Solar: Passive by gallaros17128

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Solar: Passive

Published on Dec 01, 2015

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sam gallaro & kelsey wilder

Renewable energy
Extracts heat and energy from the vibration and movement of atoms/molecules within a substance
The more movement, the more energy can be produced
Ex: Thermal Power Plant- chemical energy is pumped into a boiler to be burned into thermal energy, water is added and boiled to turn into steam, the steam now has a high pressure which is used to turn a turbine which generates electricity
Heat generation
Benefit(s): do not need to convert energy to another form in order to store it, do not rely on battery technology, and are carbon-free
Used as alternative for fossil fuels (i.e., coals and gas)
Different from PV energy because thermal indirectly generates electricity

Renewable
Electrical generation
Use semiconductors, such as silicon, to produce energy from collected sunlight
Commonly seen on homes and large buildings
When sunlight hits the semiconductors electrons are freed and move across this cell, this creates an electrical current to produce energy
Limitation(s): Due to low efficiency of only 15%, an expansive amount of this energy would be needed to generate larger amounts of energy

Renewable
Collects existing heat generated by the sun to heat surrounding enclosed areas
sun rays; light --> heating generation
Ex: A hot car after sitting in the sun - rays from the sun enter through the windows, rays are absorbed by the seats, panels, and floor, the heat is trapped and warms the car's interior
Benefit(s): Can be used to cut winter time heating bill in your home and improve comfort
This kind of solar heating is what makes greenhouse gases effective towards plants year round

Renewable
Uses external sources of energy to power equipment to store an amount of solar energy, larger than the amount of energy used in order to collect
Energy from the sun is absorbed and stored to later generate electricity
Benefit(s): Can generate much more heat than a passive system