Solar Definition and 1000 Threads

I've recently been interested in how much energy the Earth intercepts from the Sun; the answer, unsurprisingly was an astronomical amount, measuring quite easily into the ZetaWatts. However, the maths that got me that answer got me thinking... you can use the same method to determine the amount...

[Moderator Note: This subtopic split off from https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/renewable-energy-meets-power-grid-operations-comments.970843/] This is more so a problem for solar PV. Some of the recent solar thermal + molten salt storage systems would not suffer from this problem. eg...

If one hooks up solar panel to bottom element after removing AC line seemed like good idea then I was wondering if the wires going to the element will get hot instead of the element see drawing.

Here, i have provided the description of the mean molecular weight from my course notes as well as my workings. I'm not sure about my values for X and Y. It states that X=1 if all of the hydrogen is ionised which i think the 1 represents 100% hydrogen but the core is also made up...

This is my understanding.

I see that South America (Chile/Argentina) will be getting a total solar eclipse this winter (i.e., winter there) and then another one only 17 months later that seems to be along the same type of path, albeit a little bit south. This can't be very common...

I have solar radiation data in the units of Joule per cm^2 (joule per square centimeter) measured hourly. I want to use this data in evapotranspiratin calculation which requires radiation units as Watt per meter squared. How can I do this conversion?

Since solar and wind power are fluctuating energy sources not all of it goes into the grid when the consumer power demand is lower than that actually produced. This is a well-known drawback of solar and wind energy that everyone talks about. What I never found is an assessment of how much of the...

Hello! I'm in the early process of brainstorming plans for a roof mounted mobile solar array as a DIY project. The host vehicle will be a 8.5'x20' cargo trailer. On the roof I can fit an array of 6x solar panels that is almost exactly 8.5x20. However, I actually want to create 3 such arrays...

If the distribution of elements in the universe is also the distribution of elements in the solar system for regular matter, and being dark matter so overwhelmingly prevalent in the universe, why can't we see it overwhelmingly in the solar system?

Had not seen much discussion of this, but of course PV cells are semiconductors with a finite life and will have to be disposed of within a decade or two https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2104162/chinas-ageing-solar-panels-are-going-be-big-environmental-problem

I am currently trying to solve a problem for my dissertation. Help would be greatly appreciated. :) A silicon solar panel of area 1m^2 is being warmed by the sun. It achieves a constant temperature of 80 degrees celcius. I am trying to cool this panel which is constantly being provided solar...

P. O’Hare et al. Multiradionuclide evidence for an extreme solar proton event around 2,610 B.P. https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/03/05/1815725116 https://www.sciencenews.org/article/one-strongest-known-solar-storms-blasted-earth-660-bc Extreme solar events, proton events, are not common...

Soooo, hi PF, it's been a long time since I needed your help, but here I am again. I've been doing some worldbulding lately and I came up with this idea of a world in which civilisation and life are much, much older than in ours. Yet it isn't as developed due to some kind of natural disaster...

Can the suns photons accelerate the plasma/solar wind away from the sun? or is there no interaction between them?

Hello everyone, For villages in Africa and Asia that still use wood, dung or other biomass in simple stoves which option do you think will be better? Concentrate solar energy into an insulated unit with a molten salt which can then be used at any time or build a simple biogas generator (large...

What solutions are there to feeding a high DC voltage rated (eg 1000VDC) certified grid tied solar inverter such as a Yaskawa Solectria PVI23-480; from an alternate DC+ bus supply. For instance the 670 VDC input from a solar string; might be replaced by a a 6 pulse rectifier; (possibly from a...

Hello all, I am in deep water here based on my very fundamental understanding of physics generally and solar design specifically. I am 83 years, homeless, and have access to land with one building, wood heat, non-potable site water, and nothing else. I want to make a PV system with an array...

I have two questions (1) If we have two areas, for example one in America and the other on Asia, both with the same latitude φ, which one of the areas will receive more Solar Radiation? Or will it be the same? (2) If Earth's eccentricity graph for the past 750k years is this...

I have been looking at various solar power dish designs. They have one thing in common, they all have their power generators located at the focal point. Why don't any of the designs use a secondary mirror located at the focal point and the generator located center of dish and right behind it...

Hello everyone,I am trying to acquire the data used to make solar images like in this link. For various wavelengths, but mainly for visible. And, honestly I am having a problem finding the data. I am assuming that these images are made using a set of data for each, am I wrong? I don't have a...

I am the captain of a high school solar car team in the Washington DC area. We were founded last year, and are currently building our second solar car to compete in the Solar Car Challenge, a national competition in Texas. One of the biggest issues we are constantly battling is our lack of...

For a photon passing close to the Sun, Newtonian physics predicts a deflection of 0.85o. GR gives the correct 1.7o. Can the true value alternatively be obtained via 1) a Newtonian model, and 2) gravitational time dilation: the photon's slower speed near the Sun leads to it spending more time in...

Does our solar system host a Ninth planet, If so has our solar system under gone planetary migration?

Homework Statement I have a project to make the Solar system on Python, which I have done, but they also require from us to calculate the total energy of the system. We don't have to make the orbits of the planets elliptical, they should be circular and I believe I made them like that. Since...

Hi, I'm new here. I have a doubt regarding solar radiation, I heard in an astronomy class on the use of this solar radiation for the stabilization of satellites in orbit due to mechanical problems with their stabilizers. Electromagnetic waves emitted through solar radiation stabilize such a...

