SMA Solar Technology AG Solar is Future for Kids

The Sun
Without the sun, there would be no life on earth.
Warmth, light, rain and wind are all generated by the sun.
But thats not all: The suns rays also provide us with enormous amounts of energy!

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a. Size
Is the sun the size of a watermelon?
No, its much bigger of course. The sun has a diameter of about 864,000
miles. This distance is the same as 109 planet earths strung together like a
necklace, or the same as the length of a piece of string wrapped around
the earth 35 times. In the hot center of the sun there is enough space for
as many as 1,300,000 planet earths. You can see the difference if you put
a watermelon next to a pea. If you think of the watermelon as the sun and
the pea as the earth it gives you a good idea of just how huge the differ-
ence is.

b. Temperature
A fiery oven in outer space.
The sun is a giant ball of white-hot gases. The temperature on the surface of
the sun is around 11,000 F. Its so hot that the surface of the sun bubbles
like a saucepan full of boiling soup. And the further you go into the sun,
the hotter it gets. At the suns core the temperature reaches an incredible
27,000,000 F. Your oven at home in the kitchen has a maximum tem-
perature of around 450 F. This is fine for baking cakes but if you tried to
bake a cake in the sun it would be burnt to a crisp instantly. An astronauts
special fireproof clothing would be no protection at all against this kind of

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heat either. Even if an astronaut did manage to get close to the sun, he wouldnt be able to move. The gravita-
tional pull of the sun is so strong that his arm would be as heavy as his entire body.

c. Mass
How heavy is the sun?
The sun is by far the largest object in our solar system. It accounts for
almost the entire mass of our solar system; 99,87% to be precise. All the
planets together make up the 0.13% thats left over. That sounds pretty
complicated but its actually quite simple. Imagine that a hundred marbles
represent the mass of our solar system (i.e. the sun and all the planets). If
you were to take one of those marbles and cut off a little piece, that little
piece would be the mass of all the planets.
The remaining pile of 99 marbles plus the one with the bit cut off would be
the mass of the sun. The weight of the sun in tons, written as a number, is a 2 with 27 zeros after it. This is what
it looks like: 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons That is 333,000 times the earths mass!

d. Distance from the Earth

How long would it take for a human being to get to the sun?

RJ?LGBQ The distance from the earth to the sun is approximately 94 million miles.
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years to get there on foot, 166 years by high-speed train and 22 years by
jumbo jet. The suns rays, however, travel so fast that it only takes them 8
minutes to get from the sun to the earth. Light travels 186,000 miles per
second, which makes it a million times faster than a jet plane.

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a. Birth and Life-Span

Has the sun always been there?
The sun was born out of a giant cloud of cool gas and dust around 5 billion
years ago. Thats difficult to imagine when you know what its like today.
Its no longer cool at all, but has become a giant, ball of white-hot gas,
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tial bodies which radiate light. The planets of our solar system, including the
earth, revolve around the sun. Planets cannot create light themselves so it
would be permanently dark and cold on earth if it wasnt for the sun. The sun will exist for around another 5
billion years, getting hotter and bigger all the time. It will get so huge that its surface will even touch the earth.
Then it will explode and a new solar system might form. But dont worry! Theres an extremely long way to go
before that happens. The sun will almost certainly outlast the human race.

Be careful!
When studying the sun you should never look directly at it. Never use binocu-
lars or a telescope to look at it even if there is a solar eclipse! Looking directly
at the sun can seriously damage your eyes and even lead to blindness.
Sunglasses, even very dark ones, do not provide enough protection. You can
buy suitable filters and glasses from an optician or at a planetarium.

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b. Composition
Why is the sun so hot?
Even if the sun were not as hot as it is, we wouldnt be able to walk around
on it - we would simply disappear into it. This is because it is composed
almost entirely of gases and only a very small proportion of metals. Gases
are like air and, as you know, we cant stand on air. If we could, we
wouldnt be able to jump from a diving board into a swimming pool.

The sun consists mainly of two gases: hydrogen and helium. You have
probably come across helium at some point, its the gas thats used to fill
balloons that rise into the air. The heat in the sun is so intense it turns hydro-
gen into helium. So much energy and heat are released in this process that great explosions take place. We
can feel the heat from these explosions way out here on earth, but fortunately we are far enough away that
we only receive as much heat as we need to live.

c. Day and Night

Why does the sun rise and set?
We talk about the sun rising in the morning and setting in the evening.
This comes from a time when people still thought the earth was flat and
that the sun rose on one side and set on the other. But, as we now know, it
isnt the sun that moves but the earth, even if it doesnt feel that way to us.
Every day, the earth turns once on its axis. This means that each part of the
earth turns to face the sun once (daytime), and once away from the sun
(night-time). This process takes exactly 24 hours, which is how the earths
rotation and sunlight contribute to how we keep track of time. All clocks
follow this rhythm exactly.

