Learn about solar energy from the Department of Energy It's a little cloudy

Interest in solar energy as an energy source rises and sets, along with tax credits that promote their growth. Because I am basically a kid at heart, I visited the website of Child's Energy Energy Information Administration to learn more.

Energy Information Administration (EIA), created by Congress in 1977, is a statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy. Our mission is to provide policy-neutral data, forecasts and analysis to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets and public understanding regarding energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.

Children's Home Energy begins in a friendly in a way that even I could understand

The sun has produced energy for billions of years. Solar energy is the sun's rays (solar radiation) that reach the Earth.

Some of this solar energy is converted into heat, which is used to heat water and interior construction.

So far, so good.

Solar energy can be converted to electricity in two ways

Photovoltaic (PV devices) or solar cells - change sunlight directly into electricity. Photovoltaic systems are often used in remote locations not connected to the mains. They are also used for watches, calculators, and lighted signs roads.
Solar Power Plants - indirectly generate electricity when the heat from solar thermal collectors to heat a fluid which produces steam that is used for power generation. Of the 15 units known solar electric generating operating in the United States in late 2006, 10 of them are in California, and 5 in Arizona. No statistics are being collected on solar plants that produce less than 1 megawatt of electricity, which can be small solar power plants in a number of other states.

With childlike wonder, I pressed further, wanting to learn energy efficiency, renewable solar energy can help reduce fossil fuel generated electricity (half of which comes from burning coal, which in turn creates the 104 tons of mercury each year we have the pleasure of breathing, eating and drinking).

So they dug in Section Photovoltaic. Without warning or adequate disclosure, the boy Energy page sent me back to college for a doctorate in electronics. (Guys Seriously, do you really think your kid's page is kid-friendly)

With quick search on Google, I found an online university and enrolled, studied day and night for four weeks, I have my doctorate, and now I'm happy to give this kid-friendly explanation of solar energy.

We will shed light on the PV and the three types of solar power plants.

Photovoltaic Solar Energy

Photovoltaics is the conversion of sunlight into electricity. A photovoltaic cell, commonly called a solar cell or photovoltaic technology is used to convert solar energy directly into electrical energy. The solar cell is a nonmechanical device usually made from silicon alloys.

Sunlight has photons. Photons have energy. The solar cell crashed by photons and absorbs some of them. Other bounce right off, such as basketballs or pass through as ghosts.The absorbed photons hit electrons out of place. The electrons are the things that electricity is made. The electron bubble to the surface of solar cell.This movement to the surface creates an imbalance. When connecting a cable from the solar cell to an external battery, you create a path that electrons follow. That flow is battery power.

A single solar cell will power the calculator and curiosity, but not much else. In 1 or 2 watts, it is necessary to connect a lot together to get some real juice flow. This is known as a matrix, and can include as many cells as you can afford. Certainly, a case the more you spend, the more you save.

No Stick It Where the sun do not shine

Sunlight is constant - the clouds and fog are not. Weather conditions have a significant effect on the amount of solar energy received by a photovoltaic generator, and turn performance. PV modules most current technology are about 10 percent efficiency in converting sunlight. Further research is underway to increase this efficiency to 20 percent.

AC  DC Conversion

The battery includes direct current (DC). You need to alternating current (AC) flowing through the light fixtures. Solid state devices called inverters convert DC power to AC. Problem solved.

Summary of Energy Photovoltaics, or solar photovoltaic cells absorb the slings and arrows of outrageous photons from the sun, which pushes the electrons to the cell surface, where the shops making it flow through a wire to a battery. To break with the investor to make usable energy from the battery. However, the 10% efficiency, which suck big in poorly lit areas constantly, as in Sweden in November to January, when almost dark and light your way with grease seal candles and lamps Ikea accent.

The next step, children (and I'll keep it friendly)

Solar thermal power plants

Solar thermal power plants use the sun's rays to heat a fluid that is put into the water and turns into steam. The steam drives a turbine that drives a conventional generator which generates electricity. Solar thermal power generation works essentially the same as that from fossil fuels, except that instead of using the steam produced by burning fossil fuels, steam is produced by the heat collected from sunlight. Solar thermal technologies use concentrator systems due to the high temperatures needed to heat the fluid.

In short, replace fossil fuels with solar energy to run the turbines that generate electricity.

The three main types of solar thermal systems are

1. parabolic trough
2. solar disk, and
3. solar tower


Parabolic trough

The most common type of solar power plant, parabolic trough collectors are used in most solar energy installation in the world located in the Mojave Desert at Kramer Junction, California. This facility has operated since the early 1980 and represents the majority of solar electricity produced by the power sector today.

A parabola is U-shaped The parabolic trough is like a magnifying glass it takes sunlight and focuses it a point to warm it. That point is in a tower, surrounded by all the parabolic trough. The place is heated to 400 degrees Celsius. The parable can follow the movement of the sun during the day in order to maximize sunlight.

The place is filled with heated fluid. This fluid flows to heat water and generate steam. The steam drives a turbine that drives a conventional generator which generates electricity. The liquid to cool slightly and returned to the point of the tower to be heated to 400 degrees.

The plant is usually designed to operate at full rated power using solar energy alone given sufficient solar energy. However, all plants are hybrid plants solar  fossil with a capacity of fossil fuels that can be used to supplement solar radiation during periods of low solar energy. This goes against the purpose of generating renewable energy, but scientists think they know what they are doing.

The solar dishes

A solar dish  engine system utilizes the concentration of solar collectors that track the sun in two axes, concentrating the energy at the focal point of the dish (the box, which protrudes from the center of it) as always is pointed at the sun.

Solar antenna ratio of concentration is much greater than the solar trough, typically over 2,000, with a working fluid temperature over 750 degrees Celsius. The power generating equipment used with a solar disk can be mounted at the focal point of the antenna, making it suitable for remote operations or, as in the parabolic trough, power can be gleaned from a series of facilities and electricity becomes a central point.

The engine in a solar dish  engine system converts heat into mechanical energy by compressing the working fluid when it is cold, heating the compressed working fluid, and then expanding the fluid through a turbine or a piston to produce work . The engine is mated to an electric generator to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy.

Solar Power Tower

A solar power tower or central receiver generates electricity from sunlight by focusing concentrated solar energy in a heat exchanger mounted on the tower (the receiver).

This system uses hundreds of thousands of flat sun-tracking mirrors called heliostats to reflect and concentrate the sun's energy onto a central receiver tower. The energy can be concentrated up to 1,500 times the energy from the sun. The thermal energy loss energy transport are minimized solar energy is directly transferred by reflection from the heliostats to a single receiver, rather than being moved through a transfer medium to a central location, like parabolic trough. Power towers must be large to be profitable. This is a promising technology for large power plants connected to the network. Though power towers are in the early stages of development compared with the technology of parabolic trough collectors, a number of laboratories have been built worldwide.

What we learned today

We learned that solar energy can be used to heat water and interior.

Then we learned that solar energy can be converted into electricity using photovoltaic cells and solar thermal power plants. Photovoltaic cells take in photons, pushing aside the electrons. Electrons, seeking a new home, travel en masse through a cable to the new land called the battery. Solar thermal power plants work by focusing sunlight to heat a fluid and the liquid converts water into steam, which runs a turbine, the turbine is the engine to run an electric generator.

And most importantly, we learned that no matter what the label something as being designed for children, does not mean that it is. I think we should call the Department of Commerce for enforcing the Truth in labeling with the Department of Energy's Energy kid's page, one of the most hostile websites for children known as humanity. And now I'm going downtown to file a claim for reimbursement of my tuition expensive line of the thesis I had to just understand this page Children of Energy.