Solar energy is the transformation of heat energy from the sun into electricity which we can use more readily through a technology known as Photovoltaics (PV). It is currently the fastest growing energy technology in the world. It is one of the most prominent of the renewable energy technologies which is currently being pushed alongside the environmental movement. As compared to other sources of energy such as oil and coal, solar energy will never run out and has very little negative impact on the environment. Although the concept has been around for decades, interest in the technology has skyrocketed in recent years. Innovation and more recent political backing have contributed to the formation of a young and developing industry based around the technology. The only drawbacks are that it is still relatively expensive.

Solar energy has the potential to be the most dominate source of energy for our planet in the years ahead. The amount of heat energy rained down upon our planet each day by the sun is more than we would probably ever need. If we can learn to capture just a fraction of this energy, it will have a huge impact. The image above shows where the heat energy of the sun is concentrated on our planet. It is estimated that if just a small amount of the total sunlight hitting the Sahara desert in Africa each day was able to be captured it would provide more than enough energy to power all of Europe.

In 1931, the same year he died, Edison told his friends Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone: "I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that."



Wind Energy