Solar Energy On Earth

However the amount that directly escapes to space is only about 12 percent of incoming solar energy.

Solar energy on earth. The earth s surface radiates the net equivalent of 17 percent of the incoming solar energy in the form of thermal infrared. The sun is generally considered to produce a constant amount of power although there are small variances in the output energy depending on sunspot cycles with a surface intensity of expressed in units of power per unit area as the sun s rays spread into space this radiation becomes less and less intense as an inverse square law. The total amount of solar energy incident on earth is vastly in excess of the world s energy requirements and could satisfy all future energy needs if suitably harnessed. Solar energy is the transformation of heat the energy that comes from the sun it has been used for thousands of years in many different ways by people all over the world.

Solar energy is the most abundant energy source on the planet. Natural solar energy greenhouse effect the infrared visible and uv waves that reach the earth take part in a process of warming the planet and making life possible the so called greenhouse effect about 30 of the solar energy that reaches earth is reflected back into space. The rest is absorbed into earth s atmosphere. The remaining fraction 5 to 6 percent is absorbed by the atmosphere by greenhouse gas molecules.

Nearly a third of the earth s electricity will come from renewables by 2024 according to the international energy agency. It is an essential source of renewable energy and its technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending. Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the sun that is harnessed using a range of ever evolving technologies such as solar heating photovoltaics solar thermal energy solar architecture molten salt power plants and artificial photosynthesis. The oldest uses of solar energy is for heating cooking and drying today it is also used to make electricity where other power supplies are not there such as in places far away from where people live and in outer space.

As of 2011 the technology produced less than one tenth of one percent of global energy demand. Calculating solar energy to surface energy from sun to earth. Solar energy radiation from the sun capable of producing heat causing chemical reactions or generating electricity. Enough sunlight hits the earth s surface in 1 1 2 hours to power the entire world s electricity consumption for a year.