4.3 Power From The Sun And The Earth Flashcards
How do solar panels work?
Water flowing through the solar panel is heated from the sun which we can use for hot water to save electricity
What is a solar panel made of?
Lots of little solar cells
How do solar panels help us reduce the amount of electricity we use?
They heat the water directly so we don’t need to use electricity to do that
What do solar panel towers use to maximise the effect of the Suns heating of it?
They use thousands of mirrors to reflect the sunlight and use the colour black to reflect the most heat
Why can solar cells only be used to power small devices?
As they directly produce only a small amount of electricity, they can’t power large machines
Name 2 examples that a solar cell could power
- watch
* calculator
How is geothermal energy produced inside the earth and what does this cause?
Radioactive processes, this causes the surrounding rocks to be heated
How can we use geothermal energy to produce electrical energy?
Very deep holes are drilled under ground, then cold water is pumped down to the hot rocks. There, it is heated and comes back to the surface as steam, which is used to drive turbines that turn generators and so electricity is produced
Where do we locate most geothermal energy power stations?
In volcanic or other suitable areas
Why are only a few places in the world able to have geothermal power stations?
In many places, the hot rocks are too far below the surface to be used
How does solar energy get to earth?
It travels through space as electromagnetic radiation
