Renewable energy sources offer a relatively benign solution to our growing concerns of acid rain, air pollution, and global warming caused by an increased dependence on cheap and convenient fossil fuels. Renewable energy may be derived from a variety of natural sources including sun, wind, tide, geothermal, and biomass. Solar energy technologies convert sunlight into useful energy and may be divided into three categories: active and passive building modifications, solar thermal collectors, and photovoltaic cells. A bibliography of references describing solar energy technologies may be found in Etnier and Watson (1981).
Solar building modifications include active or passive water heating and space heating or cooling. Active solar systems are composed of discrete units that collect, store, and distribute energy from the sun for space heating and cooling. The simplest form of active solar system is called a flat plate collector. In this system, solar radiation falling on a darkened...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Brower, M. (ed.), 1992. Cool Energy: Renewable Solutions to Environmental Problems. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 225 pp.
Etnier, E. L., and Watson, A. P., 1981. Health and safety implications of alternative energy technologies. 11. Solar. Environ. Manage., 5, 409–25.
Cross-references
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this entry
Cite this entry
Etnier, E.L. (1999). Solar energy . In: Environmental Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_312
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_312
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-412-74050-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4494-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive