Planning and Installing Solar Thermal Systems

German Solar Energy Society

Preference :

The most important supplier of energy for the earth is the sun. The whole of life depends on the sun’s energy. It is the starting point for the chemical and biological processes on our planet. At the same time it is the most environmentally friendly form of all energies, it can be used in many ways, and it is suitable for all social systems. In the core of the sun, a fusion process takes place in which pairs of hydrogen nuclei are fused into helium nuclei. The energy thus released is radiated into space in the form of electromagnetic radiation. As the sun is 148 million km from the earth, it radiates only a tiny fraction of its energy to the earth. In spite of this, the sun offers more energy in four hours than the human race uses in a whole year. The age of the sun is estimated by astrophysicists to be about 5 billion years. With a total life expectancy of 10 billion years the sun will be available as an energy source for another 5 billion years. Hence from our human perspective, the sun offers an unlimited life.