Benefits of Solar Thermal Energy – We certainly know that there are many benefits of solar thermal energy. As the largest source of energy in the world, the sun has provided many benefits to the life of living things on earth, such as humans, animals, plants, and even the planet itself.
According to the Big Indonesian Dictionary or KBBI, the sun can be interpreted as a star which is the center of the solar system of the Milky Way galaxy. As the center of the solar system, the sun naturally also plays a role in emitting heat and light to Earth and other planets. The sun is also known to have a large content of hydrogen and helium.
As human civilization progresses, solar thermal energy begins to be used for various purposes in everyday life, such as industry, households, and offices. It doesn’t stop there, here are some of the benefits of heat energy from sunlight for human life that you need to know. Come on, see the following reviews!
A. The Benefits of Solar Thermal Energy for Humans
1. Solar electricity
The sun is one of the energy that will never run out or can be said as renewable energy. So do not be surprised if the first benefit of solar energy is that it can be used as an energy source for electricity. Electricity from the sun itself is known as solar electricity.
By utilizing solar thermal energy as a source of electricity, this allows you to have an electricity supply that is safe and good for the environment. We know for ourselves that so far humans still depend on coal to power electricity. Meanwhile, it is believed that solar energy electricity will provide extraordinary benefits for humans such as for homes, buildings and factories.
2. Give light
The next benefit of solar thermal energy is that it can be used as a source of lighting for humans. If there is no solar energy in the form of light, of course the world will be engulfed in darkness. This will make all mankind unable to see anything in the surrounding environment.
The light source that comes from the sun is certainly very different from the lighting provided by the lamp. The lamp itself can turn on if it is powered by electricity first. Therefore, along with the use of cheaper solar panel technology, you can use it as a source of natural light in the morning and energy reserves for lights at night.
3. Solar vehicles
In everyday life, humans cannot be separated from the role of vehicles to move. One of the benefits of solar energy that is being discussed today is, of course, solar powered vehicles. Solar vehicles are believed to be the most widely used mode of transportation in the future.
However, the use of this solar vehicle itself is still not widely owned today. This is because solar power is not yet widely available to many people. Therefore, the way that can be done to realize this vehicle is of course to make changes to the source of electricity, from coal to renewable energy such as the sun.
B. The Benefits of Solar Energy for Health
After knowing the benefits that solar thermal energy can provide for human life, the following will explain a series of benefits of solar thermal energy for human health, including:
1. Source of Vitamin D
Not only does it only have benefits as renewable energy, solar thermal energy can actually be one of the nutrients needed by the body. Based on research conducted by The Institute OF Medicine, a person should always receive vitamin D intake of 4000-9000 IU/day or about 10 to 20 minutes every day.
As an excellent source of nutrition for the body, the sun’s heat energy is also known as the sunshine vitamin or in the world of health it is known as vitamin D. Human skin basically has a type of cholesterol which has a function as a builder of vitamin D. When this compound is exposed to UV radiation -B from the sun, the compound will turn into vitamin D.
When compared to vitamin D that comes from food or even supplements, vitamin D can circulate twice as long in the human body. It’s just that, the amount of vitamin D that can be absorbed by the body really depends on various factors, such as age, season, sunscreen, even clothing.
2. Strengthens bones
The sun’s heat energy is very well used to strengthen bones. Vitamin D itself is known to have an important role in regulating calcium as well as making phosphorus levels in the blood more stable. Basically, the human body needs very good vitamin D to be used in absorbing calcium
A child must have high levels of vitamin D. This is because low levels of vitamin D in children will cause rickets. Rickets itself is a disorder of growing bones that causes calcium to fail to be stored in the bones.
The same thing can happen to adults. Lack of vitamin D levels will have the potential to cause someone to get osteomalacia or softening of the bones. In addition, many people are also known to have osteoporosis due to a lack of vitamin D in the body.
3. Improves Mood
Basking in the sun for 10 to 15 minutes per day is also very good for preventing stress and depression. Of course you can use this when you want to start the day to be more enthusiastic about your activities and work. Someone who has decreased sun exposure is known to be more susceptible to stress and depression.
The benefits of solar thermal energy are basically to support the release of serotonin and endorphins. These two hormones are closely related to mood so they can make a person happier. No wonder, if sunlight is effective in providing overall calm so as to avoid depression.
4. Improve Sleep Quality
Besides being able to make blood circulation in the human body smoother, solar thermal energy is also known to be very beneficial for improving one’s sleep quality. When the retina of the eye is exposed to sunlight, the body will begin to produce serotonin.
