SOLAR ENERGY
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http://www.celebratenj.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/PBTS-Project-Finalists-2012.pdf
ESSAY: ALL ABOUT SOLAR ENERGY
AUTHOR: SHIVALI VORA
GRADE: II
TEACHER: MISS EARP
SCHOOL: ST. CECELIA, ISELIN NJ
THE SUN
The sun is very important to all living things. If the sun disappeared, our planet earth would disappear, too. The sun is a huge ball of hot gas. No living being can ever go near the sun, let alone touch it. That’s how hot the sun is. But even though it’s so hot, the sun provides us with many things that we need to live. It takes about 8 minutes for sun rays to get from the sun to earth. The sun was born out of a giant cloud of cool gas and dust around 5 billion years ago. You might be surprised at hearing the word “cool” for the sun is not cool at all. It is able to give off its own light and it is a giant ball of hot gas. It will exist for about another 5 billion years.
Why does the earth have day and night? The earth turns once a day on its axis. So when we are turned away from the sun, it is night-time. When we are close to the sun, it is day. The sun gives us sunlight, which all people need to live. Without the sun, there would be no sunlight, and then earth would be extremely cold. How big is the sun? Of course, the sun is very huge. The weight of the sun in tons is a number with a 2 and 27 zeros after it. It looks like this: 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons. That’s 333,000 times the earth’s mass. Think of it like this: you had a big watermelon and you placed it next to a small pea. Pretend the earth is the pea and the sun is the watermelon. That’s how much more big the sun is! Or think of it like this: you have a hundred marbles. You cut one of the marbles in half. One piece of those halves would be the earth. The other 99 marbles plus the other half of the one you cut would be the mass of the sun! That’s way bigger than the earth.
We need sunlight all the time. Our eyes work with the help of sunlight. Things we eat, such as vegetables, fruits and even meat, are made with the help from the sun. Plants need sunlight to grow. The sun’s light never runs out. When it is cloudy or foggy we may not see the sun shining, but it is still there. The clouds are just covering it. Even when it is snowing we get just enough sunlight to survive. If we ever ran out of sunlight, we would all die. We need the sun to live.
SOLAR POWER
Electricity has become a part of our every day routines. It all starts in the morning when we wake up. The alarm clock goes off, and we know that it is time to wake up. The alarm clock needed electricity to beep. When we make ourselves a hot drink to refresh for the day, we use the stove or the oven which also uses electricity. When we play games on the computer or chat with our friends on the phone, we are using electricity. When we turn on the radio or watch some TV we are using electricity. Every single day we use electricity. Electricity can also be found in nature. Lightning, for example, is a powerful discharge of electrical energy which builds up in storm clouds through friction. Electricity can even be found in animals! Electric eels are a type of fish which use electricity to survive. It helps them defense themselves or catch their prey. With so much electricity in the world, we hardly know how much we need electricity to survive. Most people don’t realize when they use electricity. How can we save electricity? We can turn off things we aren’t using, for example, if our whole family is in the living room and the radio is on in the bedroom with no one listening, it’s good to turn it off. If we are brushing our teeth with the sink on, we should turn it off. If we are outside playing with your friends and the light in our bedroom is on, we should turn it off. There are many things we can do to save electricity.
Can an apple generate electricity? Not exactly, but it can play a role in the process. Think of our bike lights. An apple grows from sunlight from the sun. When we eat an apple, our body takes on its energy and can use it to ride around our bike. As we pedal, the energy we received from the apple is converted into kinetic energy. As the bicycle wheel turns, a small wheel on the dynamo turns, too. The dynamo then converts the kinetic energy into electric energy which powers the bike’s light. So the energy from the sun, which helped the apple grow, has taken lots of different forms before being converted into the light we see when we ride our bike. The same thing happens in the power stations which supply electricity to our homes. Water, wind, coal, and burning oil make electricity.
Solar power is made from the rays of the sun. It’s better to use solar power. It causes less pollution. It also helps our environment. We can also make money by selling solar power! Normally, our parents pay a bill each year for all the electricity we use in our home. But in some areas, we can actually make money instead of paying. Selling solar power to others is a way to earn money. There are lots of things we can do to help our environment, by using solar power, for example. More and more people around the world are deciding to use solar power instead of regular electricity. And that’s a really good thing for all of us. Politicians in countries such as America are deciding to reward the families using solar power, for they are protecting our environment.
