Capture the power of the sun

There are many everyday ways that people use solar energy to power their lives.

Sun shining through your window is helping to warm the room, your watch or calculator might be powered by a small solar cell, hot water in the bathroom might be solar heated and some electricity could come from solar power.

Solar energy is used in three main ways.

• Passive solar uses the sun for light and heat. This includes
  • smart houses that use sunlight to warm rooms in winter
  • drying clothes
  • sun dried foods such as prunes, apricots and sultanas.
• Thermal solar collects the heat of the sun and transfers it for later use. Solar water heating is a good example. Water passed over solar collectors absorbs the heat from the sun and is stored for later use. Solar generators also use thermal energy. They are powered by warm air that rises in a chimney, turning a mill which then turns a generator.
• Photovoltaic cells (PV) are used to make electricity from sunlight. Photovoltaic cells use a chemical reaction to produce energy.

Sunlight is essential to solar energy. Environmental factors such as the weather, time of year and location all influence the amount of sunlight available.