TODA ENERGIA VEM do SOL!

Did you know that all the energy we use comes from a star like the Sun? For example, I am riding my bike right now, and the energy I'm using here to move is coming from the Sun, yes. Don't believe me? Watch this video until the end. Today I'm here in Juazeiro, Bahia, at the Futura Solar Complex, which is managed by Eneva and is one of the largest solar energy parks in Latin America. It has more than 1,400,000 solar panels that are spread over more than 1600 hectares, the equivalent of 1600 football fields. At its peak, the complex manages to generate 837 megawatts, which is enough to supply Around 1,700,000 homes. I don't think I need to mention that this is one of the Places with the highest solar radiation of the places where the sun hits the most in Brazil, right? We came here to understand how the Sun and other stars can be the sources of energy for everything we use in our lives. And it's not clickbait or wordplay. That statement is true. The question is how? Let's start with the example here of the bicycle. It's moving because I'm moving my legs, which are moving because I'm contracting my Muscles, but where does the energy in my muscles come from? All the energy in our body comes from the food we eat and the air we breathe. Now, for example, I'm eating this egg, it has a lot of fat, a little carbohydrate, These molecules will be broken down inside my body along with the oxygen that I breathed to produce my energy. But where does the energy in food come from? The egg came from the chicken that got energy by eating other foods, such as corn, like this. The energy of the grains of corn was produced by the plant that obtained this energy By photosynthesis, that is, using the energy of the Sun. Okay, the energy that moved this bike came from the Sun. But does this also happen with other types of energy, like the energy that comes into our house? Yes, it does. Just look! Most of the electricity we use in Brazil is generated by Hydroelectric plants that use the movement of water to generate energy. So, let's think about the water cycle, I mean,  I'm going to draw the water cycle here for you. Look how cool, water will evaporate from the oceans, lakes, forests and will form clouds in the sky. These clouds will rain somewhere, the water falls and feeds rivers. The rivers will fill reservoirs, and the reservoirs will release the water, which Will fall and move turbines that generate electricity. This all forms a cycle and, To generate energy, the water needs to go downward, the water needs to fall. But

For it to fall, it needs to go up first. What makes this water rise? Yeah, it's the Sun that makes the water evaporate and it rises. But what about coal Energy? Coal energy comes from burning trees that have grown using energy from the Sun. When I say coal, it is both plant life and mineral, because the plant is burnt trees, and the mineral is fossilized trees. And the energy of the wind? Winds happen because there are some places on planet Earth that are hotter than others. In these warmer places, the air rises, when it rises, the colder air will occupy that place. And all this movement is what causes winds. Now, guess why there are warmer places? Because of the sun. What about the energy in oil that is formed with heat coming From deep within the earth? What about nuclear energy when we break atoms? These Two have nothing to do with Sun… Or almost nothing… petroleum was formed by Organisms that lived millions of years ago and that used energy from the Sun to live. But, that's right, to form oil, we also need the heat that is inside planet Earth. That heat in turn comes from another star that existed before the Sun that exploded Providing its energy through a cloud of dust that formed the Solar System and the Earth, very hot inside. And, it even formed those atoms that we use in nuclear power plants. See? There's no avoiding it, all our energy came from a star like the Sun. Is there no Way to access this energy in a more direct way, without going through this bunch Of transformations? Like, plugging a cable straight into the sun? There's a better way than that, actually. Using a wireless connection, like wi-fi. Sunlight is this energy that is arriving on Earth, and these panels here are the antennas that capture this energy. But how does this antenna work? How does this panel manage to turn light into electricity? Simply put, electrical energy is electrons running through an electrically conductive material, like most metals. But these panels here are not made of a conductive material. They are made of silicon, which is a semiconductor, which means that it conducts electricity in a different way. For electrons to be able to move in this material, we will need to mix other elements, Like aluminum, phosphorus… but even so, before the electrons run, they will need to be released from the silicon. Sunlight will release these electrons. When it hits the panel, it transfers energy to the electrons that "pluft", release Themselves from the silicon and run, forming the electric current. Here at the Futura Solar Complex, they use these 4.3 foot by 7.2 foot (1.30 meter

By 2.20 meter) panels, and they manage to capture light from both sides. At peak, It manages to generate up to 590 Watt, which would be enough to power about four Or five 42-inch LED televisions or, if you prefer, 59 10 watt LED bulbs. To take Advantage of the sun as much as possible, these panels are connected to an engine That causes them to incline and follow the movement of the sun throughout the day. And the cool thing is that these motors are also solar powered, only they're connected to these little plates here. That's it, wireless energy captured directly from the Sun using only one antenna. You could even connect a solar panel directly to the circuit, but, in practice, it Doesn't work because the light varies a lot. There are times when it is cloudy, There are times when the sun is setting. Therefore, solar plants like this one from Eneva collect all this energy from the panels and pass it through stations that will Stabilize the electrical signal, to only then send it to our homes and work together With other plants in the country that guarantee energy even when it is not Sun's up. But here, the energy only undergoes one transformation. From light to electricity. That's why solar energy is one of the cleanest of all, because it doesn't rely on Burning anything, heating anything, or turning anything. So, at the beginning of the video, a lot of people must have thought it was clickbait, but now we know it wasn't. All the energy we use comes from the stars. But sometimes this energy undergoes several transformations, as is the case here with the bicycle. And it is logical that to do this in a way that really makes a big difference for The planet, we will need places like Complexo Solar Futurawith, managed by Eneva, Cutting-edge technology, with more than a million solar panels to generate clean energy for millions of people.