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Solar Power

Solar power comes in two major varieties: photovoltaic and thermal. In photovoltaic power, the sun’s light strikes a semi conductor and causes it to emit an electric charge. In solar thermal power, a thermally absorbent liquid is used to convert the sun’s heat into a useful form. The two most popular uses are for home heating (either space, or water) or to boil water to steam that can be used to spin a turbine.

In either case, the use of solar power represents a clean energy source that is also renewable. Solar power is not infinite; however when the sun runs out of fuel in 3.5 billion years, I think mankind will have either died off or figured out a way to make do without. The sun currently bombards the earth with enough energy in each hour for mankind to meet all of our energy needs for more than a year.

                There are recent breakthroughs in solar power technology that bring a lot of promise with them. For instance, a multi-layered crystal array recently achieved a 60% efficiency conversion of sunlight to electric current. Right now, at 30%, solar power is actually cheaper to use over the span of 10 years than other sources of power, such as coal. If that efficiency rate was doubled then solar power would be hands down the best option out there.                

 

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