Solar power generation and solar thermal power generation

Earth’s solar power is 1,367 watts per square meter, which is the so-called "sun constant." (Appendix: The solar constant is a solar constant, which represents the total amount of solar energy reaching the top of the atmosphere (the upper boundary of the atmosphere) (Sun spectrum) values.Because Sun often has solar activity such as sunspots, the solar constant is not fixed, and the variation in a year is about 1%, and its value is 1325~1457w/m2). In other words, the sun shines on Earth every second about 5 million tons of coal equivalent. It is this energy that is 35,000 times greater than the current human consumption of the world. Although people have been using their energy to varying degrees for a long time, recent developments in the direct use of water heaters, air-conditioning, solar cell power supply, and solar energy housing have all developed. It is natural that the idea is to supply electricity to the sun, but how to effectively use the energy given by the sun to make it a major energy source for the next century is an important issue in the development of new energy.

There are two basic ways for solar energy to be converted into electricity: one is to convert solar radiation energy into thermal energy, ie "solar thermal power generation"; the other is to convert solar energy directly into electrical energy through photovoltaic devices, ie "solar photovoltaic power generation".

Solar thermal power generation, Israel is the most advanced technology in the world. Drawing on California's technology, Brazil, India, and Morocco are planning to build equipment, and the World Bank has started to provide funding to developing countries. The solar energy incident on the Earth's surface is extensive and dispersed. To fully collect and make it useful for thermal energy, it is necessary to adopt a system that can radiate and concentrate sunlight into heat energy. One method is to adopt a method that can emit sunlight and focus on heating, convert it into high-temperature steam, and convert it into electricity with a steam turbine. Parabolic condensers can also be used to concentrate the heat of the sun and use a computer to allow the condenser to follow the sun. The latter's thermal efficiency is high, and the technology that places the engine in focus is most likely to develop.

In addition to solar thermal power generation technology, human society is also currently developing solar technology. Solar photons carry energy. When photons irradiate semiconductor materials, light energy is converted into electricity. This phenomenon is called "photovoltaic effect." Solar cells are photovoltaic devices made using photovoltaic effects. Solar batteries are completely different from ordinary chemical batteries (dry batteries, batteries) and are a physical power source. Although sunlight can generate electricity when it shines on a solar cell, it is very different from a normal generator. It has no rotation and wear and can generate electricity silently.