Solar Energy.pptx51726256172627265272626

Solar energy

1. Solar Energy

2. What is a S olar Energy Solar power is energy from the sun that is converted into thermal or electrical energy. Solar energy is the cleanest and most abundant renewable energy source available, and the U.S. has some of the richest solar resources in the world . There are three main ways to harness  solar energy :  photovoltaics ,  solar heating & cooling , and  concentrating solar power . Photovoltaics generate electricity directly from sunlight via an electronic process and can be used to power anything from small electronics such as calculators and road signs up to homes and large commercial businesses. Solar heating & cooling (SHC) and concentrating solar power (CSP) applications both use the heat generated by the sun to provide space or water heating in the case of SHC systems, or to run traditional electricity-generating turbines in the case of CSP power plants.

3. How Solar is Used Solar energy  is a very flexible energy technology: it can be built as  distributed generation  (located at or near the point of use) or as a central-station,  utility-scale solar power plant  (similar to traditional power plants). Both of these methods can also store the energy they produce for distribution after the sun sets, using cutting edge  solar + storage technologies . Solar exists within a complex and interrelated electricity system in the U.S., working alongside other technologies like wind power to transition the U.S. to a clean energy economy. All of these applications depend on supportive policy frameworks at the local, state and federal level to ensure consumers and businesses have fair access to clean energy technologies like solar . Solar energy  is  radiant   light  and  heat  from the  Sun  that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as  solar power  to generate  electricity ,  solar thermal energy  (including  solar water heating ), and  solar architecture . [1] [2] [3]  It is an essential source of  renewable energy , and its technologies are broadly characterized as either  passive solar  or active solar depending on how they capture and distribute solar energy or convert it into solar power. Active solar techniques include the use of  photovoltaic systems ,  concentrated solar power , and solar water heating to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable   thermal mass  or light-dispersing properties, and designing spaces that  naturally circulate air . By   photosynthesis , green plants convert solar energy into chemically stored energy, which produces food, wood and the  biomass  from which  fossil fuels  are derived .

4. Potential The Earth receives 174  petawatts  (PW) of incoming solar radiation ( insolation ) at the upper  atmosphere . [6]  Approximately 30% is reflected back to space while the rest, 122 PW, is absorbed by clouds, oceans and land masses. The  spectrum  of solar light at the Earth's surface is mostly spread across the  visible  and  near-infrared  ranges with a small part in the  near-ultraviolet . [7]  Most of the world's population live in areas with insolation levels of 150–300 watts/m 2 , or 3.5–7.0  kWh /m 2  per day Solar radiation is absorbed by the Earth's land surface, oceans – which cover about 71% of the globe – and atmosphere. Warm air containing evaporated water from the oceans rises, causing  atmospheric circulation  or  convection . When the air reaches a high altitude, where the temperature is low, water vapor condenses into clouds, which rain onto the Earth's surface, completing the  water cycle . The  latent heat  of water condensation amplifies convection, producing atmospheric phenomena such as wind,  cyclones  and  anticyclones . [9]  Sunlight absorbed by the oceans and land masses keeps the surface at an average temperature of 14 ° C The total solar energy absorbed by Earth's atmosphere, oceans and land masses is approximately 122 PW·year = 3,850,000  exajoules  (EJ) per year. In 2002 (2019), this was more energy in one hour (one hour and 25 minutes) than the world used in one year. The potential solar energy that could be used by humans differs from the amount of solar energy present near the surface of the planet because factors such as geography, time variation, cloud cover, and the land available to humans limit the amount of solar energy that we can acquire. In 2021,  Carbon Tracker Initiative  estimated the land area needed to generate all our energy from solar alone was 450,000  km 2  — or about the same as the area of  Sweden , or the area of  Morocco , or the area of  California  (0.3% of the Earth's total land area).