As Healthline wrote, a small study conducted in 2014 showed that office workers experienced improved sleep quality when they received lots of natural light or solar thermal energy. This of course can help the body regulate the internal clock so that it effectively improves the quality of one’s sleep.
5. Lowers Blood Pressure
The second benefit of solar energy for human health is that it can be used as a way to lower blood pressure. When the skin gets the sun’s heat energy, a compound called nitric oxide is released into the blood vessels. This process itself is effective enough to help lower blood pressure levels. This in turn will also greatly help to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
According to a journal published by the Journal of Investigate Dermatology Suggest, exposure to UVA rays produced by sunlight has the benefit of dilating blood vessels. The dilation of blood vessels itself can be understood to provide space for blood so it can flow normally.
6. Prevent Cancer
As a natural source of vitamin D, solar thermal energy is known to be very good for human health, such as preventing certain cancers. Several studies have shown that exposure to natural heat energy or sunlight can reduce the risk of colorectal, prostate, breast cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
7. Lose weight
The sun’s heat energy that exposes UV rays is proven to be able to convert cholesterol in the body into vitamin D. Cholesterol that is too high in the body can make the body have excessive body weight. Therefore, sunbathing will be perfect for those of you who are or want to lose weight.
8. Increase Body Immunity
According to research conducted by researchers from the Georgetown University Medical Center regarding solar thermal energy, it is known that based on a special mechanism, sunlight can provide energy to T cells. T cells themselves are one of the cells that have a central role in the human immune system.
The discovery itself has proven that the sun’s thermal energy can be directly used to activate immune cells through accelerated cell movement. Cells basically need to move to do their job, for example, to reach a site of infection or regulate the body’s immune response.
B. The Benefits of Solar Thermal Energy for Animals
In general, solar thermal energy has the benefit of providing warmth to all living things on earth. Therefore, all creatures that live in this world are very dependent on energy from the sun. The sun can be said to be an important energy for the survival of all living things on earth.
Well, here are some of the benefits of solar thermal energy for animals, including the following:
1. Warms the animal’s body in order to survive. This is especially for reptile-type animals such as crocodiles, snakes and lizards.
2. As a source of vitamin D. Just like humans, animals also need vitamin D and the sun is a natural source to get this vitamin.
3. Some animals take advantage of the heat from the sun to help expedite the process of digesting food.
4. Keep the animal’s body temperature warm and stable.
5. The sun helps the process of photosynthesis of plants which are a source of food for animals. Helps the growth of the animal’s body to be faster.
6. Some animals need sunlight to accelerate the process of animal adaptation to their environment.
7. As a source of lighting to find prey and food. As a guide for flying animals. Regulates sleep cycles.
C. The Benefits of Solar Heat Energy for Plants
A plant or plant is known to need solar thermal energy in order to continue to reproduce. The sun has a very important role in maintaining the temperature or air temperature to remain stable. If the air temperature is unstable, it can make the plants wither quickly and cannot grow optimally.
Plants that are at an air temperature that is too low will result in the evaporation process taking longer. This will ultimately have a direct impact on the survival of other creatures, such as humans and animals.
Therefore, the following are some of the benefits of solar thermal energy for plants, including:
1. Helping the process of photosynthesis which is useful for producing food for plants.
2. Helps the process of plant growth as a whole.
3. As the best source of nutrition for plants.
4. Maintain plant temperature to be more stable and balanced.
5. Warms the seeds on plants.
6. Activate the chlorophyll contained in plants.
7. Gives green color to plants.
8. Helping the growth of flowers and leaves, plants exposed to sunlight will quickly flower and grow tall.
9. Helping the process of growing sprouts to become richer in nutrients.
Thus the benefits of solar thermal energy for humans, animals and plants. Based on the explanation above, we can conclude that the existence of the sun has a very important role for all living things on Earth. This is because the sun can be said to be the source of life for planet Earth and other planets.
Without the sun, planet Earth would have temperatures unusable for life, not even by bacteria or microorganisms. If the sun suddenly does not emit its light, this can cause changes in planet Earth’s air temperature to drop drastically.
The earth’s temperature will not drop to 0 degrees Celsius (0C) immediately, because the Earth still stores heat from solar radiation from the time/time when the sun still emits its rays. It takes a very long time for the Earth’s temperature to drop to 0 0C. However, as long as that happens the cycle of life on Earth will be disrupted until it finally disappears before Earth’s temperature reaches zero.
This is because the absence of sunlight will cause plants to be unable to carry out the process of photosynthesis, which converts carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and glucose. If the sun stops shining, then the process of photosynthesis will stop. As a result, plants cannot produce the glucose or oxygen needed by animals and humans.