Solar Energy Benefits

Solar energy is what is known as a renewable energy source, as long as we have the sun we will have solar energy. Even on cloudy days the sun is shining and will produce energy for solar panels. It would be an obvious statement to make to say that solar energy is most efficient in really hot countries that receive lots of sun, but on the same note many people use solar powered systems in colder countries and still manage to yield decent amounts of energy.

The current energy demand for the world could easily be supplied by solar power alone and many people estimate that in 50 years from now a large amount of the worlds energy will come from the sun. Now is the an especially important time to be using a renewable energy source like this due to the fact that fossil fuels are running out and once there gone, there gone!

So how does solar power work? Well sunlight is converted directly into electricty using photovoltaics. Initially photovoltaics were used to power very small applications such as calculators but nowadays they are formed into arrays to provide lots more power.

The largest power station in the world that uses photovoltaic cells is based in North America with an enormous capacity of around 354 Mega Watts!

Possibly the only flaw of solar energy is that is obviously not available at night therefore all solar powered systems need adequate storage facilities to keep energy produced in the daytime. One of the most commons ways of storing it is by using high temperatures and molten salt, mainly because it is so cheap and have a very high heat capacity.