The sun is a star in the center of the universe. Research suggests that it was created by shockwaves from an exploding star or supernovae. It is made mostly of hydrogen and helium gases. It is not solid but does have an inner core. The energy radiated from the sun comes from the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium. The helium is turned to ash as 700 million tons of hydrogen burn every second. The inner core produces up to 15,000,000 K. ‘K’ represents a Kelvin, a unit measurement of thermal temperature. A 0 Kelvin is equal to a -273.15 degrees Celsius. 
It uses convection, a type of kinetic energy (use of motion and velocity to create acceleration) to transfer the heat from the core through the layers of its photosphere (the outside area where the gases are cool enough to be seen) and chromo sphere (the area above its photosphere) to its corona (the oblique surface we see). The energy in its core takes an estimated 1 million years to reach a photosphere that maintains a temperature up to 6,000 degrees Celsius. The pressure created on the sun is 340 times greater than that on earth.
These nuclear reactions cause the outer layers to continuously expand and contract. The movement creates a solar wind of charged particles that form hypersonic streams extending to the heliopause (a theoretical boundary interacting with inner-stellar material). The sun is fourth largest, of our solar system. It is 12,000 times earth’s size. The sun is 17 light years away from earth (149.6 million kilometers). Although it is seen as yellow, the surface is actually white. The radiant energy takes approximately 8 minutes and 19 seconds to reach earth. Almost all life on earth is supported by this thermo-light energy created with-in the sun’s core.
The intense and almost unfathomable energy that is generated by the sun has been studied for many years and is still not fully understood. The efforts to harness its energy have in large part been successful. Using lenses and reflective material the heat from the sun can be stored. It is then converted to a usable form of electricity. Research is underway to create large thermal electric power plants that use molten salt to store the energy. This form of power production greatly decreases independence on fossil fuels and substantially lowers polluting emissions of CO2, sulfur oxide and nuclear waste. It is estimated that using only 1% of desert lands would produce more energy than traditional power plants.
Economically, the theory will take many years to apply on a massive service level. Studies show that independent homes and buildings using thermo-electric collectors are more expensive to set-up, but the overall effects and benefits of utilizing the technology offset the cost. It is far safer and has fewer impacts on the environment than our more common sources supplying electricity today.
Solar Powered portable chargers by Solar (Freeloader), Brunton, Silva and Solio is available at Apple Bazaar.
