Solar energy
hideSolar energy is the radiant light and heat from the Sun that has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation along with secondary solar resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass account for most of the available renewable energy on Earth. Only a minuscule fraction of the available solar energy is used.
Solar power provides electrical generation by means of heat engines or photovoltaics. Once converted, its uses are limited only by human ingenuity. A partial list of solar applications includes space heating and cooling through solar architecture, potable water via distillation and disinfection, daylighting, hot water, thermal energy for cooking, and high temperature process heat for industrial purposes.
Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute sunlight. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors (with electrical or mechanical equipment) to convert sunlight into useful outputs. 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.
For more information about Solar energy, read the full article at
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News tagged with solar energy
Researchers Identify Key Molecules in Photosynthesis
Dec 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Chemistry professor Harry Frank led an international group of researchers that identified the molecules in algae which direct the organisms to convert sunlight into oxygen. The findings may ...
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Taiwan plans massive growth in solar energy
Dec 04, 2009 |
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Taiwan plans to boost its use of solar panels by a factor of 200 over the next decade and a half in an effort to increase clean energy, a ranking official said Friday.
Innovation puts next-generation solar cells on the horizon
Dec 01, 2009 |
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In a world first, a Monash University-led international research team has developed an innovative way to boost the output of the next generation of solar cells.
Checklist for going solar
Dec 04, 2009 |
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With the sun setting before 5 p.m., solar power may be the last thing on your mind these days. But declining panel prices ans a federal tax credit make now a good time to at least investigate whether solar power might make ...
China solar panel makers see boost from Copenhagen
Dec 03, 2009 |
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In Trina Solar's brilliant white factory in eastern China, masked workers in lab coats turn silicon wafers into solar power cells capable of harnessing the sun's clean and limitless energy.
A (nano-) window that washes itself?
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Dec 03, 2009 |
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A coating on windows or solar panels that repels grime and dirt? Expanded battery storage capacities for the next electric car? New Tel Aviv University research, just published in Nature Nanotechnology, detail ...
First Pump-Probe Experiment at Linac Coherent Light Source Completed
Nov 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The first experiment using the Linac Coherent Light Source to illuminate molecules via a "pump-probe" technique has been completed by an international team of more than 30 scientists from ...
A light touch: Iron complexes as efficient catalysts for the light-driven extraction of hydrogen from water
Dec 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Hydrogen is a promising alternative energy carrier that can be efficiently converted into electrical energy in fuel cells. One hurdle to the introduction of sustainable hydrogen technology is the fact that ...
NASA's WISE infrared satellite to reveal new galaxies, stars, asteroids
Dec 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Data from the satellite, says principal investigator and UCLA professor Edward Wright, will help scientists answer fundamental questions about the history of our solar system, the Milky Way ...
Suzaku spies treasure trove of intergalactic metal
Dec 02, 2009 |
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Every cook knows the ingredients for making bread: flour, water, yeast, and time. But what chemical elements are in the recipe of our universe?
Lasers used to make first boron-nitride nanotube yarn (w/ Video)
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Dec 02, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (13) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have used lasers to create the first practical macroscopic yarns from boron nitride fibers, opening the door for an array of applications, from radiation-shielded spacecraft to ...
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