Solar thermal energy is a method of collecting the energy produced by the sun. The collection methods can be split into low, medium and high temperature collectors. A low temperature collector would be a small plate which generates enough power to heat a swimming pool. A medium one is something that would produce enough power to heat water for a domestic home. High temperature collectors are more complex and use a combination of mirrored reflectors and lenses to collect as much energy as possible for electric power supplying. These are a completely different technology than the photovoltaic panels which are used in domestic buildings to convert the suns energy into electricity. The mirrors and lenses are used to concentrate the heat as alone it is not enough to be useful. As heat is produced, which is easier to store than electricity, it is often stored in this format before being converted to electricity when required. This also means that electricity can be generated day and night which solves the problem of there being no heat source at night. At the moment it seems likely that this sort of power plant would need to use some fossil fuels as well in order to ensure that they can produce enough power to meet demand.
The best way to make sure that the suns energy is captured as efficiently as possible is to have a moving mirror that tracks the sun and therefore captures as much of the heat as possible. This technology is pricey and also needs a lot of space and so this is causing some opposition to using it. There are many different designs at the moment of troughs, power towers, dishes and reflectors used to collect the suns energy. Once a good, efficient and cost effective design can be found then it is likely to produce a breakthrough in solar energy conversion and help to reduce the cost and increase the amount of solar power plants worldwide. This would be a fantastic step in reducing man’s impact on the environment and provide a much cheaper source of renewable energy.
Quick Tip #1
Solar energy is best for countries that get a lot of sunlight. It can be a great source of electricity and help add to the current supply, providing a cheaper and renewable source that causes no pollution.
Quick Tip #2
In India it is possible for the country to be able to produce more energy from the sun than they would ever use. This is because they receive a huge amount of sunlight and their population is not massively in demand of electricity.
