Sustainability
By Abby, Erin and Hannah
Solar Panels
What?
A solar panel is a panel that you put on your roof. The panel collect light from the sun and turns it into energy. That energy is usally used to heat up water and other things.
Some scientests call them photovoltaics which basically mean light energy, and sometimes they shorten th eword photovoltacis to PV's. Solar panels can variy in size, a solar panel can have around 250 watts.
Solar panels can helpus be sustainable because it uses the suns rays, instead of wasting electricity that is made from coals. It helps the enviroment by redusing on fossil fuels, such as coals and green house gasses.
WHO?
Alex Edmund Becquuerel discovered photovoltaics in 1839. He discovered that electricity can be generated from sunlight. After much research he found tyhat photovoltaic power continued to be very inefficient and solar cells were used mainley for the purpose for meausing light.
Over 100 year later in 1941 Russel Ohl was the first inventer to create silicon solar cells. Then in 1954 three American researches were able to create a solar panel that could make a bit of light with direcect sunlight. Their names were Gerald Peason, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin.
WHERE?
Solar panels are located on the roof of houses. They put them on the roof of your house so it is easier for the sun to reach all day every day. If you put it on the floor or somewhere else, the sun won't always be able to reach the solar panel and you will only be able to have electricity for half of the day.
Around the world there are places called Solar Panel Plants. A solar panels plant is a place where there is a field of solar panels. They have Solar Panel Plants, or also known as a Photovoltaic Panels Plant, all around the world.
The second image is a photo of one of the largest Solar Plants in the world, it is located in the Topaz Solar Farm. The third photo is of a 150 megawatt in Andasol Solar Panel Station in Spain. The solar panels in these places are on almost like a stand that lets the solar panel move to follow the sun.
These solar panels track down the sun.
Image of the worlds largest PV power plants.
The 150-megawatt Andasol Solar Power Station
WHEN?
In 1769 someone figured out solar ovens also known as solar cookers. They found out that light can create energy. Then in 1839 a guy named Edmund discovered that a form of voltage when a something is exposed to light.
In 1883 an inventor named Charles Fritts was the first to come up with a plan for how to make solar cells. His simple designs in the late 19th century were based on selenium wafers.
Then in 1954 David Chapin, Calvin Fuller and Gerald Pearson from Bell Labs created the world’s first photovoltaic cell (solar cell). These are the men that made the first device that converted sunlight into electrical power. .
Why?
Solar panels are sustainable because if we don't use them then we have to use coals. If we keep using coals we will slowly run out and we can't use them forever.
How?
A solar panels works by collecting soalr cells. The small soalr cells spread over a large area and work together to help power our houses.
The more light that hits the cells, the more electricity it makes. The photons, or particles of light knock the electrons free from the atoms. That creates a flow of energy.
Solar energy is a renewable energy, which are also know as PV's. The PV system is used to create the Energy.