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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
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!