Why does sunlight produce solar energy but electrical light doesn’t?
In: Physics
It does.
Old school pocket calculators sometimes ran on solar panels that would work with electric light.
It’s just that an electric light isn’t putting out as much non-visible light.
So a panel wouldn’t make nearly as much electricity as in sun light.
I have a solar powered calculator on my desk the totally works on indoor light. I don’t think its solar cell has ever had sunlight on it. Making light as bright as sunlight is very hard, ask anybody growing pot plants in their basement.
Electrical light doesn’t? My solar calculator always worked under florescent lights.
Technically they all do. You need a converter (solar panel) to capture the energy from the sun and turn it into usable energy. Other kinds of light also produce energy that can be captured and inverted.
Technically you can charge a solar charger with other kinds of light but their waves aren’t as big or strong so it isn’t as efficient (think a solar calculator) It will take a lot longer.
Then as long as you have the ability to store the energy then you can use it.
Since energy is lost with each transfer, the energy you need to charge a panel with a lightbulb, would be less than the energy it would produce.
It will produce energy. If you have one of those old school calculators that run on the little solar cells, you’ll see it works in a room with no windows but if you cover it over with your thumb, it’ll turn off.
Electrical light just doesn’t make as much or as strong.
False premise. All light carries energy. However, that energy normally just becomes heat. To use it, we often use solar panels. Solar panels rely on higher frequencies of light and high intensities. Light from, say, an incandescent bulb, is going to be less bright than the sun and carry less of the higher frequencies.
All light does carry energy, it’s a question of how much. Electrical light is usually far less intense than solar light and produces far less power.
1. Most electrical light totally can be used as solar energy
2. Solar panels work by making light charge electrons, which then leave the solar cell circuit to do stuff. These solar panels can only receive certain light frequencies. So if the electrical light you’re pointing at the solar panel doesn’t emit light of the required frequency, the solar panel can’t use it.
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