The use of solar energy on Earth. Perspectives of using the energy of the Sun on Earth

To date, the problem of energy consumption is quite acute - the resources of the planet are not infinite and for the time of its existence, mankind has pretty devastated what was given by nature. At the moment, coal and oil are being actively extracted, the reserves of which are getting smaller every day. The power of thought allowed humanity to take an incredible step into the future and use nuclear energy, bringing with it a huge danger to the entire environment.

No less acute is the ecological issue - active extraction of resources and their further use adversely affects the state of the planet, changing not only the nature of the soil, but even climatic conditions.

That is why special attention has always been paid to natural sources of energy, such as, for example, water or wind. Finally, after so many years of active research and development, humanity "grew" to use the energy of the Sun on Earth. It is about him that will be further discussed.

What is attractive in this

Before proceeding to concrete examples, we will find out what this type of energy extraction of researchers from all over the world was so interested in. Its main asset is inexhaustibility. Despite numerous hypotheses, the probability that a star like the Sun will go out in the near future is extremely small. Hence, before mankind the opportunity is open to receive pure energy in a completely natural way.

The second undoubted advantage of using the energy of the Sun on Earth is the environmental friendliness of this option. The impact on the environment under such conditions will be zero, which in turn provides the world a much brighter future than what opens with the constant extraction of limited underground resources.

Finally, we should pay special attention to the fact that the use of solar energy represents the least danger for the person himself.

How in fact

Now let's get to the point. Under a somewhat poetic title "solar energy" is actually concealing the transformation of radiation into electricity using specially developed technologies. This process is provided by photovoltaic cells, which humanity has been actively using for its own purposes, and quite successfully.

Solar radiation

It so happened historically that the noun "radiation" causes a person rather negative associations, rather than positive in connection with those technogenic catastrophes that the world managed to survive in his lifetime. Nevertheless, the technology of using the energy of the Sun on Earth involves working with it.

In fact, this type of radiation is electromagnetic radiation, whose range is in the range from 2.8 to 3.0 microns.

So successfully used by mankind, the solar spectrum consists, in fact, of three types of waves: ultraviolet (about 2%), about 49% are light waves and, finally, as many have infrared radiation. Solar energy has a small number of other components, but their role is so insignificant that they have no special impact on the life of the Earth.

The amount of solar energy entering the Earth

Now, when the composition of the spectrum used for the benefit of humanity is determined, one more important feature of this resource should be noted. The use of solar energy on the Earth seems very promising also because it is available in quite a large number at practically minimal costs for processing. The total amount of energy emitted by the star is extremely large, but up to the surface of the Earth reaches about 47%, which is equal to seven hundred quadrillion kilowatt hours. For comparison, we note that only one kilowatt-hour can provide ten-year operation of a 100-watt bulb.

The power of solar radiation and the use of energy on Earth, of course, depends on a number of factors: climatic conditions, the angle of incidence of rays on the surface, the time of year and the geographical location.

When and how much

It is easy to guess that the daily amount of solar energy falling on the surface of the Earth is constantly changing, because it directly depends on the position of the planet in relation to the Sun and the motion of the luminary itself. It has long been known that at noon the radiation is maximum, while in the morning and in the evening the number of rays reaching the surface is much less.

With certainty, we can say that the use of solar energy will be most productive in regions as close as possible to the equatorial band, since it is there that the difference between the highest and lowest indices is minimal, which indicates the maximum amount of radiation reaching the surface of the planet. For example, in the territory of desert African sites, the annual amount of radiation reaches an average of 2,200 kilowatt hours, while in Canada or, for example, in Central Europe, the figures do not exceed 1000 kilowatt-hours.

Solar power in history

If we think as broadly as possible, attempts to "tame" the great star that warms our planet began in ancient times in the time of paganism, when each element was embodied in a separate deity. However, of course, then about the use of solar energy, even speech could not be - in the world magic reigned.

The topic of using the energy of the Sun on Earth began to rise actively only at the end of the 14th - early 20th century. A real breakthrough in science was made in 1839 by Alexander Edmond Becquerel, who managed to become the pioneer of the photovoltaic effect. The study of this topic has increased significantly, and already 44 years later, Charles Fritz was able to design the first ever module, based on gold-plated selenium. Such use of the energy of the Sun on Earth gave a small amount of released electricity - the total amount of production then amounted to no more than 1%. Nevertheless, for all mankind, this was a real breakthrough, opening up new horizons of science, which had never even had to be dreamed of before.

