Solar Energy Outline Essay Example For Students

Solar Energy Outline Essay Thesis: Ever since the dawn of time, the sun has been a resource we cannot live or do without, so its not such a shock that man has come up with the idea of solar energy. Solar energy had many uses. Some can be dangerous and some, a very valuable asset to the modern world. I. What is solar energy? A. Solar energy is energy derived from the sun in a form of ultra-violetrays. Its was first applied to use in 212 B.C., by the Greek geniusArchimedes. Solar energy was used to defend the habor of Syracuse againstthe Roman fleet. Archimedes used a mirror or burning mirror as theyhad called it, to set fire to the ships of the Roman fleets while standing onshore (McDaniels 83). It wasnt until 1615 when Salomon de Cauxconstructed the first solar device; a solar engine. His device was made ofglass lenses, supporting frame, and an airtight metal vessel containingwater and air. This produced a small water fountain when the air heatedup during operation. This was considered to be more of a toy than a device,but it was the first published account of the use of solar energy since the fallof the Roman Empire (Cheremisinoff 1). Some other use of solar energy after that was the solar roof and thesolar oven. The solar roof was thought up by Harold Hay. In a solar roofsystem, water is contained in a clear plastic bag and it is placed on a blackmetal roof. Hay got the idea while traveling in India on a technical aidmission for the U.S government. While there, he noticed that many peoplewere living in rusty, sheet metal shacks, which were hot in the day and coldat night. Hays plan was to remove the insulation from the roof on winterdays so that the roof would get hot, and Replacing the insulation at night toallow the shack to be warm through the night. Then in the summer, hewould so the reverse of what he did in winter to let the house cool at nightand replacing the insulation in the daytime to block out the heat. Then overthe years, Hay and a man named John Yellott constructed a 3- by3.7-m building using water basins as the actual roofing material. Duringthe summer, a slab of foam insulation was rolled back at night, and thewater would become cold through the night sky evaporation. Since thewater supply sat directly on a metal ceiling, it absorbed the heat from theroom and kept the building air-conditioned all day. During the winter, themovable insulation was rolled back in the daytime which allowed for it tocollect heat. This generated enough heat into the house through the ceilingat night to keep the room comfortable (McDaniels 179-181). Smothering dreams EssayIn a poll that we had conducted around our neighborhood, we foundthat only five percent of the people on our street have solar poweredproducts. This is very surprising to me. We had expected the average to besomewhat higher. Mrs. Richard is one of the person who we asked that hadsolar products such as: solar battery and solar heating. She believes thateveryone should at least give solar products a try because you can alwaysdepend on it when you need it. Other people like Mr. Pham said that thereis no use to solar power because when the sky is cloudy, there is no sun topower any of the solar product. He prefers to stick to electricity. Peoplehave different ways of looking at solar energy so its up to them if they wantsun energy or electricity. Who knows, maybe one day, everyone will agreeon using solar energy. As for us, we still prefer solar over electricity anyday. Works CitedCheremisinoff, Pual N. Principles ; Applications Of Solar Energy. AnnArbor Science Publishers: Michigan, 1979. Holstroemn, Isaac R. Energy From The Sun. Tab Books, Inc:Pennsylvania, 1981. McDaniels, David K. The Sun. John Wiley ; Sons, Inc: Canada, 1984. McPhillips, Martin. The Solar Energy. Everest House: New Yrok, 1983. Regino, Thomas C. Solar Energy. St. Martins Press, Inc: New Yrok, 1986. Rose, Harvey. Solar Energy Now. Ann Arbor Science Publishers:1982.