Introduction

We've used the Sun for drying clothes and food for thousands of years, but only recently have we been able to use it for generating power.

The Sun is 150 million kilometres away, and amazingly powerful.

Just the tiny fraction of the Sun's energy that hits the Earth (around a hundredth of a millionth of a percent) is enough to meet all our power needs many times over.

In fact, every minute, enough energy arrives at the Earth to meet our demands for a whole year - if only we could harness it properly.

.

How it works

Solar Cells ( really called "photovoltaic" or "photoelectric" cells) that convert light directly into electricity.

In a sunny climate, you can get enough power to run a 100W light bulb from just one square metre of solar panel.

.

Advantages

• Solar energy is free - it needs no fuel and produces no waste or pollution.
  
  
• In sunny countries, solar power can be used where there is no easy way to get electricity to a remote place.
  
  
• Handy for low-power uses such as solar powered garden lights and battery chargers

 

Disadvantages

• Doesn't work at night.
  
  
• Very expensive to build solar power stations. Solar cells cost a great deal compared to the amount of electricity they'll produce in their lifetime.
  
  
• Can be unreliable unless you're in a very sunny climate. In the United Kingdom, solar power isn't much use except for low-power applications, as you need a very large area of solar panels to get a decent amount of power. However, for these applications it's definitely worthwhile.

 

It is renewable?

Solar power is renewable . The Sun will keep on shining anyway, so it makes sense to use it.