Solar Power

# The Fastest-Growing Energy Source of the Future
Trek through the solar energy landscape and empower your students to participate in the big idea that occupies many of our brightest scientific minds: clean, green energy.

## Key Learning Outcomes:

1. Make distinctions between solar power and traditional power generation, considering each energy's source and how we convert it to usable electricity
2. Analyse factors that limit solar panel performance and efficiency
3. Evaluate the potential of large-scale solar against environmental concerns

## How to Use This Playlist:  

This playlist is designed to help your students develop a better understanding of solar power technology and how maximising useful energy output is essential to the design and operation of a solar farm.

Here are some suggestions on how to use the resources:  

***3D Model of The Sun*** – Some suggested questions for students include what types of energy the Sun releases, which forms can reach Earth, and whether it is renewable.

- [Sun](https://edvr.se/MOe-kmy-FxJ/sun-our-star-interactive)

***Renewable Energy – Solar Power Explorable Scene*** – Through their exploration of the scene, students deduce that silicon solar cells do not centre on chemical reactions like batteries or fuel cells, nor contain moving parts like a steam turbine. They should comment on the arrangement of the modules in solar arrays and their angular orientation, then be able to describe how the electricity is processed and delivered in a usable form.

- [Renewable Energy - Solar Power](https://edvr.se/PJN-CiL-kLQ/renewable-energy-solar-power)

***360 Images*** – Students can observe that solar technology takes many forms. The Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) methods use paraboloid dishes or a central tower to focus sunlight, driving a heat engine and electric generator. This contrasts with the familiar Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels which convert light to electricity directly. What challenges might arise from the construction of solar farms across large land areas?

- [White Cliffs Solar Power Station](https://scene.link/PZH-f7s/cvr360-solar-power-station-white-cliffs-new-south-wales-australia)
- [Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, Big Smoky Valley, NV](https://scene.link/PZH-f7s/cvr360-area51)
- [Aerial View of Solar Park in Seßlach, Germany](https://scene.link/PZH-f7s/cvr360-aerial-view-of-solar-park-in-sesslach-germany)

***360 Images*** – Use these images to show some of the novel ways of engaging with solar energy. Students can talk about how solar design is changing, with emerging fields like solar car ports or agrivoltaics aiming to optimise land usage. The LED art in Croatia shows how solar cells inspire the arts.

- [Under a Large Solar Panel Installation](https://scene.link/PZH-f7s/cvr360-under-the-solar-panels)
- [Zadar – The Greetings to the Sun at Night](https://scene.link/PZH-f7s/cvr360-zadar-the-greetings-to-the-sun-at-night)