THE SOLAR RESOURCE SIMPLE APPLICATIONS OF SOLAR ENERGY The Sun's rays have long been used as the heat source for evaporating and distilling water. Solar evaporation has always been an important salt-production process. Salt water is pumped into shallow ponds that are open to the Sun. As the water evaporates, its salts form crystals that settle at the bottom and are eventually collected. Producing drinkable water from brine is accomplished in a solar still, where …showed first 75 words of 1983 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1983 total…m (3 ft) underground, and the heated water is passed to the pump, where the heat is compressed and distributed. The utilization of the immense force of ocean tides to generate electricity is yet another form of solar energy (see tidal energy). By installing turbines that are powered by the inflow and outflow of tidal waters--within a narrow estuary, for example--this force can be made to produce large amounts of usable energy, at no environmental cost.