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Solar Power

Solar power is the most abundant power source in our solar system. It flows from the sun, and the sun showers the earth with more energy every day than we use in a year as humans. The sun’s light heats the earth’s atmosphere, the oceans, and the surface, all of which contribute to create wind. The sun’s heat evaporates water as an integral part of the water cycle, which powers the rivers of the world. So both wind and hydroelectric power are actually dependant on the sun to function.

The major hurdle we face is converting the energy of sunlight into something we can use in our daily lives. The largest portion of solar power research has gone into creating electricity from sunlight using photovoltaic materials. Photovoltaic is from Greek words meaning sun, and energy.  The transfer of sunlight to electricity has historically been both inefficient and expensive.

Today we have solar panels that operate in excess of 30% efficiency, which is considered a good standard within the industry. Thanks to US government programs and state incentives, solar panels can actually pay for themselves in terms of power generation over the course of their engineered lifetime of 10 years. New techniques are being investigated to both increase the efficiency of panels and broaden the application of solar power.

 

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