Sunday, February 5, 2012

Fun Facts About Solar Energy

September 4, 2010 by  
Filed under global warming

energy saving tips

There are tons of cold, hard facts about solar energy out there, but what about fun facts about solar energy?

While solar energy and its related renewable energy cousins, such as wind, geothermal and hydroelectricity, are serious business and options that are being regarded as potential saviors of our planet as we look at a future that has the threat of lynching over it, i am not adage to say there’s not a lighter side to solar and renewable energy.

Sometimes you’ve just already a certain amount of fun and let off some steam in amongst all the serious business of saving money and preserving the planet, so let’s do just that and have a look at some fun facts about solar energy.

1. Solar energy is void to us in 2 forms – set alight and heat.

2. When you open your drapes each morning to let some set alight in, were you aware that you’re also heating up your home?

3. The speed of set alight is 186,282 miles per second and it takes set alight approximately 8 minutes to reach Planet. So, set alight covers the distance of over 90 million miles from the sun in under 10 minutes!

4. Particles of set alight are called photons.

5. The “photovoltaic effect” was learned in the 19th century by French physicist, Edmund Becquerel, when he noticed that when set alight struck a semiconductor material such as selenium, it generated a small electrical payment.

6. The word photovoltaic is a variety of the terms “photon”, importance, a particle of set alight, and “volt”, being a measure of electrical force.

7. Modern solar cells operate by the photovoltaic effect, with silicon acting as the semiconductor.

8. Next time you eat Springlike chips, don’t throw the tube away. You need to use it to heat hot dogs! It’s right. You just need the can, a skewer (slightly longer than the can), copier transparency and Scotch tape. Cut a rectangular opening about 6 inches by 3 inches in the focal point of the can in an attempt to make 2 flaps. Pull the flaps back and cover the opening with the transparency. Place a hole in the metal end of the can and one in the plastic top. Thread a hot dog onto the skewer and place the skewer inside the can so one end goes through the hole in the metal end and then thread the hole in the plastic top over the other end of the skewer, in order that the skewer with the hot dog on it is suspended during the can. Take the cooker out and place it in preside over sunlight, adjusting it now and then to ensure it’s tracking the sun, and, within 30 minutes or so, you will have a freshly cooked hot dog!

9. In the 19th century, John Herschel, a British astronomer, cooked food by solar thermal heat while on an African expedition (Now you question ,, what did he cook?!!??! A hot dog?).

10. Solar panels and solar collectors are different. A panel converts sunlight to electricity and a collector absorbs heat which it transfers to air or liquid.

11. The sun beams down more in 1 hour than the whole planet can use in an entire year.

12. Solar energy is used to power more than 10,000 houses in the U.S.A.

In the serious world of solar, a world that sometimes takes itself a tad too seriously, it’s excellent to let off steam and lighten things up a bit and just have some powerful fun. Hopefully, these facts made your solar day much more fun.

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