Considering panels can withstand the high levels of heat and energy. Does this have any affect on the time required to charge?
In: 10
Solar panels collect light and use it to knock electrons out of place, giving them energy that we carry away as electricity. If you make a solar panel bigger, it will collect more light because it has a larger area for light to hit.
Think of it like a window, the bigger window, the more the room lights up.
If you put a giant magnifying glass in front of the solar panel, if it’s smaller than. The already existing solar panel, it won’t really help. It would have to be bigger than the solar panel by condensing the light down into a smaller area that fits within the footprint of the solar panel. If you condense the light too much, it can actually damage the solar panel. It means you also have to clean both sides of the lens while also cleaning the solar panel to make sure it can still let light through. The glass wpuld also block some light that would otherwise be allowed to create energy. For all intents and purposes, it’s not worth it. Just make larger solar panels.
There is another type of solar farm that essentially does what you are talking about called a thermal solar farm. Basically, you have a bunch of mirrors on the ground pointed at a central column filled with water. That water evaporates in the redirected sunlight, causing it to boil, and that steam tur s a turbine to create energy.
Solar panels collect light and use it to knock electrons out of place, giving them energy that we carry away as electricity. If you make a solar panel bigger, it will collect more light because it has a larger area for light to hit.
Think of it like a window, the bigger window, the more the room lights up.
If you put a giant magnifying glass in front of the solar panel, if it’s smaller than. The already existing solar panel, it won’t really help. It would have to be bigger than the solar panel by condensing the light down into a smaller area that fits within the footprint of the solar panel. If you condense the light too much, it can actually damage the solar panel. It means you also have to clean both sides of the lens while also cleaning the solar panel to make sure it can still let light through. The glass wpuld also block some light that would otherwise be allowed to create energy. For all intents and purposes, it’s not worth it. Just make larger solar panels.
There is another type of solar farm that essentially does what you are talking about called a thermal solar farm. Basically, you have a bunch of mirrors on the ground pointed at a central column filled with water. That water evaporates in the redirected sunlight, causing it to boil, and that steam tur s a turbine to create energy.
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No. Energy in = energy out. A magnifying lens doesn’t increase the amount of solar energy, it simply focusses or disperses it. It cannot increase the energy in.
If you think about using a magnifying glass to focus the sun’s rays to start a fire you aren’t increasing anything. Rather, you are taking all the light/energy that is hitting the surface of the lens and focussing it all down into a single point of focus, increasing the density of energy at that point but not the magnitude of available energy.
You could, in theory, build a lens that’s bigger than the solar panel to capture more energy and focus it on the panel. But if you’re going to do that, you may as well just build a bigger panel.
No. Energy in = energy out. A magnifying lens doesn’t increase the amount of solar energy, it simply focusses or disperses it. It cannot increase the energy in.
If you think about using a magnifying glass to focus the sun’s rays to start a fire you aren’t increasing anything. Rather, you are taking all the light/energy that is hitting the surface of the lens and focussing it all down into a single point of focus, increasing the density of energy at that point but not the magnitude of available energy.
You could, in theory, build a lens that’s bigger than the solar panel to capture more energy and focus it on the panel. But if you’re going to do that, you may as well just build a bigger panel.
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