Solar


 * Organized Solar information page link**

Oil rocks A Solar panel using the sun.
 * Student Groups:**
 * **Student Names** || **Wikispaces Usernames** || ** Responsible for Researching This: ** ||
 * Madison Hector || Madison.H2020 || how is energy produced from the source ||
 * Cameron Richardson Oil disadvantages || crichardson15 ||  ||
 * *Jacob Hess ||  || Advantages and Disadvantages, how it works. ||
 * Abby Palmer || abigailelizabeth10 || Everyday objects that are transformed to use solar energy ||
 * Chase Morgan || Chay-z.morgan97 ||  ||
 * Gillian Baldwin ||  ||   ||
 * *Imani J. || Imani_4683 || how is energy produced from the source? ||
 * Maddie Hughes || madalynhughes || Cost of using Solar Energy ||
 * Levi Smith || Levi.S || What things use solar energy ||
 * Matt Prussman ||  ||   ||
 * Madi Grooms || madi8671 || how do solar panels work, effects on the environment ||
 * Madi Clabaugh || madi.c || facts about solar ||



A solar panel thingy that sucks the sun's energy up for power.

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WEBSITE: http://www.thesolarenergyfacts.net/
 * One Million Earths could fit inside of the the Sun
 * Sunlight takes 8.3 minutes to reach earth’s outer atmosphere. The sun could disappear and we would still receive sunlight for 8 minutes
 * In one hour, enough sunlight strikes the Earth to provide the entire planet’s energy needs for one year.
 * Fossil Fuel is a form of stored solar energy. Biomass that formerly used Solar energy has been changed into fuel by earth’s geologic activity.
 * About 50% of that sunlight reaches earth and is absorbed by its surface. Approximately 30% of the sunlight is reflected back by the earth’s surface.
 * About 1,366 watts per square meter of energy reaches the earth atmosphere. Depending on location, about 1,000 watts per square meter reaches the ground per hour.

There are two types of solar energy technology that are currently used: Photovoltaic and Thermal. [|Solar thermal energy] actually seems to hold some of the largest potential as far as electrical production goes. Some of the largest electrical plants currently in the nation — for that matter, in the world — is created by solar thermal energy, as opposed to by photovoltaic cells. WEBSITE: http://www.thesolarenergyfacts.net/
 * Photovoltaic Energy** is created when sunlight photons hit a solar panel, knocking electrons in the material loose and creating an electrical current. Here is a more in-depth explanation I’ve written on [|how solar panels work].
 * Solar Thermal Energy** is turning out to be much easier to harness. We all know the sun gives off heat, so solar thermal energy is simply harnessing that heat via collectors and using it to power solar-powered electricity plants, roof-mounted hot water heaters and solar pool warmers.

Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. The 354 MW [|SEGS] CSP installation is the largest solar power plant in the world, located in the [|Mojave Desert] of California. Other large CSP plants include the [|Solnova Solar Power Station] (150 MW) and the [|Andasol solar power station] (150 MW), both in Spain. The 200 MW [|Golmud Solar Park] in [|China], is the [|world’s largest] [|photovoltaic plant].
 * Solar power** is the conversion of [|sunlight] into [|electricity], either directly using [|photovoltaics] (PV), or indirectly using [|concentrated solar power] (CSP). Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaics convert light into electric current using the [|photoelectric effect].[|[][|1][|]]

WEBSITES: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power

Advantages: is free, needs no fuel, and produces no waste or pollution. Can be used in other countries when they don't have much electricity. Finally, it can reduce bills significantly. Disadvantages: Does not work at night. Can get very expensive to build stations for the pads. Can be unreliable if you are not in a sunny area. WEBSITE: http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/solar.htm#adv

How exactly does solar energy work? Solar panels need a specific location to be placed. This site needs to be where the panels can get an abundant number of sun. Then they get the panels from the manufacture and install them. Inside these panels there are photovoltaic (PV) cells. When sunlight (photons) strike the PV cell, some photons pass right through,some are reflected and the other photons are absorbed. The absorbed photons hitelectrons and make them lose their place around the nucleus of the atom.The electrons then cross a barrier that’s located inside the panels.

