Feb
27
What would you call the power given from stars since solar power is only the name of energy from the sun?
ByIf you took a solar powered device to a planet very similar to Earth that revolves around a star similar to the sun in another galaxy would it be able to be powered? And would you still call it solar powered or is there a name from energy given from stars? Solar only refers to the star we revolve around, so solar powered would be technically incorrect, right?

7 Comments
February 27th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
You are correct – Sol is our star
It would be able to be powered.
Light power
Radiant power
Photon power
Star Power
February 28th, 2010 at 12:15 am
Radiation.
Our sun’s energy may be commonly known as “solar” from “sol” meaning our sun, but that is the same energy emitted by Betelgeuse, Rigel, Sirius, Procyon, etc; these are stars.
“If you took a solar powered device to a planet very similar to Earth that revolves around a star similar to the sun in another galaxy would it be able to be powered?”
Yes, it would still be powered.
“And would you still call it solar powered or is there a name from energy given from stars?”
It would still be considered solar power, but it’s name may be something else.
This is a good question. You might be interested in this text:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power
February 28th, 2010 at 1:09 am
solar refraction, still solar energy to us only refracted by the stars..
February 28th, 2010 at 1:43 am
How about “photoelectric cells”?
February 28th, 2010 at 1:49 am
I’d say stellar power.
(seems there are a few solar companies that use those two words in their titles)
photoelectric cells works too
we also have “Thermoelectric, or “thermovoltaic” devices convert a temperature difference between dissimilar materials into an electric current.”
would our solar cells still work under the conditions of another star…….. well. I’d say it depends on the star and the type it is.
I’d assume it would work in most situations just not as well as it would for the sun. these cells are taylor made to fit the radiation emitted by our sun.
February 28th, 2010 at 1:51 am
stellar radiation
stellar power
i suppose if it consisted of more than one star
interstellat radioation
interstellar power
February 28th, 2010 at 2:02 am
Yes, it would be able to be powered by a star similar to our sun. And we would use the words stellar power, or stellar radiation. It comes from the Latin word stēlla, star.
Some stars have unique names, so we could probably use their names like we do with the sun. For example, we could use “proximian power” for Proxima Centauri. Most sun-like stars don’t have unique names, though, so it will be hard to do. Unique names are usually given to the brightest stars in the night sky, like Aldebaran, Arcturus, etc. When we speak of the power and radiation from these stars, we can use words “aldebaranian”, “arcturian”, etc.