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- SOLAR ENERGY -- THE ENERGY OF THE FUTURE?
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- About 47 per cent of the energy that the sun releases to the
- earth actually reaches the ground. About a third is
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- reflected directly back into space by the atmosphere. The
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- time in which solar energy is available, is also the time we
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- least need it least - daytime. Because the sun's energy
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- cannot be stored for use another time, we need to convert
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- the suns energy into an energy that can be stored.
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- One possible method of storing solar energy is by
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- heating water that can be insulated. The water is heated by
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- passing it through hollow panels. Black-coated steal plates
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- are used because dark colours absorb heat more efficiently.
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- However this method only supplies enough energy for
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- activities such as washing and bathing. The solar panels
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- generate "low grade" heat, that is, they generate low
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- temperatures for the amount of heat needed in a day.
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- In order to generate "high grade" heat, intense enough
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- to convert water into high-pressure steam which can then be
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- used to turn electric generators there must be another
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- method. The concentrated beams of sunlight are collected in
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- a device called a solar furnace, which acts on the same
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- principles as a large magnifying glass. The solar furnace
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- takes the sunlight from a large area and by the use of
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- lenses and mirrors can focus the light into a very small
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- area. Very elaborate solar furnaces have machines that
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- angle the mirrors and lenses to the sun all day. This
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- system can provide sizeable amounts of electricity and
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- create extremely high temperatures of over 6000 degrees
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- Fahrenheit.
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- Solar energy generators are very clean, little waste is
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- emitted from the generators into the environment. The use
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- of coal, oil and gasoline is a constant drain, economically
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- and environmentally.
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- Will solar energy be the wave of the future? Could the
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- worlds requirement of energy be fulfilled by the
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- "powerhouse" of our galaxy - the sun? Automobiles in the
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- future will probably run on solar energy, and houses will
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- have solar heaters.
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