Solar power works by converting energy from the sun into power. There are two forms of energy generated from the sun for our use – electricity and heat. Both are generated through the use of solar panels, which range in size from residential rooftops to ‘solar farms’ stretching over acres of rural land. Is solar power a clean energy source?
The resulting flow of electrons forms a small electrical current in each cell. Another way of capturing the Sun’s energy is converting it into heat. Concentrating solar-thermal power plants, for instance, use mirrors and lenses to reflect and focus sunlight to heat water or other liquids.
Learn solar energy technology basics: solar radiation, photovoltaics (PV), concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP), grid integration, and soft costs.
While the energy source is the same – the sun – the technology in each system is different. Solar PV is based on the photovoltaic effect, by which a photon (the basic unit of light) impacts a semi-conductor surface like silicon and generates the release of an electron.
Yes, it can – solar power only requires some level of daylight in order to harness the sun’s energy. That said, the rate at which solar panels generate electricity does vary depending on the amount of direct sunlight and the quality, size, number and location of panels in use.
As the Sun shines on the cell, photons (minuscule packets of light energy) knock electrons off the silicon atoms, in what’s known as the photoelectric effect. The resulting flow of electrons forms a small electrical current in each cell. Another way of capturing the Sun’s energy is converting it into heat.