PV Gap

Jamie Said:

Are solar energy and solar power the same thing?

We Answered:

solar energy: energy from the sun that is converted into thermal or electrical energy

solar power: energy from the sun that is converted into thermal or electrical energy

So yes, both solar energy and solar power is the same in definition.

Katrina Said:

how is solar power energy measured?

We Answered:

First, kilowatts measure power, which is unit energy per unit time (kilojoules/second in this case). Kilowatt hours are a measurement of energy.

Your panel produces 1000 joules per second, which equates to 24 kilowatt*hours per day, maximum.

Therefore, your energy consumption for your household at any one time cannot exceed 1000 J/s. The lightbulb consumes 13 joules per second, or 1.3% of the 1000 joules per second that your panel produces. So, your assumption about 100 bulbs was fundamentally correct, though off by a bit.

Eduardo Said:

What are some bad and some good things about Solar Power Energy?

We Answered:

There are various ways to convert the energy of the sun but I will address only solar cells.

Good things:
--No CO2 emissions or other chemicals
--Renewable
--Once the installation is built, it is "free"
--It generates electricity which is a flexible form of energy but ...

Bad things:
-- The installation must be in a sunny place
-- No energy at night
-- Under the solar panels, nothing grows and the space cannot be used for something else.
-- Difficult to store the energy in large quantities
(example you store In July, August and you use the energy in December)

Future developments and research:
-- very efficient solar panels ( currently at beat 20%)
see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cell#…
-- very efficient batteries

Seth Said:

How can I measure solar power/energy?

We Answered:

Your solar appliance is not producing energy. You can calculate the amount of energy you need to add to a liter of water to raise it one degree C. But a solar oven is not linear. That one degree of temperature rise is much easier to accomplish at 25C than at 80C. To do a project on energy, you need to learn at least the basics of energy.