Capturing the sun's energy:

Above - The solar energy values over Western Australia.
Source - Australian and New Zealand Solar Energy Society (ANZSES)

Depending on where you live (which latitude), on a clear day the sun's radiation on the earth can be one thousand watts per square metre. (One thousand watts or 1kW is about the same rate at which energy is used by a one-bar electric radiator.)

As discussed earlier, we can use solar power in two different ways: as a heat source and as an electricity source. The sun's heat energy can be captured by a number of different types of collectors and turned into hot water for our use.

Next Section >> Flat plate collectors.