为什么不用太阳能电池板覆盖沙漠

What does “太阳能 (taiyangneng)” mean in Chinese?

This video weighs a big idea: could covering the 撒哈拉沙漠 (Sahara Desert) in 太阳能电池板 (solar panels) solve our energy needs? The central word is 太阳能 (tàiyángnéng), solar energy, built simply from 太阳 (tàiyáng) “sun” plus 能 (néng) “energy.” A 太阳能电池板 is a “solar electric panel.”

能 anchors the whole energy vocabulary: 能源 (energy resources), 可再生能源 (renewable energy), 风能 (wind power), 核能 (nuclear power), against 化石燃料 (fossil fuels). The same root drives China’s 新能源 (“new energy”) boom, the term behind electric-car giants like BYD. Learn 太阳能 and you can read Chinese coverage of the clean-energy race.