WEBSITE: http://www.webmutations.com/energy/reports/present/repsolar.html

Solar panels work by silicon. When it is stripped of all impurities, it has a neutral charge. So 2 plates of silicon don't just generate electricity by themselves, but to make solar panels effective the silicon is chemically combined with a substance that does have a positive or negative charge. Something like phosphorus. It has 5 electrons, so if it was combined with silicon they would have a stable 8 electrons, so this silicon/phosphorus plate would be negatively charged. So now you still need a negative charge, to do this you could combine phosphorus with boron, which would be a positive charge, and then just combine the plates together. So how is this solar? It's not yet, but with these plates together you can take that aspect into it. Sunlight sends out a lot of different particles of energy. The one that works best on solar panels is a photon. When the negative plates of a solar panel, (the silicon/phosphorus) is pointed towards the sun, then the photons bombard the atoms of the silicon/phosphorus plate. There is a 9th electron on with the other 8 on this plate, so when the photons hit that plate then this 9th electron comes of and is drawn toward the silicon/boron plate since that one has a positive charge and this one is negative. As the suns photons continually break these electrons off, energy is generated. The energy generated by one solar cell isn't so great, but all the ones together combined on the plates, provides enough electricity to power a lot of electronics.

[|To see more visit this site]

A positive effect of soar energy is that it is renewable and doesn't come from things like burning fossil fuels. This makes it emit zero toxins and is available to everyone. So solar energy is really good with not putting any other bad stuff out in the air or running us out of our resources. A negative effect though is that it is so small that to provide a large amount of energy a large area full of panels and stuff for solar energy is required. This wipes out a lot of animal habitats and environmental places. However this is easily worked around because people can just choose where they build. However this is hard because of how large the area usually needs to be. [|Too see more visit this site]
 * How does solar energy positively/negatively effect the environment?**

media type="youtube" key="27KZ0ng6VO4?rel=0" height="315" width="420" http://www.bigsolarpanels.com/ this website talks about green solar power,renewable solar energy,and about solar panels
 * Resources:**

We know that relying on coal, oil and natural gas threatens our future with toxic pollution,global climate change and social unrest caused by diminishing fuel supplies.\Instead of relying on unsustainable fossil fuels, we must transform our economy and learnto thrive on the planet’s abundant supply of renewable energy.**To read more on this see:** [|http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy/2007-12-01/Solar-is-the-Solution.aspx#ixzz1kaIkFcNC] media type="youtube" key="4uPVZUTLAvA" height="315" width="560"



media type="youtube" key="RQPrI4KgXNg" width="425" height="350" We have always used the energy of the sun as far back as humans have existed on this planet. As far back as 5,000 years, people “worshipped” the sun. For More Info See: []

media type="youtube" key="yyhpifHv7xQ" height="315" width="560" http://www.environment-green.com/Beginners_Guide_to_Solar_Panels.html

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This link shows many of the positive and negative effects of solar energy like climate change and describes them very well.[| Positive and Negative Effects of Solar Energy]

= ** Solar Energy ** =

One of the most overlooked forms of renewable and completely clean energy is solar energy. Solar energy has been studied and documented for decades. There have been countless jokes about how certain regions of the country could never actually use such a form of energy because of constantly being shrouded by fog or clouds. However, most of what the public understands about solar energy is completely inaccurate and people are starting to finally understand how much they can save by converting to such a form of  natural energy. In 1973, the US began to invest a considerable amount of funding into solar energy. Now, an estimated 400 million US dollars per year is spent on the research and development of solar energy. One of the major myths surrounding solar energy is that it’s too expensive for widespread usage in major countries. This is untrue. In fact, every year that the production of solar energy panels and equipment doubles, the cost to the consumer drops at the rate of 20%, while other forms of electrical energy continue to  rise at an increasing rate. Another misconception that many people have when thinking of solar energy is that it won’t work where they live. The most important factor in using solar energy successfully is light rather than bright sun. If you live in a region that’s perpetually cloudy or foggy, solar energy will still work perfectly because of the exposure that the panels will have to daylight. It doesn’t have to be bright or sunny for solar energy to be effective – it just has to be daytime.