A significant contribution to the development of solar energy was made in due time by Albert Einstein himself. In today's world, the name of a scientist is more often associated with his famous theory of relativity, but in fact he was awarded the Nobel Prize for studying the external photoelectric effect.

Until now, the technology of using the energy of the Sun on the Earth is experiencing rapid ups and downs, but the rapid decline, but this branch of knowledge is constantly replenished with new facts, and we can hope that in the foreseeable future we will open the door to a completely new world.

Nature against us

We already spoke about the advantages of using the energy of the Sun on the Earth. Now let's pay attention to the shortcomings of this method, which, unfortunately, is not less.

Because of direct dependence on geographical location, climatic conditions and the movement of the Sun, the generation of solar energy in sufficient quantities requires huge territorial costs. The bottom line is that the more the area of consumption and processing of solar radiation is, the more amount of ecologically clean energy we will get at the output. Placing such huge systems requires a large amount of free space, which causes certain difficulties.

Another problem related to the use of the energy of the Sun on Earth is the direct dependence on the time of day, since the production at night will be zero, and in the morning and evening time is extremely insignificant.

An additional risk factor is the weather itself - sudden changes in conditions can have a very negative impact on the operation of this type of system, since they cause difficulties in debugging the required capacity. In a sense, situations with a sharp change in the amount of absorption and production can be dangerous.

Clean, but expensive

The use of solar energy on Earth is difficult at the moment because of its high cost. The photocells necessary for the implementation of the main processes have a fairly high cost. Of course, the positive aspects of using this kind of resource make it payback, but from the economic point of view, at the moment, it does not have to be said about the full payback of monetary costs.

Nevertheless, as the trend shows, the price of photocells gradually decreases, so that over time this problem can be completely solved.

Inconvenience of the process

The use of the Sun as an energy source is also a challenge because this way of processing resources is rather laborious and inconvenient. Consumption and processing of radiation directly depend on the purity of the plates, which is quite problematic to provide. In addition, the heating of elements, which can be prevented only by using the most powerful cooling systems, also has an extremely negative effect on the process, which requires additional material costs, not least.

In addition, the plates used in solar collectors, after 30 years of active work, gradually become unfit for use, and the cost of photocells was discussed earlier.

The ecological issue

Earlier it was said that the use of such a resource could save mankind from serious problems with the environment in the future. The source of resources and the final product are really environmentally clean.

Nevertheless, the use of solar energy, the principle of solar collectors is the use of special plates with photocells, which require a mass of poisonous substances: lead, arsenic or potassium. Their use does not harm the environment, however, given the limited period of their operation, over time, the utilization of wafers can be a serious problem.

To limit the negative impact on the environment, manufacturers are gradually moving to thin-film plates, which have a lower cost and less detrimental to the environment.

The methods of converting radiation into energy

Films and books about the future of mankind give us almost always about the same picture of this process, which, in fact, can differ substantially from reality. There are several ways to convert.

The most common can be called the previously described use of photocells.

As an alternative, mankind actively uses solar thermal energy, based on the heating of special surfaces, which allows heating the water in the proper direction of the obtained temperature. If you simplify this process as much as possible, it can be compared with the tanks used for the summer shower in private houses.

Another way to use radiation for power generation is the "solar sail", which can only operate in an airless space. This kind of system converts radiation into kinetic energy.

The problem of the lack of generation at night is partially solved by solar balloon power stations, whose work continues due to the accumulation of energy and the duration of the cooling process.

We and solar energy

The energy resources of the sun and wind on Earth are used quite actively, although we often do not notice it. We have already mentioned the common heating of water in a summer shower. In fact, most often solar energy is used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there are a lot of other examples: almost in every lighting store you can find storage lights that can work without electricity even at night thanks to the energy accumulated per day.

Installations based on photocells are actively used at various pumping stations and ventilation systems.

Yesterday Today Tomorrow

One of the most important resources for mankind is solar energy, and the prospects for its use are extremely large. The given branch is actively financed, expanded and improved. Now solar energy is maximally developed in the US, where some regions use it as a full-fledged alternative source of nutrition. Similarly, power plants of this type operate in the Mojave Desert. Other countries have long taken a course on this type of electricity, which in the near future, perhaps, will solve the problem of environmental pollution.