Hi Guys,

Those are two very different questions.

For the first one, I am not sure humans will be going very close to the sun in person, but we are planning to send spacecraft in for a closer look. NASA is working on a mission called Solar Probe that will send a spacecraft that will go just 3.7 million miles (5.9 million kilometers) from the Sun. I guess that sounds like a lot, but it is a lot closer than we have ever gone before. Solar Probe will sample and image the solar wind close to the sun than we have ever gone before. It should be launching around 2018. There is more information about it here http://solarprobe.jhuapl.edu/

As for solar power in Alaska, I assume it would be useful in the long summer days there, but I don't know easy it is compared to using solar energy in other places.

Terry

Hi gals,

Thanks for the great question! There are lots of solar PV systems in Alaska. PV works on sunlight, though, so in the dark times PV can't produce electricity. The cold is actually advantegous, as PV produces more electricity when cold than when hot. So when the sun is shining in a chilly place like Alaska, the PV is pumping out the power!

These systems are usually in areas where the power company hasn't put up lines, so they are "off-grid". All that is needed is a PV panel, (to produce electricity), a battery, (to store electricity), and what is called a charge controller, (that keeps the battery from being over charged). Sometimes folks want to power regular off-the-shelf appliances that run on AC electricity. If regular AC electricity is needed, an inverter is used to convert the DC electricity, (produced by the PV and stored in the battery), to AC power.

If you are interested in PV, check out my post on jobs in solar. It's a booming industry with a future! We could really use bright gals like you!

Blessings,

Kelly