Explain&Classify Solar Energy

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SOLAR ENERGY What is energy? Energy is the capability to do work. Energy is never lost, it just turn into other types of energy. Energy is the power we use for transportation, for heat and light in our homes and for the manufacture of all kinds of products. In summary all the people on the world need energy to survive. Energy sources are basically divided into two categories; nonrenewable energy sources and renewable energy sources. Nonrenewable energy sources are fossil fuel oil, coal, natural gas and uranium(nuclear). They cannot be depleted but these resources have been the most used type of energy in the modern era. Renewable energy sources are hydropower energy, biomass energy, geothermal energy, wind energy and solar energy. Renewable sources of energy can be used over and over again and also they generate much less pollution, both in gathering and production. But they are not as popular as the nonrenewable sources as can be seen in Figure-1. Figure-1: Renewable Energy Sources vs Total Energy Sources Solar Energy As you can see in Figure-1, the sun is probably the most important source of renewable energy available recently years. We are able to harness the sun’s energy and use it to help heat our buildings, our water, and also to produce electricity. There are two main ways that solar energy is used; thermal and electricity. (Figure-2) Figure-2: Types of Solar Energy 1) Thermal: The sun is a source of free heat which can be used in our buildings for heating and hot water. When we use solar heat to its full potential in our buildings, we significantly reduce our overall reliance on fossil fuels. The lower the energy requirement of the building in the first place, the more substantial the contribution from solar heat will be. For other demands such as hot water, which does not vary much seasonally, then solar can make a considerable contribution
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