 * WEBSITE: ** []

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= SOLAR POWERED BIKE =

= SOLAR COOKER = =[|SOLAR COOKER INFO]= A **solar cooker**, or **solar oven**, is a device which uses the energy of sunlight to heat food or drink to cook it or [|sterilize] it. [|High-tech] versions, for example electric ovens powered by [|solar cells], are possible, and have some advantages such as being able to work in diffuse light. However at present they are very unusual because they are expensive. The vast majority of the solar cookers presently in use are relatively cheap, [|low-tech] devices. Because they use no fuel and cost nothing to operate, many nonprofit organizations are promoting their use worldwide to help reduce fuel costs for low-income people, reduce air pollution and slow [|deforestation] and [|desertification], caused by use of firewood for cooking. Solar cooking is a form of [|outdoor cooking] and is often used in situations where minimal fuel consumption is important, or the danger of accidental fires is high.



**SOLAR POWERED CAR**
=[|SOLAR CAR INFO]= A **solar vehicle** is an [|electric vehicle] powered completely or significantly by direct [|solar energy]. Usually, [|photovoltaic] (PV) cells contained in [|solar panels] convert the [|sun]'s energy directly into [|electric energy]. The term "solar vehicle" usually implies that solar energy is used to power all or part of a vehicle's [|propulsion]. [|Solar power] may be also used to provide power for communications or controls or other auxiliary functions. Solar vehicles are not sold as practical day-to-day transportation devices at present, but are primarily demonstration vehicles and engineering exercises, often sponsored by government agencies. However, indirectly solar-charged vehicles are widespread and [|solar boats] are available commercially.

Top 10 Things that Are Solar Powered. http://www.gstriatum.com/solarenergy/2009/07/things-that-use-solar-energy/ - 10 Unexpected Use for Solar Energy. http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/10-wacky-and-unexpected-things-using-solar-power-slideshow.html - Various uses of Solar Energy and Who Uses It. http://www.solarbuzz.com/going-solar/using/uses - How to use Solar Energy when the Sun is not Out. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-to-use-solar-energy-at-night - Everything you'll ever want to know about Solar Energy. http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/solar.htm

Solar energy comes from the light and heat from the sun & or light source. http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/images/technical/solar-power.jpg

Water heating
==== Solar hot water systems use sunlight to heat water. In low geographical latitudes (below 40 degrees) from 60 to 70% of the domestic hot water use with temperatures up to 60 °C can be provided by solar heating systems. The most common types of solar water heaters are evacuated tube collectors (44%) and glazed flat plate collectors (34%) generally used for domestic hot water; and unglazed plastic collectors (21%) used mainly to heat swimming pools. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy ====

Facts about solar energy: · Solar energy is a renewable resource (it may go away at night, but we will always have it.) · Solar energy will not pollute our air with carbon dioxide and other harmful greenhouse gases and bad emissions. · Solar energy can be used to heat water, dry clothes, heat swimming pools, power attic fans, power small appliances, produce light for both indoors and outdoors, and even to power cars, ect. · You need a relatively large area to install solar panels if you want a good level of efficiency. · Depending where you live (Arizona vs. Alaska, around many shady trees or in the desert, etc.), you will get different results with solar energy systems. · Once you install the products, they can be very cheep to run. In fact, energy from the sun is free. · To run a solar energy system, you do not even need to connect to a gas or power grid. · You can install solar energy in remote locations. · If there is a power outage, you can still have electricity! · As your energy needs grow, you can add more solar panels · Solar panels operate silently. · Solar energy systems require very little maintenance and will last for a long time.

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