By: Fabiola Grosshan
Submitted: 2010-05-31 05:45:09 | Word Count: 467
Solar energy technology has been around for many years (solar-powered calculators have been around for decades and photovoltaic cells were used to power satellites in space as early as 1958), but it is just now that solar power is starting to become a significant force in the renewable energy industry. This is in large part due to the increased environmental awareness that has resulted from the world’s growing concerns with Global Warming and environmental pollution. Despite solar energy’s potential, solar technology won’t solve the issue of renewable energy overnight.
The process of converting the sun’s rays into usable fuel is complex, and harnessing enough of the sun’s power to viably displace our dependence on fossil fuels such as oil and coal will require a lot more work and investment, as well as the development of more advanced technology. To understand just what it is going to take to develop solar energy’s full potential, it’s important to know just how solar energy works.
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Gathering The Sun’s Power
The sun produces about 86,000 terawatts of energy every year. To give you an idea of just how much that is, here on Earth we consume about 15 terawatts of fossil fuel energy per year. Theoretically, then, the sun’s energy should be more than enough to supply us with power for as long as we’re around. The problem is that (a) by the time the sun’s light reaches us, its power has diminished to about 1,000 watts per square meter on a cloudless day (this decrease is required for our survival) and (b) we don’t have the technology to fully harvest the solar energy that does reach Earth’s surface.
Solar energy systems today work by gathering sunlight over long periods of time and converting it to usable electricity. Most solar panels and photovoltaic cells are made with silicon semiconductors. The semiconductor material absorbs a portion of the sunlight that strikes the panel, taking its energy and loosening its electrons, which allows them to flow freely through the system. Your average 1 x 1 meter solar panel can produce about 1 kilowatt hour of electricity every day.
The limitations of solar energy systems, however, are slowly but steadily decreasing. Today, there are many federal and state solar incentives that are aimed at helping to promote the use of solar energy in commercial buildings as well as residential homes. The incentive programs have been especially effective in states like California, where San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego commercial solar companies have seen a big increase in business. Solar power systems have the capability to power electricity, heating, and cooling systems in a building.
