Solar Panels

The blue quadrilateral highlights the solar panels on my neighbors' roof. Solar panels are made out of silicon, which is an element that absorbs radiation. These panels take radiation from the sun and convert it into energy that powers appliances.

Rays S and I are both sun rays, but the more powerful ray will produce more energy. Here, ray I will produce more power than ray S because ray I is perpendicular to the plane of the solar panels. The shortest segment between a point and a plane is the segment that is perpendicular to plane. Therefore it make sense that Ray I produces more energy because it is perpendicular to the quadrilateral, which means that the solar panels struck by ray I are closer to the sun, which means that the sun's radiation is more powerful.

-LV5