Neither, they ARE energy.
why
It goes back into space.
45%
Some is absorbed by the earths air water and soil. The remainder is reflected.
absorbed
What happens to Solar Energy is that some of it gets absorbed into air, land and water while the rest gets reflected back to space.
Roughly 70% of the sun's energy is absorbed by the Earth's surface. The rest is reflected back into space or absorbed by the atmosphere.
The Suns rays reflect of the Earth, then off the outer shell of the atmosphere, temporarily trapping sunlight and heat.
5%
When a wave is partially reflected at a boundary, some of the energy is transmitted into the new medium while the remaining energy is reflected back. This results in a division of energy between the reflected and transmitted waves.
Approximately 30% of the Sun's energy that reaches Earth is reflected back into space by clouds, atmospheric particles, and Earth's surface. This reflected energy is known as the albedo effect. The remaining energy is absorbed by the Earth, warming the planet and driving various processes, such as weather and climate. Ultimately, a portion of the absorbed energy is reradiated back into space as infrared radiation.