitted by the sun is called solar energy.
- Solar energy does indeed heat our planet and our distance to the sun can even cause changes in seasons like Summer or Winter.
So yes, the sun has lots of energy that just blows off like hot air. However, the best and smartest of human beings have learned that this energy from the sun can be put to good use, after all, that is a lot of free energy. Apart from the heat we receive from the sun, we also need the energy to make our devices do work, such as the TV, refrigerator, or the oven. We also certainly need light from light bulbs, and no amount of heat from the sun can power these since they need electricity and not direct heat.
- Electricity is another form of energy that occurs as a natural phenomenon in nature.
- It revolves around particles called electrons which generate energy when they move and bounce against each other, creating electricity.
That is why the pioneers of solar energy in our planet have invented something called solar panels, and these can collect the light from the sun and convert them into usable electricity.
The conception of solar panels
How do they do this? Well, the process involves complex engineering and technological breakthroughs but essentially, the solar panels are pretty much giant flat batteries that have lots of electrons inside. When the panels absorb sunlight, they split and knock the electrons around which are contained inside the panels, thus, the movement of the electrons generate electricity.
So more solar panels mean more electricity generated for a particular building or group of buildings.
No sunshine when it is gone
What happens when the sun is down? Well, that is a common question regarding solar energy, but the answer is more obvious than most people think. No sun, no heat or light, then no energy, hence why it is so cold at night along with the lack of natural light from the sky, save for the moon or distant stars.
Of course, solar panels would consequently stop working once the sun is down but can resume harvesting sunlight again once the sun rises. Basically, solar energy is only available during the daylight. However, this does not mean solar panels are inefficient because of this. Often, these devices would produce excess electricity during daytime which can then be stored through different methods, making the energy generated during daytime enough for the whole night, usually.
So now that you know what solar energy is and how it is useful to us as well as some methods on how to make use of it, check out our other content on this website. We at SunPower by EcoSolar USA have plenty more we would like to show you in order to get started with solar energy. Together, we can learn about new things and use them to improve our lives.