Solar panels are becoming more popular, primarily for households and multiple businesses. You might have also heard about renewable energy sources along with solar panels.
So, renewable resources are consistently regenerated by natural environmental processes. But why is solar energy considered a renewable energy source?
Well, things aren’t that simple since a few crucial factors determine renewable energy. Therefore, you should dive into this article to learn more about this topic! Let’s get started!
Why Is Solar Energy Considered a Renewable Energy Source?
It’s because the sun does not run out of energy to provide. The solar panels responsible for producing electricity are constructed with a silicone-based material that does the job of electricity conversion.
What happens here is the silicone atoms in the crystals found in this material are bonded with electrons where the light gets absorbed. Once the light hits these electrons, they move more freely, producing an electrical current. These electrons can do this process as long as there is a solar energy resource.
Solar Energy – Promising a New Dawn for the Humanity
Energy is vital for the progress of humanity and its survival primarily; hence, it has to be conserved most efficiently.
Technology should be developed to create energy from all fuel types in the most ecologically friendly way possible. Still, it should also place a strong emphasis on best-practice energy resource conservation.
While fossil, coal, oil, and natural gas use helps power our homes and fuel our cars, let’s face it, the supply of these resources is slowly depleting. So, renewable energy is the only way to compensate them at one point in the future.
A world completely reliant on solar energy
There is always a promise of some fascinating breakthrough that will change everything. The solar panel efficiency record can represent a significant change in the future of renewable energy.
A limitless energy source is shining down on us every day, just waiting to be harnessed. Only one hour of the sun’s power is more than what the entire world uses in a year. This allows the world to rely entirely on solar energy in the future. Still, for this energy to be used for our purpose, it needs to be converted into an electrical charge.
The science behind this renewable energy
To understand how photovoltaic (solar systems) work, let’s dive into the basics first. So, everything around us is energy. The food we eat is calories, the sound we hear is a vibration of air, and the light we see is a stream of tiny particles called photons.
Each photon has its energy, mass, and impulses, and the sun is the most powerful source of photons. The sun radiates energy even when you can’t see when it’s cloudy, rainy, and even in winter and during the night.
Also read: Are Renewable Energy Sources Cheaper?
The sun won’t ‘die’ for another 5 billion years
The main advantage of renewable energy sources is that they won’t deplete over time. While scientists say that the sun’s fuel will eventually run out, they promise it won’t happen anywhere soon, estimating that we have about 5 million years to make the most of this celestial body.
Even though it’s 140 million kilometers from the Earth, the sun produces enough light and heat to light up the Earth and keeps us warm.
Solar electricity is the greatest invention of all time and carries a strong potential to be one of the world’s most hopeful suppliers of sustainable energy in the near future.
How Solar Panels Convert the Sunlight to Electricity
The Scientific American has explained the process, “The sun’s light contains energy; usually, when the light hits an object, the energy turns into heat, like the warmth you feel while sitting in the sun. But when this light hits certain materials, the energy turns into an electrical current instead, which we can harness for power.”.
The factor responsive to this action is the material called silicone that is placed underneath the solar panels to do the job of electricity conversion. This element has that type of ability because these electrons activate and start moving into the crystal when struck by light.
Scientific American’s explanation states, “In a crystal, the bonds between the silicon atoms are made of electrons that are shared between all of the atoms of the crystal. The light gets absorbed, and one of the electrons in one of the bonds gets excited up to a higher energy level and can move around more freely, producing a current.”.
Why is solar energy considered a renewable energy source? So, the most basic explanation is because these electrons are indestructible, and being the only moving parts, they constantly renew their power by going back and forth.
Read more: What Causes the Loss of Solar Energy?
Conclusion
Why is solar energy considered a renewable energy source? After carefully reading this article, I hope you understand why solar energy is considered as such.
Coming from a personal experience with solar panels in my home and being incredibly fascinated with solar power, I have tried to share my knowledge in this field.
So, if you want to learn more about solar energy, you can go through the website here, SolarDorm, and expand your knowledge!