What is solar energy?

[Animation of a bright yellow sun appears on screen with text above: 4.6 billion years old]

Narrator: The sun is the most plentiful source of energy we have. It’s about 4.6 billion years old, with another five billion years of hydrogen fuel to burn in its lifetime.

[Camera moves to the left of the animation and down to show a shape resembling a gas bottle that’s connected to the sun with text: 5 billon years of hydrogen fuel]

That gives us a renewable energy source that won’t run out any time soon. And it can be used without releasing greenhouse gases, or other harmful by-products.

[Camera moves to the right of the animation and down to show icons to represent each of the things narrator is saying, a tap for hot water, a bulb for lighting, a heater for heating and a fan for cooling]

We can use that energy directly for hot water, lighting, heating, and even cooling.

[Camera moves to the right of the animation and up to show icons to represent each of the things narrator is saying, a campervan, a home, a shop, to a factory]

We can convert it to electricity to power anything from campervans, to suburban homes, to shops, to industrial processes.

[Image changes to show an animation of the world]

Solar could be the largest source of electricity in the world by 2050.

[Image changes to show an animation of an outline of Australia with a sun in the middle]

And with the highest levels of solar irradiance per square metre of any continent in the world, Australia’s well placed to take advantage.

[Image changes to show an animation of a house with multiple solar panels on the roof]

We already are - over two million households use solar technology, more than any other country.

So how do we turn sunlight into something we can use?

[A big yellow sun appears to the left of the house]

And how can we rely on it when it’s only available during the day?

[The sun drops from the animation and screen changes to show text as below]

The two main technologies are solar photovoltaic and solar thermal.

[Image changes to show a photovoltaic solar panel]

Solar photovoltaic (or PV) is a way to convert sunlight into electricity.

[A sun appears above the solar panel; beams protrude from the sun and hit the panel a crackling noise can be heard as small lightening shaped objects pop out of the panel]

When light photons hit a photovoltaic panel, they excite electrons free, causing a charge to build up, which gives us electricity.

These solar panels are often installed on rooftops, integrated into building or vehicle designs, or attached to power plants in very large numbers.

[Screen changes to show text as below]

We’re working on low-cost panels that are environmentally friendly to produce, thin, and even flexible, so we can generate electricity from the sun in all kinds of places we couldn’t before.

[Screen changes to show text as below]

The other technology, solar thermal, turns sunlight into heat. At low temperatures, we can heat water or air for residential and commercial buildings.

[An animation of a house slides in from the left side of the screen and an animation of a multileveled building slides in from the right side of the screen]

But when we concentrate sunlight, we can get much higher temperatures, turning water into steam to spin turbines, which gives us electricity.

[Screen changes to show text as below]

We’re leading the way on methods to get more out of sunlight by using mirrors and lenses. And we’re finding ways to store it for use when the suns not shining, a cheap and effective alternative to storing electricity in batteries.

[Image changes to show an animation of a city scape with a big yellow sun above it]

Our need for energy to power our modern economy is always increasing - but with the sun available, and the right technology to harness it, we’ll keep the lights switched on.

[CSIRO logo appears on screen with text: big ideas start here www.csiro.au]