How Is Solar Energy Sustainable? The What, Where, How and Why of Solar Energy
December 1, 2022
What Is Solar Power?
Even though it’s 93 million miles away, this gigantic power source has so much free energy to give! Our sun provides enough sunlight to power the whole world’s energy needs for a year…every 90 minutes. What’s more, this energy is free and plentiful as long as you live in a part of the world where the sun shines. That’s brilliant news for all of us on this planet.
The Origin of Solar Power
Nearly 3,000 years ago, the Chinese designed concave mirrors that they could hold to reflect the sun onto a certain mark. On sunny days, they were able to focus enough heat to spark a fire. These Yangsui bronze mirrors are the first-known tools used to tap into the vast power of our solar system.
Today, campers and survivalists use the sun to cook food, heat water and even to disinfect clothing. One person using the sun for fire-starting or chores sounds great. But the real question is how does solar power work at scale?
Two Types of Solar Energy Production
The sun’s light is full of electromagnetic radiation. In order to harness this free source of energy for electricity, we have two choices: Follow the lead of the Ancient Chinese and use mirrors that concentrate solar radiation or use photovoltaic (PV) panels to trigger electricity.
- Mirror systems reflect and concentrate sunlight onto receivers that collect solar energy and convert it to heat. This is called Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power or CSP. The heat is either used to produce electricity or stored in thermal storage batteries.
