AP Environmental Science / Unit 6: Energy Resources and Consumption
6.8 Solar Energy
Notes
- Passive solar: building design uses sunlight directly.
- Active solar: pumps or fans move heated fluid.
- Photovoltaic (PV) cells turn sunlight into electricity.
- Drawbacks: intermittent, needs storage; mining for materials; large solar farms take land.
Practice
PV cells convert sunlight into:
Photovoltaic effect.
A south-facing window warming a home in the US is:
No machinery.
A drawback of solar energy:
Intermittent.
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