25/03/2016 What Is the Difference Between Thermal Energy & Solar Energy?

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eHow » Hobbies, Games & Toys » Science & Nature » Science » What Is the Difference Between Thermal Energy & Solar Energy?

What Is the Difference Between Thermal

Energy & Solar Energy?
By Richard Gaughan
eHow Contributor  Save
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Solar energy comes from the sun. It drives the weather

and feeds plants on Earth. In more specialized terms,
solar energy refers to the technology that allows people
READ ARTICLE
to convert and use the energy of the sun for human
activities. Part of the sun's energy is thermal, meaning it is Host a Winning Oscars Party With
present in the form of heat. Some approaches to solar Free Printable Bingo Cards
Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images
power convert the sun's energy to heat, but for other
approaches heat does not help at all. There are also other definitions of thermal energy
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that have nothing at all to do with the sun.
List of Different Uses
Other People Are Reading of Solar Energy

Negative Effects of Similarities &

Solar Energy Differences of Solar & 5
Wind Energy Process of Solar
Energy

Thermal Energy
7
The word "thermal" derives from the Greek word for heat, so thermal energy is
technically heat. When engineers talk about thermal energy it is usually a bad thing -- How to Make Your
Own Passive Heat
waste. For example, an incandescent light bulb puts out light, but it actually puts out
Solar Panel Using
more heat than light. When your laptop computer warms your lap, that does nothing to Aluminum Cans
help you do calculations -- it is wasted energy. This wasted energy is almost
1.1k
everywhere -- car engines, cellphones, televisions. This form of thermal energy has
nothing to do with the sun. List of Renewable
Energy Resources
A lot of the time, thermal energy refers to energy wasted as heat -- like
burning money.
6

How to Install Solar

Geothermal Energy Panels
Underneath the surface of the Earth lie pools of molten rock. That superheated rock
carries a large amount of energy, and geothermal energy attempts to extract that
energy and convert it to useful forms. Specifically, the most common form of
geothermal energy sends a liquid down into the Earth, lets it interact with hot rock and How Does Solar
pulls the heated liquid back to the surface. That heat is used to drive a turbine, Energy Heat the
Earth?
producing kilowatts of electricity. Although this is a good form of thermal energy, the
ultimate source of this heat is radioactive materials within the Earth's core, which has
nothing to do with the sun.

Heat from miles below the surface of the Earth can do more than make
impressive sights; it can create electricity.

Solar Energy
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Solar Energy
There are two general approaches to extracting energy from sunlight. The first
approach is called photovoltaic. In the photovoltaic approach, sunlight is captured in a
semiconductor material and the semiconductor puts that energy right into its electrons.
When the electrons are pulled out and sent through a circuit, they directly provide
electrical energy. As long as the sun shines, the electricity comes out. Most solar panels
work better when they are cooler -- so when they collect too much of the sun's
thermal energy, it is a problem. This is solar energy that is not thermal energy.

Photovoltaic panels are made from semiconductors that convert light

directly into electricity.

Solar Thermal
The other approach to extracting energy from sunlight is solar thermal. With solar
thermal, sunlight is used to heat up a liquid. This is done either by running pipes
centered above long rows of parabolic trough mirrors that focus sunlight on the pipes,
or by pointing an entire field of mirrors at a big tank. In this approach the whole idea is
to use as much of the sun's energy as possible, converting it to heat. In both
approaches, the liquid within the containers heats up and is then used to directly or
indirectly drive a turbine to produce electricity. With careful design, a solar thermal
plant will keep the liquid hot enough to produce electricity for several hours after the
sun goes down. This is a case where the thermal energy is all produced by the sun --
meaning that thermal energy and solar energy, in this case, are exactly the same thing.

This field of mirrors concentrates solar energy on a tank, heating the liquid
to drive a turbine.

References
National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Geothermal Technologies
National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Concentrating Solar Power Research

National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Photovoltaic Research

Photo Credit Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images

Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images Tom
Brakefield/Stockbyte/Getty Images

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