There are a few tips on how to use solar power. First of all, we must have a solar module on our roof. The solar module will catch the sun’s rays and turn them into electricity. Solar modules are made out of silicon. Silicon is useful because it catches the sun’s rays and turns them into electricity. They look a bit like glass rectangles. The type of electric current generated by solar modules is known as “direct current” (DC). For our sockets at home, though, we need “alternating current” (AC). That’s why we need a special device called an inverter. An inverter is a device which turns the electric current into a form we can use at home. Finally, we need to connect modules, the inverters, and the sockets using electrical wiring and start using the electricity!
OUR ENVIRONMENT
Can an apple generate electricity? Not exactly, but it can play a role in the process. Think of our bike lights. An apple grows from sunlight from the sun. When we eat an apple, our body takes on its energy and can use it to ride around our bike. As we pedal, the energy we received from the apple is converted into kinetic energy. As the bicycle wheel turns, a small wheel on the dynamo turns, too. The dynamo then converts the kinetic energy into electric energy which powers the bike’s light. So the energy from the sun, which helped the apple grow, has taken lots of different forms before being converted into the light we see when we ride our bike. The same thing happens in the power stations which supply electricity to our homes. Water, wind, coal, and burning oil make electricity.
Solar power is made from the rays of the sun. It’s better to use solar power. It causes less pollution. It also helps our environment. We can also make money by selling solar power! Normally, our parents pay a bill each year for all the electricity we use in our home. But in some areas, we can actually make money instead of paying. Selling solar power to others is a way to earn money. There are lots of things we can do to help our environment, by using solar power, for example. More and more people around the world are deciding to use solar power instead of regular electricity. And that’s a really good thing for all of us. Politicians in countries such as America are deciding to reward the families using solar power, for they are protecting our environment.
There are a few tips on how to use solar power. First of all, we must have a solar module on our roof. The solar module will catch the sun’s rays and turn them into electricity. Solar modules are made out of silicon. Silicon is useful because it catches the sun’s rays and turns them into electricity. They look a bit like glass rectangles. The type of electric current generated by solar modules is known as “direct current” (DC). For our sockets at home, though, we need “alternating current” (AC). That’s why we need a special device called an inverter. An inverter is a device which turns the electric current into a form we can use at home. Finally, we need to connect modules, the inverters, and the sockets using electrical wiring and start using the electricity!
OUR ENVIRONMENT
What is the difference between weather and climate? Weather can change from one day to another. If we wake up and see that it is sunny, you might wake up the next day and see that it is rainy. But our climate changes over hundreds of years. Ice ages and alternating warm periods stay on earth for hundreds of years. Over the last hundred years, the earth has got a lot warmer. This can be dangerous because it can cause a climatic disaster. Weather can cause serious damage, but that isn’t what people mean when they say, “climatic disaster.” Do we ever wonder why we need to grow fruits and vegetables in natural greenhouses? Without the protective glass roof, the sun’s heat would immediately escape and the plants would die when the winter frosts came. The earth may not have a protective glass roof, but it does have a protective layer of various gases. Without this layer, people and plants would die because the sun’s rays would be reflected right back into space. If no sunlight came down on earth, it would be very dark and cold and this is why people and plants would die. That is what people mean when they say, “natural greenhouse effect.” Without it the temperature on earth would be around zero, which would then make life on our planet impossible. The earth is surrounded by a protective layer of gases which make its atmosphere. There are various gases in this layer including carbon dioxide (CO2). This gas is useful because it stops the heat of the sun from going right back into space. CO2 has always been found in nature.
