How Is Solar Energy Harnessed?

Every year the Earth receives energy in abundance. This energy drives processes in the atmosphere that cause the wind and waves. Some energy is absorbed by green plants and used to make food by photosynthesis. So, ultimately, the Sun is the source of most energy resources available to us, including fossil fuels.
Solar energy can be used to heat a fluid such as water in solar collector panels. Simple types use flat collector panels mounted on a south facing roof or wall each with transparent cover to harness sunlight.
Water circulates through channels or pipes inside each panel. The inside is usually painted black, because black surfaces readily absorb heat. The water is heated, then the hot water is pumped to a heat exchanger that extracts the heat for use within the house.
Solar energy can also be used to generate electricity in photovoltaic (PV) cells. A PV cell may power your calculator.
Photovoltaic cells are made of semiconductors, similar to those used to make computer chips.
The Sun’s energy can be collected / harnessed anywhere, but more can be gathered in areas on or near the Equator.
It is advantageous that solar energy is renewable, non-polluting and relatively maintenance free.
“Solar Energy” implies a potential for directly heating or generating electricity by harnessing the energy radiated from the sun. In the broad sense of the term, solar energy also includes wind, wave, biomass and fossil fuel energy as well. All these forms of energy originated as solar energy.
The Sun’s radiation arrives at no cost and is available during any clear day. More energy from the sun falls on the earth in one hour than is used by everyone in the world in one year. The Sun is an immense fusion reactor. Fusion simply means that hydrogen atoms are combined to make helium. This occurs on the sun because it is very hot. The sun is very hot because fusion releases a great quantity of heat. That is why fusion is called a chain reaction.
The sun’s nuclear fusion process converts 508 million tons of hydrogen into 504 million tons of helium every second. The remaining 4 million tons of matter are converted to energy, making the core temperature of the sun extremely hot.