Who Discovered That Solar Energy Comes From Nuclear Fusion

There are two predominant processes by which stellar hydrogen fusion occurs.

Who discovered that solar energy comes from nuclear fusion.

The energy from the sun both heat and light energy originates from a nuclear fusion process that is occurring inside the core of the sun the specific type of fusion that occurs inside of the sun is known as proton proton fusion. The discovery that the sun is made mostly of hydrogen and helium was the basis for what is now called the standard solar model proposed by jewish scientist and nobel laureate hans bethe. Solar neutrinos are produced in the core of the sun through various nuclear fusion reactions each of which occurs at a particular rate and leads to its own spectrum of neutrino energies. This then means that nuclear power is almost 10 times more expensive to build than utility scale solar on a cost per kw basis.

Details of the more prominent of these reactions are described below. Nuclear has the edge of being taken quite seriously in markets around the world such as france where the county gets about 75 percent of its electric power from nuclear energy. Photovoltaic s is a form of active solar technology that was discovered in 1839 by 19 year old french physicist alexandre edmond becquerel. Inside the sun this process begins with protons which is simply a lone hydrogen nucleus and through a series of steps these protons fuse together and are.

According to the model four hydrogen atoms become a pair of helium atoms and in that process the mass that is lost is converted into heat energy. The hydrogen and helium atoms that constitute sun combine in a heavy amount every second to generate a stable and a nearly inexhaustible source of energy. Becquerel discovered that when he placed silver chloride in an acidic solution and exposed it to sunlight the platinum electrode s attached to it generated an electric current. Another important factor to consider in the comparison of solar power vs.

The main contribution comes from the proton proton reaction the reaction is. Fission which powers several hundred nuclear plants is the splitting of uranium atoms into medium size atoms to release energy. Fusion does offer. Fusion which makes the stars glow goes the other way combining.

Proton proton chain and. Nuclear fusion is the source of sun s phenomenal energy output. Power sources have two key characteristics. Nuclear power is how much energy each produces on a yearly basis.

It is also called hydrogen burning which should not be confused with the chemical combustion of hydrogen in an oxidizing atmosphere.