Solar thermal energy uses the sun’s heat for various tasks, including food preservation, cooking, and generating electricity. It can also be used for cooling through evaporative cooling. This form of energy is accessible to communities worldwide and can operate 24/7 with supporting technology.
Solar thermal energy is a form of energy where the sun is used to produce heat that can be used in a variety of ways. People have used this energy for thousands of years for a variety of tasks, and modern technology has greatly expanded the applications for heat from the sun. This is not to be confused with solar energy, where sunlight is used to produce electricity.
Some of the applications of solar thermal energy are very old. For example, solar drying is a technique that uses the sun’s heat in food preservation. In this application, food items are laid out on rocks and the heat of the sun is used to dry them. Evaporation ponds such as those used to concentrate salt also use thermal energy from the sun, as do desalination plants.
This form of energy can also be used for cooking, sometimes in very creative ways. Solar ovens use solar thermal energy and can be used to heat water to generate steam for cooking. Pasteurization can also be accomplished with the use of concentrated heat from the sun. Another use is in the distillation of fluids and of course the heating of hot water. Water heated in this way can be used for bathing, cleaning and cooking. It can also be used for home heating; heated water, for example, can be circulated under a floor to warm it.
Solar thermal energy can also be used for cooling, although it seems paradoxical to harness the heat to cool things down. In this application, it is used in a process known as evaporative cooling, where liquid water is evaporated, cooling the air. All of these solar heat applications can be basic or advanced, accessible to people in communities around the world, including communities in developing countries.
The heat from the sun can be used in generating electricity. This requires extensive supporting technology, but one advantage is that because heat can be stored, a solar thermal system can operate 24 hours a day to meet energy needs. These structures are generally located in areas that receive a lot of sun, so that the maximum amount of thermal energy can be harnessed. Reflective towers and arrays of various kinds can be used to collect the sun’s heat and concentrate it in order to produce electricity.
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