What is Solar Energy?

The term solar energy is used when the energy radiated from the sun is used for heating, lighting, or converted into another form of energy, usually thermal heat or electric energy.

The two most common forms of solar energy today are active solar energy systems and passive solar energy systems.  Passive systems use the sun’s light or heat to harness some sort of energy production without the help from any outside mechanism.

Active solar energy is when the sun’s light or heat is converted into another form of energy using some sort of outside mechanism or device to aid the efficiency of the machine.  Understanding the difference between active solar energy and passive solar energy is vital to understanding what solar energy is.

To really understand what is solar energy one must first understand the unbelievable amount of energy produced by the sun at any given moment.  According to scientific observation, the sun creates more energy in one second than the humans on earth have used since the beginning of human existence.  The sun radiates a lot of energy, the hard part of solar energy comes when we try to cultivate this energy.

To understand more closely about what is solar energy, try learning about each type of solar energy first.