Interesting Solar Energy Facts

Interesting Solar Energy Facts

With the increasing awareness about solar power, many individuals will know a few interesting solar energy facts that are sufficient as icebreakers for parties and other social events. But there are other facts about solar energy that will awaken your interest in the renewable energy source that, hopefully, will encourage wider applications in the home, community and country. Besides, these facts about solar energy can serve as tools to educate younger children and older adults about the possibilities of solar power for present and future needs.

• Solar energy actually applies to a wide range of alternative energy sources instead of just solar panels, solar heaters and other solar-related products on the market. Since the sun is the ultimate source of energy on Earth, solar energy can be applied to wind, hydro and biomass energy sources. Wind is the result of the sun’s heating actions on the landmass while water used in hydroelectric dams come from rainfall, which is created by the sun-heated evaporated water. Indeed, all of the solar energy facts will touch other alternative energy facts in one way or another.

• Solar energy is inescapable for as long as man’s physical body resides on Earth. The plant-based foods consumed are the result of photosynthesis while the animal-based foods grew by cellular respiration while daily activities will depend on the sun at one point or another. Even our own existence depends on the sun because of the cellular respiration process!

• Ancient man has successfully harnessed the sun’s power for cooking, cooling and heating with many cultures actually engaging in sun worship such as the North and South American Indian tribes. The ancient Egyptians were well-known for their worship of the sun-god Ra. Nowadays, we are more knowledgeable about solar energy facts because of its extensive use for other purposes including electricity generation for the home, fuel for land vehicles and power for spacecraft missions as well as satellite communications.

• Even the fossil fuels are the result of solar power. Many millions of years ago, plants and animals harnessed the power of the sun through photosynthesis and cellular respiration. When these living organisms died, the trapped solar power was converted into the matter we now know as fossil fuels like coal and petroleum. In many ways, present civilizations depend on solar power of the past although we strive to build future civilizations on solar power of the present.

• Leonardo da Vinci was a pioneer in solar heating when he came up with the idea of concave mirrors to heat water in the 15th century. This is one of the solar energy facts that tickle the fancy of many individuals who think that the Renaissance master was more interested in moving things like early helicopters.

• In 1921, Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. This had a significant influence on the understanding of the photovoltaic effect, which is the basis for the photovoltaic cells used in solar panels.

• Modern investors are still searching for better ways to harness solar energy. In the transportation industry, for example, solar-powered vehicles race in the annual 3021-kilometer Australian Darwin to Adelaide car race ostensibly to promote research on the subject matter. One of the disturbing solar energy facts pertain to the damage done by the pollution of gasoline-fueled cars on the road, which can be lessened by the use of solar-powered vehicles.

• Germany lays claim to the world’s largest solar power electric system with its Arnstein plant in Bavaria. Its capacity is 12 megawatts of electricity generated from 1,400 movable solar panels and supplied to approximately 3,500 households. The Arnstein plant dislodged the 10-megawatt Solarpark, also in Bavaria, from its number one perch. (Yes, the Germans and Bavarians definitely love the sun in ways that go beyond sunbathing)

• Because solar energy facts are designed to provide fodder for our-system-is-better-than-your-system type of boasting, the United States boasts of the world’s largest solar power plant at the Mojave Desert. Actually, there are nine power plants in the area with the collective name of Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) and collective output of 354 megawatts, all built in the 1980s from modular materials.

• Although the Mojave Desert’s insolation is the best in the United States, it cannot hold a candle to Africa’s Sahara Desert. Even with the use of solar cells with low conversion rates of just 15 percent, the Sahara’s solar radiation energy can generate 450 tarawatt (TW) of electricity per year. In comparison, the annual global energy consumption for all sources – fossil fuel and renewable, that is – is approximately 13 TW. Now, that is one of the most interesting solar energy facts that underscores how close and yet so far humanity is from becoming independent of fossil fuel.

• The Japanese people purchase approximately one-half of the world’s total production of solar panels. Most of these solar panels are used in main grid-connected residential applications, which Americans may do well to emulate.

• And speaking of Americans, they only comprise 5 percent of the world’s population and yet consume more than 25 percents of the energy produced globally. The nation is, indeed, a voracious consumer of electricity from fossil fuels and all it entails, which underscores the imperative urgency to adopt solar power in more homes, schools and offices.

• In contrast, more than 2 billion individuals in the world have yet to enjoy the benefits of electricity, be it powered by fossil fuels or by the sun and other renewable sources of energy. Solar energy facts are nothing but meaningless blab to most of these peoples.

• Countries with relatively opposite climates are embracing solar energy. On one hand, Israel is in the middle of construction for a 100-megwatt solar power plant designed to provide electricity for 200,000 Israelis. On the other hand, United Kingdom is also in onto the solar power movement with the City of Manchester’s tallest building, the CIS Tower, clad in solar panels.

As we discover better ways to harness the sun’s power, we are also discovering more solar energy facts that will prove invaluable to our survival on the planet.