5. The solar market today There are more than  200gigawatts (GW) of solar installed  in the U.S., enough to power 36.1 million homes. Over the last decade, the solar market in the United States has grown at an average rate of 25% each year. There are more than 4.8 million individual solar installations in the U.S., ranging from small home rooftop systems to large utility-scale systems that add hundreds of megawatts of clean electricity to the power grid. 1 In 2011, the  International Energy Agency  said that "the development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits. It will increase countries'  energy security  through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible, and mostly import-independent resource, enhance  sustainability , reduce  pollution , lower the costs of  mitigating global warming  .... these advantages are global".

6. How S olar Energy is Effect on Other Energy Solar technologies are categorized as either passive or active depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute sunlight and enable solar energy to be harnessed at different levels around the world, mostly depending on the distance from the Equator. Although solar energy refers primarily to the use of solar radiation for practical ends, all types of renewable energy, other than  geothermal power  and  tidal power , are derived either directly or indirectly from the Sun.

7. How Solar Energy is convert into Thermal   Active solar techniques use photovoltaics ,  concentrated solar power ,  solar thermal collectors , pumps, and fans to convert sunlight into useful output. Passive solar techniques include selecting materials with favourable thermal properties, designing spaces that naturally circulate air, and referencing [ clarification needed ]  the position of a building to the Sun. Active solar technologies increase the supply of energy and are considered  supply side  technologies, while passive solar technologies reduce the need for alternative resources and are generally considered demand-side technologies .

8. How Solar Enengy is started and who Established Organisation In 2000, the  United Nations Development Programme , UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and  World Energy Council  published an estimate of the potential solar energy that could be used by humans each year. This took into account factors such as insolation , cloud cover, and the land that is usable by humans. It was stated that solar energy has a global potential of 1,600 to 49,800 exajoules (4.4×10 14  to 1.4×10 16  kWh) per year 

9. Annual solar energy potential by region

10. Electricity production Solar power , also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from  sunlight  into  electricity , either directly using  photovoltaics  (PV) or indirectly using  concentrated solar power .  Solar panels  use the  photovoltaic effect  to convert light into an  electric current . Concentrated solar power systems use  lenses  or mirrors and  solar tracking  systems to focus a large area of sunlight to a hot spot, often to drive a  steam turbine . Photovoltaic's (PV) were initially solely used as a source of electricity for small and medium-sized applications, from the  calculator  powered by a single solar cell to remote homes powered by an  off-grid  rooftop PV system. Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. Since then, as the cost of solar panels has fallen, grid-connected  solar PV systems ' capacity and production has  doubled about every three years . Three-quarters of new generation capacity is solar, with both millions of rooftop installations and gigawatt -scale  photovoltaic power stations  continuing to be built. In 2023, solar was over 1% of  primary energy  and generated 6% of the world's electricity, compared to 1% in 2015, when the  Paris Agreement  to  limit climate change  was signed. Along with  onshore wind , in most countries, the cheapest  levelised cost of electricity  for new installations is  utility-scale solar . Almost half the solar power installed in 2022 was  rooftop . Much more  low-carbon power  is needed for  electrification  and to  limit climate change . The   International Energy Agency  said in 2022 that more effort was needed for grid integration and the mitigation of policy, regulation and financing challenges.Nevertheless solar may greatly cut the  cost of energy .

11. Development, deployment and economics Beginning with the surge in  coal  use, which accompanied the  Industrial Revolution , energy consumption steadily transitioned from wood and biomass to  fossil fuels . The early development of solar technologies starting in the 1860s was driven by an expectation that coal would soon become scarce. However, development of solar technologies stagnated in the early 20th  century in the face of the increasing availability, economy, and utility of coal and  petroleum . In 2011, a report by the  International Energy Agency  found that solar energy technologies such as photovoltaics , solar hot water, and concentrated solar power could provide a third of the world's energy by 2060 if politicians commit to limiting  climate change  and  transitioning to renewable energy . The energy from the Sun could play a key role in de-carbonizing the global economy alongside improvements in  energy efficiency  and imposing costs on  greenhouse gas  emitters. "The strength of solar is the incredible variety and flexibility of applications, from small scale to big scale".

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