However, too much CO2 can be harmful. Scientists have discovered that the proportion of CO2 in the atmosphere over the last 150 years has risen by one-third. The temperature on earth is getting hotter. The more CO2 in the atmosphere, the more of the sun’s heat is trapped. If we don’t do something about this, some climatic disasters may take place. The weather may change a lot. Some animals will become extinct because they just can’t adapt to the rapidly changing weather. So we need to do as much as we can to protect our climate. It’s going to prove to be good for all of us. If we produce too much CO2, it’s going to get worse. People in America and other countries are producing too much CO2. Luckily, though, we have a kind of energy which doesn’t produce harmful waste and doesn’t harm our climate. It is called “renewable energy.” This energy can be “renewed” and so it will never run out. We won’t have to do without electricity in the future because of renewable energy. Even with renewable energy our climate is getting worse. Protecting our climate is a very good thing to do. Solar energy is one kind of renewable energy.
AT HOME
However, too much CO2 can be harmful. Scientists have discovered that the proportion of CO2 in the atmosphere over the last 150 years has risen by one-third. The temperature on earth is getting hotter. The more CO2 in the atmosphere, the more of the sun’s heat is trapped. If we don’t do something about this, some climatic disasters may take place. The weather may change a lot. Some animals will become extinct because they just can’t adapt to the rapidly changing weather. So we need to do as much as we can to protect our climate. It’s going to prove to be good for all of us. If we produce too much CO2, it’s going to get worse. People in America and other countries are producing too much CO2. Luckily, though, we have a kind of energy which doesn’t produce harmful waste and doesn’t harm our climate. It is called “renewable energy.” This energy can be “renewed” and so it will never run out. We won’t have to do without electricity in the future because of renewable energy. Even with renewable energy our climate is getting worse. Protecting our climate is a very good thing to do. Solar energy is one kind of renewable energy.
AT HOME
After understanding all these things, we might want to do something to protect our planet. Why not ask our parents to recycle? Recycling may help our planet. We recycle when we reuse trash instead of throwing it away. For example, if we just finished a small soda can, we can make it into a mirror by cleaning it and decorating it. Then we cut out the dangerous parts and look into the open side. Or, we could throw the soda can away, but instead of throwing it in the trash can we could go outside and find a recycling bin. Then throw the can in there. When the recycling truck comes by, it will take all the things that are in the recycling bin. All of it is then taken to a special place where people make old stuff into new stuff. Recycling is useful because then we won’t have to waste so much.
Trees are cut down to make paper. More and more trees are being cut down because more and more paper is needed. But if we recycle paper in our homes, then less trees will have to be cut down because the same paper can be cleaned and used again. There are many more things which we can recycle. But things such as old carpets can’t be recycled. They have to be thrown away. We must recycle as much as we can. We can also save energy by turning things off. Here’s something else we can do. If our school is only a few blocks away, why not bicycle to school instead of having our parents drive us to school or having the bus coming to drop us to school? Cars, buses, and other vehicles let out gas and smoke which cause pollution. But some vehicles, such as bikes, don’t let out gas or smoke. They don’t cause pollution. We should ask our parents if there’s a safe way for us to ride our bike to school.
We should never put hot food into our fridge. Let the hot food cool down before we place it into the fridge. Only open the fridge doors for as long as you need it, or more energy will be needed to cool the air inside it again. In winter, we may want to keep all the windows and doors in our home shut. Otherwise all the heat which comes from our heater will escape outside. Then more energy will be needed to create more heat. There are many things we can do at home to protect our climate.
Trees are cut down to make paper. More and more trees are being cut down because more and more paper is needed. But if we recycle paper in our homes, then less trees will have to be cut down because the same paper can be cleaned and used again. There are many more things which we can recycle. But things such as old carpets can’t be recycled. They have to be thrown away. We must recycle as much as we can. We can also save energy by turning things off. Here’s something else we can do. If our school is only a few blocks away, why not bicycle to school instead of having our parents drive us to school or having the bus coming to drop us to school? Cars, buses, and other vehicles let out gas and smoke which cause pollution. But some vehicles, such as bikes, don’t let out gas or smoke. They don’t cause pollution. We should ask our parents if there’s a safe way for us to ride our bike to school.
We should never put hot food into our fridge. Let the hot food cool down before we place it into the fridge. Only open the fridge doors for as long as you need it, or more energy will be needed to cool the air inside it again. In winter, we may want to keep all the windows and doors in our home shut. Otherwise all the heat which comes from our heater will escape outside. Then more energy will be needed to create more heat. There are many things we can do at home to protect our climate.