Sundials:
In ancient times people were able to tell the time by using sundials. These
consisted of a style (a thin rod) positioned on a flat surface showing a
scale. As the day progressed, the shadow of the style moved across the 9
1

17
16

numbers on the scale and indicated the exact time of day. 15 1

4 13 12 11 10 9

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d. The Seasons
Why is it warmer in summer than in winter?
The earth doesnt only turn on its own axis. It also revolves around the
sun once a year, following a set path. This path is called an orbit. The
orbit is not a perfect circle, but more egg-shaped. Scientists call this an
ellipse. The earth orbits the sun at a speed of about 66,500 mph,
which is around 2,000 times faster than a car is allowed to drive in the
city. Many people think that the earth is closer to the sun in summer than
it is in winter, and thats why its warmer in summer. In fact, the opposite
is true: the earth is actually further away from the sun in summer than
it is in winter. So why is it colder in winter than it is in summer? The reason for this is that the earths axis is al-
ways at a slant. This means that the suns rays dont hit the earth vertically, but at an angle. It is this angle that
dictates whether it is spring, summer, fall or winter, and whether it is hot or cold.

Copernicus
Copernicus (1473-1543) was one of the first people to recognize that
its not the sun that moves around the earth, but rather the earth that
moves around the sun. Back then, he didnt want to publicize his theory
because he was afraid people would laugh at him. But today we know
that he was right! This change in our world view is therefore called the
Copernican Revolution.

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a. The Sun Gives us Light

Why do we need sunlight?
The light from the sun is so strong that we need no extra lighting to be
able to see what we are doing during the day. Even when its foggy or
cloudy we still get enough sunlight for us to live. Every square meter of the
sun shines brighter than a million light bulbs. The best flashlights only have
a range of a few yards and even a super-strong laser can only shine on
specific points; it could never light up the entire earth.

Without sunlight it would be completely dark on earth. Even the moon wouldnt be able to shine at night
because moonlight is only the suns rays reflected back to earth. Without the sun, there would be no plant life
on earth. Plants need light to live and grow. Plants even turn light into oxygen which people and animals need
to be able to breathe. And did you know that sunlight is important for our bones? Being out in the sunlight
helps our bodies produce vitamin D, which our bones need to develop and stay healthy. People who dont get
enough sunlight often have porous and fragile bones.

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Be careful!
Too much sun can also damage your skin and lead to serious illnesses.
Thats why you shouldnt spend too long in the sun and should always
use protective sun cream when youre at the pool or playing outside.
Try to make sure you dont get sunburned - ask an adult before you go 12
out how long you can stay out in the sun. Use a T-shirt and a hat to help
protect yourself.

b. The Sun Gives us Warmth

Would the earth be as cold as the South Pole if it wasnt for the
sun?
The earth is just far enough away from the sun to prevent it from burning.
It is also close enough to receive just enough warmth to enable human
beings, animals and plants to live. If the sun were to die, life on earth
would become impossible within a few weeks. Water and the air would
become a giant ice crust. It would be colder than in the freezer compart-
ment of your fridge, where the temperature can reach 0 F.

And it would be much colder than the South Pole, too, even though its extremely cold there already. The tem-
perature there is usually between -4 F and -58 F. The lowest temperature ever recorded there was -128.2
F! But that is the absolute lowest temperature that has ever been recorded on earth. Without the sun, it would
be much, much colder, close to the lowest possible point of -459.67 F, which is called absolute zero. At
this temperature, a polar bear would freeze to death, and even the thickest winter coat would not protect you
for very long. But dont worry! The sun will continue to shine and provide us with warmth for billions of years
to come.

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Why is it cold in space?

Youve probably asked yourself why its always cold in space although the sun
shines there. The reason is that space is a vacuum. In space, theres no air, no
gas, no water, no ground, not even dust. The sun can only have a warming ef-
fect when its rays strike something which can absorb their heat.

