Myths Surrounding Solar And Renewable Energy Clarified

Myths Surrounding Solar And Renewable Energy Clarified

As with many relatively new or recent innovations, there are plenty of myths and misinformation surrounding the subjects of produceing solar and renewable energy. One of the myths is that solar electricity is produced using the sun's heat. Not so - we reveal the truth surrounding the myth here.

Heat Treatment

It seems reasonable to assume that solar panels would produce electricity from the sun's heat, since heat is used in the traditional generation of electricity by the utility companies at their power plants. And, in a way, that may be close to the mark, because there are actually two types of solar panels, one of which does, in fact, use the sun's heat. This type of panel is known as a solar hot water panel (also referred to as a solar thermal panel or solar collector).

These panels do use the sun's heat to heat water, which is then moved via tubes into the building on which they're mounted to be used to provide heat or hot water. Solar thermal panels are somewhat large and unwieldy (dark, shallow, rectangular box-like shapes, about 8 feet (2.4 meters) in length by 4 feet (1.2 meters)) and are usually secured to a building's roof in an array, which, collectively, is known as a solar hot water heater. These panels have been in use for residential water heating for decades, but these aren't the solar panels most commonly associated with supplying solar electricity.

Lighten Up

The solar panels seen on most rooftops and that are used to generate electricity are also known as PV (photovoltaic) panels, which, in fact, use the sun's light rather than its heat to produce electricity. The term "photovoltaic" refers to the process by which packets of sunlight, known as photons, are converted by solar cells into electricity. The "photovoltaic effect" was discovered by Frenchman Edmund Becquerel, who found that when silicon was exposed to sunlight, it produced a small electric charge.

Solar As We Know It

This discovery lead to the development of solar cells composed of silicon, which are then linked together to form a panel. Several panels are then combined into an array to produce the electricity needed to cover some or all of a household's electrical needs.

So, although solar panels do exist that use the sun's heat, these panels do not produce energy and are not the ones most people think of when considering installing a solar energy system to reduce or eliminate their electricity bill. But, if you've got sunshine to supply both heat for hot water and light for electricity, then why not take advantage of the sun and choose both!

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