Why is solar spectral intensity per wavelength different than solar spectral intensity per frequency?

I have a project to make the solar system. I am trying to start from somwhere. On the notes it says that we need to start by creating a System of Particles Two-body simulation (Circular motion) Implement Gravitational acceleration Each particle (planet) could have its own field. I.e. Each...

Homework Statement Imagine two planets orbiting a star with orbits edge-on to the Earth. The peak Doppler shift for each 70 m/s, but one has a period of 7 days and the other has a period of 700 days. The star has a mass of one solar mass. (Assume 1 solar mass equals 2E+30 kg.) Q1: Calculate...

Hello. My name is John. I have an undergraduate degree in Mathematics. I am now classified as a senior citizen. I have always been interested in science. I've been following the progress of NASA's Parker Solar Probe and in the latest blog, Geoff Brown of Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics...

greeting all Over the last 2 weeks I have noted the first sunspots of the new solar cycle 25. How do I know they are spots of the new cycle ? Because they are higher latitude and opposite magnetic polarity. Before I show an image, a little history and science. Over the many observed solar...

Hi, Does anyone know of a way I can model the output of a solar still with a specific tilt angle and location (Africa) to give me my desired output value? I've been looking at lots of research papers but the maths is far too confusing for me to even begin to try work it out and I'm hoping there...

Solar generation results for US are out for 2017. Year over year: http://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_01_02.html https://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/pdf/epa.pdf US: Net Generation (Thousand Megawatthours) 2014 Solar: 17691 (that's 0.43%) All sources: 4093606 US: Net Generation...

Hey everyone, I have to do this presentation about solar cells and how they work. I've been doing a lot of research, and now I know a lot about how they work. However there is just one thing, that I can't understand. So in a solar cell there is an N-type and P-Type. The N-type has too many...

In my heat transfer course, I always had to do analysis of long-wavelength radiation between surfaces first, and find the heat radiated from one of the surface. Then, solar radiation is added to the problem, and suddenly it was said that solar radiation=heat radiated from this surface! Does...

Hello, In the wikipedia article about solar sails the lightness number is mentioned and the calculation is the characteristic acceleration ac divided by the Sun´s local gravity (distance: 1AU): λ = ac / 5.93 why do they use 5,93 m/s^2 for the sun´s gravity and not 274 m/s^2?

Ok, I'm a bit confused with the spectrum of the Sun. Is the spectrum of the Sun continuous or absorption? Better yet, is it both? Or am I totally confusing myself? I understand that the source itself is continuous but it is partially absorbed (wrong phrasing?) as it passes through the outer...

So I'm getting somewhat weird numbers when trying to calculate the solar irradiance at each planet. Starting with a baseline of irradiance at Earth of 1376 W/m^2, I use the inverse square law against distance. I find the values for Mercury and Mars are really off, while Venus & Neptune are...

Homework Statement Consider solar neutrinos of energy 1 MeV (EDIT: 10 MeV not 1 MeV) which are formed at the center of the sun in the ##\nu_2## eigenstate. What fraction of it do you expect to arrive at Earth as ##\nu_\mu## and what fraction as ##\nu_\tau##? Assume that it evolves adiabaticaly...

I live in a small town and would like to make some observations today. However i don't have a solar aperture filter, i only have an eyepiece filter of which i do not trust. So is there any household items, materials i could use safely to save me from from ordering on the net and waiting...

I'm a high schooler involved in a research in which we aim to grow perovskite crystals in microgravity. I've recently come across this article (https://scitechdaily.com/researchers-develop-a-better-method-for-making-perovskite-solar-cells/) in which they explain how to grow better perovskite...

Solar Panel Ratings Maximum power (Pmax): 100W Voltage at Pmax (Vmp):17.2V Current at Pmax (Imp): 5.81A When I measured volts and amps this is correct. When it is connected to 12 volt battery I get 13 volts and 3.5 Amps when it is charging under Ohm's law this would be 45.5 watt are my meters...

Moved into a house with some solar panels facing due south and some facing due west. Our latitude is 33.8 North in California. We are in the Mojave desert with very little cloud cover. The angle of the roof is 22 degrees from horizontal. What is the equation that will accept the azimuth and...

How will the NASA spacecraft resist when approaching the Sun?

Hello Dear Ones. 1. How Scientists exactly calculated movement speed of solar system ? thank you very much.

I am working on a solar trough power plant to power my farm and greenhouses.

During a harmonic convergence of the major planets does the barycenter ever leave the suns sphere?

Can an on board laser be used to propel a solar sail spacecraft if the laser is pointed at the sails ? Would Newtons third law affect the laser and maybe prevent the ship from moving ? Thank you for answering my very ignorant questions. NineNinjas911

I am trying to get relay to come on when it gets dark outside this works with one LED and 600 ohm resistor but it does not seem to turn on relay I get 20 ma draw when applying 12 volts to coil it seems you need transistor or SCR to to turn on relay. Relay I think was from a TV it's only 1/2" X...

This probe is designed to fly closer than 4 million miles from the sun's 'surface'. Is it possible in principle to cool the spacecraft 's inner facing surface by transferring heat to a cooler part and then radiating it into space from the far surface? I don't think it is equipped with such tech...