Other ways to use energy from the Sun

Question 1

What is passive solar heating?

Answer 1

When light energy from the Sun goes through a window and is absorbed by materials inside a building.

Question 2

How does passive solar heating work?

Answer 2

Light energy passes through the windows and is absorbed by surfaces inside the building, heating them up.

Question 3

How can you reflect energy from the sun?

Answer 3

Using curved mirrors

Question 4

How do curved mirrors work?

Answer 4

The mirror focuses light energy onto one place. As a great deal of energy is focused there, this place can get very hot.

Question 5

How can you track the sun?

Answer 5

The mirrors or solar collectors have motors so that they can track the position of the Sun during the day and keep reflecting the light energy onto the same place.

Question 6

How can you get energy from the wind?

Answer 6

Winds are convection currents set up in the Earth’s atmosphere by energy from the Sun. The kinetic energy of the wind can be used to drive wind turbines directly.

Question 7

Advantages of wind turbines

Answer 7

• Renewable energy source

- Don’t produce waste

Question 8

Disadvantages of wind turbines

Answer 8

• Spoil landscape
• Wind speed must be high enough
• Location is important-cannot be sheltered from wind
• To equal same energy as normal power station, needs large area