How is Solar Energy Used? Traditional and Modern Day Uses for Solar Power

We have tapped into Mother Nature for centuries to provide energy for us or to do task for us with out effort such as the sun drying out clothes or the wind generating a water pump, or even using oxen to run a gin mill; all products of producing natural energy. Solar power is no different, except that it uses modern technology to tap further into one of Mother Nature's resources, the sun. How is solar energy used?

The energy the sun produces through solar generation provides solar energy to many things. Solar power provides energy to give heat, warm water, treat water, power dryers, cool a home, drive a car, and many more things. Mother Nature truly has provided us with a powerful resource in solar power.

• Passive Solar Architecture: The Greeks and the Chinese were the first to tap into using the sun positioning when determining how and where they would build a house or building, always building southern facing to utilize the suns resources for lighting and warmth. This is referred to as passive solar architecture. Other considerations taken into passive solar architecture are structure height, selective shading for cooling, and the natural heat source, the sun. Modern passive solar architecture utilizes computers to do the layout that best utilizes Mother Natures finest as well as incorporating solar lighting, heating, ventilation, solar powered pumps and fans, and solar roof tiles to help capture the power of the sun.

• Green House Effect and Agricultural benefits: In green houses the glass panels work as a natural generator for warmth, optimizing plant growth and allowing year-round growth - a huge benefit to the horticulture field. In the agriculture field, solar energy is used for pumping water for crops, drying crops, brooding chickens, drying manure and powering grape presses.

• Solar lighting: Solar lighting is actively used in many applications from households, solar powered garden lights, streetlights, lighted signs and billboards to name a few instances.

• Solar Water Heating: Solar powered water heaters are actively used in both residential homes and business. Pools also utilize the sun for heating purposes through solar pool covers that heat the pool water.

• Solar Heating, Cooling, and Ventilation: Commonly used in residential homes, solar home heating is used to help offset the cost of traditional energy bills.

• Water treatment: Solar has been being actively used in water treatment plants to disinfect water, water stabilization, and to treat wastewater without the use of chemicals or electricity.

• Cooking: Cooking has been done by solar energy from dehydration to running a electric stove. Dehydrating food has been done for centuries, simply by laying out strips of food and letting the sun naturally dry them.

• Solar Processed Heat: Provides process heat for commercial and industrial applications.

• Solar Electrical Generation: Probably the most well known of the solar energy providing spectrum which can power anything from a small desk calculator to powering a whole household with the use of solar panels.

• Solar Powered Vehicles: Since the 1980s, solar power has been creeping into the automobile industry. The solar cars that are on the market today use solar power when in an idle state or for auxiliary items such as the radio or air-conditioning. There are also forms of solar boats and solar power utilized in planes, RVs, and even spacecraft.

Solar power is not as new as people often think, and is sure to continue to grow in popularity.