Solar panels

[mike89]

how exactly does solar power work do the solar cells absorb the actual light and make it into energy or does it take the heat from the light and turn it into energy?

[C1ay]

See How Solar Cells Work at HowStuffWorks...

[mike89]

i believe there is a car that was put into production fairly recently (a highbred) that uses the heat produced by some of the componants in the car as it is running the heat is gathered and turned into energy to charge the battery.... would it be possible to take heat that isnt extremely hot say 100 degrees or so and use basically the same idea but for powering other things such as household appliances or something that needs a small amount of power

[Mac]

i believe there is a car that was put into production fairly recently (a highbred) that uses the heat produced by some of the componants in the car as it is running the heat is gathered and turned into energy to charge the battery.... would it be possible to take heat that isnt extremely hot say 100 degrees or so and use basically the same idea but for powering other things such as household appliances or something that needs a small amount of power

 

Certainly. Thermocouples produce electricity as a function of temperature but it is a very small amount and it takes thousands of tc junctions to create much power. These devices are called thermo-electrics. You can buy thermoelectric ice chests for example which can take solar energy, make electricity and then apply the electricity to te junctions to cool the chest.

 

(These devices work both ways. They can turn electricity into temperature differential or use a temperature differrential produce electricity).