The Sun and Solar Energy

WHAT IS THE SUN, ANYWAY? The Sun is only one of over 100 billion stars.  In ancient times, the people believed the Sun was a burning ball of fire created by the gods.  Others believe it was created by God. Some people thought it was a solid object, or a liquid ball.  Over one million Earths could fit inside the Sun.  A star mostly gives off light and heat, and the larger the star, the hotter its temperature.  A supergiant star can get to be 400 times larger than our Sun, which is almost a million miles in diameter

FACTS ABOUT THE SUN But how does it produce its energy? The sun is a huge star. It is about 109 times bigger than Earth. ¾ of the sun’s mass consists of hydrogen while the rest is mostly helium. It is about 93 million miles away but is still hot enough to warm us up so far away. It’s surface temperature is about 5,505 °C or 9,941 °F. But how does it produce its energy?

Energy Production in the sun The Sun's power (about 386 billion billion megaWatts) is produced by nuclear fusion reactions. Each second about 700,000,000 tons of hydrogen are converted to about 695,000,000 tons of helium and 5,000,000 tons of energy in the form of gamma rays. As it travels out toward the surface, the energy is continuously absorbed and re-emitted at lower and lower temperatures so that by the time it reaches the surface, it is primarily visible light. For the last 20% of the way to the surface the energy is carried more by convection than by radiation.

sunspots The surface of the Sun, called the photosphere, is at a temperature of about 5800 K. Sunspots are "cool" regions, only 3800 K (they look dark only by comparison with the surrounding regions). Sunspots can be very large, as much as 50,000 km in diameter. Sunspots are caused by complicated and not very well understood interactions with the Sun's magnetic field.

In addition to heat and light, the Sun also emits a low density stream of charged particles (mostly electrons and protons) known as the solar wind which propagates throughout the solar system at about 450 km/sec. The solar wind and the much higher energy particles ejected by solar flares can have dramatic effects on the Earth ranging from power line surges to radio interference to the beautiful aurora borealis.

SOLAR ENERGY Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity. Sunlight can be converted directly into electricity using PHOTOVOLTAICS (PV), or indirectly with concentrated solar power (CSP), which normally focuses the sun's energy to boil water which is then used to provide power. Photovoltaics were initially used to power small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to off-grid homes powered by a photovoltaic array.

Distribution of Solar Energy in The United States

SOLAR ENERGY CAN ACTUALLY EARN MONEY FOR YOU!

The Sun will last for another 4 billion years before it runs out of energy. It warms our planet, feeds the plants, cycles the air, cleanses the oceans, gives life to everything on the planet. We can harness its energy to heat and cool our buildings and power our systems. It is a what we must have to sustain life. Earth is at the perfect distance to thrive in concert with the Sun. It is an amazing gift to us, and is awesome in its power!