Solar power

We can get power from the sun.

Solar panels catch the light. This light makes electricity for us.

Some panels sit on rooftops. Other panels stay on the ground. We can even put them on water.

Mirrors can also use sun heat. This heat makes steam to make power. Solar power is a very clean way to work. It is a bright idea for our world.

We can get power from the sun.

This is called solar power. There are two main ways to do this.

The first way uses solar panels. These use the photovoltaic effect. This is a way to turn light into electric current. Most panels use silicon. Silicon is a material used in many solar cells. Panels can sit on roofs. They can also stay on large solar farms. Some even float on water.

The second way uses heat. This is called concentrated solar power. It uses mirrors or lenses to focus sunlight. This makes a very hot spot. That heat makes steam. The steam then turns a turbine to make electricity.

Solar power is growing fast. In 2024, it made 7% of the world's electricity. In many places, it is the cheapest way to make new power. China has about half of the world's solar power. Solar is very helpful for our planet.

Solar power is a way to turn sunlight into electricity. This is very important for our world today.

We can use this energy in many different ways. Some people put panels on their roofs to power their homes. Other places build huge solar farms on the ground.

This power helps us use less coal and gas. It is a clean way to get the energy we need. Using the sun helps keep our planet healthy.

There are two main ways this works. The first way is called photovoltaics, or PV for short.

These solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to turn light into an electric current. The panels collect light and turn it into direct current power. This power then goes through an inverter to become alternating current.

The second way is called concentrated solar power, or CSP. This uses mirrors or lenses to focus sunlight onto a hot spot. That heat creates steam, which then spins a turbine to make electricity.

People have been studying solar power for a long time.

Charles Fritts built the first rooftop solar array in 1884. Later, in 1954, researchers Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller, and Daryl Chapin created the silicon solar cell. These early cells were not very efficient. They only turned about 4.5% to 6% of light into power. In the 1980s, people began to build the first commercial CSP plants. Since then, the technology has improved a great deal.

Solar power is growing very quickly around the world.

In 2024, solar power made 7% of the world's electricity. China is a leader and has about half of the world's solar power.

In 2022, the world's solar capacity passed 1 terawatt for the first time. The cost of solar panels has also dropped a lot. Between 2010 and 2020, the cost of solar PV fell by 85%. This makes it a very cheap way to make new power.

You can see solar power working in many places. Some panels are even placed on top of parking lots. There are even floating solar farms that sit on water. In some farms, panels are set up vertically to grow crops underneath. This is called agrivoltaics. Solar power is like a giant battery from the sky. It provides energy whenever the sun is shining bright.

Solar power is the process of converting energy from sunlight into electricity. This technology is a vital part of the global energy transition. It helps provide low-carbon power to limit climate change and improve energy security.

Scientists and engineers use different methods to capture this energy. The two primary technologies are photovoltaics (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP). While PV converts light directly into electricity, CSP uses heat to drive mechanical processes. Both methods play a role in how we power our modern world.

Photovoltaic systems work through a process called the photovoltaic effect. This effect allows solar cells to convert light directly into an electric current.

Most modern solar cells are made of crystalline silicon, which makes up over 90% of the market. In a PV system, multiple solar cells are connected inside panels. These panels are then wired together into larger arrays. The arrays produce direct current (DC) power, which fluctuates based on sunlight intensity. To make this power useful for homes, an inverter converts the DC power into alternating current (AC).

Some systems are grid-connected, while others use batteries for energy storage to work at night.

Concentrated solar power, or CSP, uses a different mechanical approach. Instead of using light to move electrons directly, CSP uses sunlight to create intense heat.

These systems use lenses or mirrors combined with solar tracking systems. The mirrors focus a large area of sunlight onto a single hot spot. This extreme heat is used to create steam. The steam then drives a conventional steam turbine to generate electricity. While CSP can efficiently use thermal storage to provide power, it is less common than PV. In 2022, less than 1% of solar power came from CSP because its cost is over twice that of PV.

There are many different ways to install these technologies in the real world. Utility-scale solar refers to large solar farms built on the ground to provide massive amounts of power. Many people also use rooftop solar, which was mounted on nearly half of all solar power installed in 2022.

New configurations are also emerging, such as floating solar farms and solar canopies over parking lots. One interesting method is vertical agrivoltaics. In this system, solar cells are oriented vertically on farmland. This allows the land to grow crops and generate renewable energy at the same time.

The history of solar technology began in the 1860s with researchers like Augustin Mouchot. In 1884, Charles Fritts installed the first rooftop photovoltaic array in New York City. These early selenium cells were only 1% efficient. Later, in 1931, Bruno Lange developed a photo cell using silver selenide. A major breakthrough occurred in 1954 when researchers Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller, and Daryl Chapin created the silicon solar cell. These early silicon cells had efficiencies between 4.5% and 6% and were very expensive. In 1957, Mohamed M. Atalla developed silicon surface passivation, a process that remains critical for efficiency today.

Solar power has seen massive growth in recent decades. In 2024, solar power generated 7% of global electricity.

This is more than 5,151 terawatt-hours (TWh) out of a total of 186,383 TWh of primary energy. The capacity of grid-connected solar PV systems has doubled roughly every three years as costs have fallen. Between 2010 and 2020, the cost of utility-scale solar PV fell by 85%. China is currently a global leader, holding about half of the world's solar power. In 2022, the global solar generation capacity exceeded 1 terawatt (TW) for the first time.

Geography plays a significant role in how much solar energy a place can collect. Areas closer to the equator generally receive more sunshine. However, solar tracking systems can help increase energy potential in areas farther from the equator. Other factors like daytime cloud cover and land availability also affect how much power can be made. Solar is now one of the cheapest sources of new electricity in most countries. It is often compared to onshore wind power for its low cost. As the world moves toward electrification, solar power will continue to be a key part of the global energy system.