Here on earth, the energy from the suns rays is absorbed by the atmosphere,
as well as by land and water, which then warm up. When you sit in the sun
you can really feel its rays warming you as soon as they hit you, even in winter,
cant you? But in space there is nothing at all which could absorb the suns
energy. Thats why its always cold there.

c. The Sun Makes it Rain

Why doesnt the sea overflow?
Have you ever wondered why the sea doesnt overflow? After all, new
water constantly flows into the sea from rivers and streams and theres rain,
too, of course! So why doesnt it spill over river banks and the shoreline?
The reason it doesnt is that the water in the sea is part of a cycle. The
suns warm rays strike the surface of the earth (including the sea) and
cause water to evaporate. This is why sea levels remain constant. Youve
probably seen the effects of evaporation yourself, if youve ever watched
water boiling in a saucepan which turns into steam causing the level of water to gradually go down. But water
doesnt need to boil in order to evaporate; The heat of the sun makes puddles disappear from the streets, for
example.

The water vapor then rises up and meets cooler air. It condenses on tiny dust particles in the air and a cloud is
formed. You can watch this happening at home in the kitchen or in the bathroom when water vapour con-
denses on a cool mirror or window pane. When the cloud gets too heavy or gets stuck in front of a mountain,
the water falls to earth as rain and refills the seas, rivers and lakes. The water raining onto land drains into the
ground water and gets back into the rivers that way. Even if rain falling onto streets cant sink into the ground,
the sun causes it to evaporate and so it gets back into the water cycle that way.

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d. The Sun Makes the Wind Blow

Why is it always windy on the coast?
If youve ever stood on top of a hill or flown a kite on a windy day, youll
know just how powerful the wind can be. But did you know that its the
sun that causes the wind to blow? The reason for this is that the sun warms
some parts of the earth more than others. Some air layers absorb the suns
heat more quickly than others causing warm and cold air layers to form.

The cold layers are pulled towards the warm layers creating a flow of air, which we describe as a breeze, a
storm, a hurricane or simply as wind, depending on its strength. You can clearly feel this happening if you go
to the coast. At the beach theres always a moderate to strong wind blowing. When the sun shines, it warms
the air above the land more quickly than the air above the sea. This causes the warmer air to expand and
rise. This creates more space at ground level which cold air then flows into. This is how wind is formed; in this
case a sea breeze. Another fact you might also like to know is that at night land cools down more quickly than
water, which causes the wind to change direction and blow out to sea.

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a. Solar Energy
How much energy do we receive from the sun each day?
It seems completely normal to us that the sun keeps shining, even if its hidden
for a while behind clouds. All living things on earth use the suns energy every
day in order to live and grow; even the wind and the rain are caused by the
sun. We dont usually give a second thought to the amount of free energy the
sun releases and sends to us each day.

We would have to detonate 100,000,000,000 tons of dynamite per second to generate as much
energy as the sun.
The energy the earth receives from the sun in the space of one hour would be enough to satisfy the
energy needs of the entire world population for a year.
The supply of energy from the sun in a year is 15,000 times higher than the amount used by all human
beings over the same period.
So the sun provides us with much more energy than we could ever use.

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b. Distribution of the Suns Energy

Can you eat solar energy?
More than a third of the solar energy which reaches the earth is reflected
back into space by the atmosphere. The largest part of the solar energy
that comes to us is absorbed by the air, the seas and the continents and
is radiated back as heat. Only 0.2% of the solar energy arriving on earth
creates wind and tides and just 0.1% is enough for all the worlds plant life
to grow. All the fruit and vegetables we eat each day couldnt have grown
without sunlight. So really, what we eat is stored up solar energy. Even oil,
gas and coal were formed from the remains of plants and animals that needed the suns energy to grow. So
the energy in these fuels is the product of the suns rays on earth millions of years ago.

c. Using the Suns Energy

How can we use the suns energy?
The sun supplies us with an astounding amount of energy. It would take
150 million nuclear power stations to produce the same amount of energy
as the earth receives each second from the sun. Just a tiny proportion of
this energy (0.01%) would be enough to satisfy the energy needs of the
whole world. Today, throughout the world, people use the suns energy to
generate power and warmth. The most important ways of doing this are:
To produce electricity: The suns rays can be used to produce electricity if they are absorbed by special
panels.
To produce warm water: The sun provides us with enough energy to heat water for your shower, to do
the laundry and even to heat your home.
To produce biomass: Biomass is made of plants. It is used to create electricity, heat and even fuel for
cars.

However, at the moment, only a small percentage of our overall energy needs are met by solar energy. This
will increase in the years to come, though. This is because using the suns energy is good for the environment
and because many other energy sources like oil, gas and coal will soon be used up.

Solar Power
When we use the suns energy to generate electricity, we talk about solar power.
This expression comes from the Greek word solaris, which means of the sun.

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