If all of mankind’s energy was supplied through solar panels would the effect be big enough to decrease the temperature (since light is converted in part to electricity)?

  • TriflingToad
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    19 hours ago

    but solar panels are black, does that mean it’ll just make the earth hotter overall?

    • rowinxavier@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      17 hours ago

      They appear black because they do not rreflect light but rather than absorb photons as heat they absorb them as electricity. This conversion means they do not get hot like a painted black surface does. In fact, solar panels are heat sensitive and become inefficient if too hot, so some have cooling on the back side or even water cooling.