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Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to solar energy: Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun. It has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar energy technologies include solar heating, solar photovoltaics, solar thermal electricity and solar ...
The two most important forms of renewable energy, solar and wind, are intermittent energy sources: they are not available constantly, resulting in lower capacity factors. In contrast, fossil fuel power plants, nuclear power plants and hydropower are usually able to produce precisely the amount of energy an electricity grid requires at a given ...
The solar market is heating up. Thanks to a 30% federal income tax credit, soaring energy prices, and often generous feed-in tariffs for selling excess power to utilities, the U.S. residential ...
Solar energy deployment increased at a record pace in the United States and throughout the world in 2008, according to industry reports. The Solar Energy Industries Association's "2008 U.S. Solar Industry Year in Review" found that U.S. solar energy capacity increased by 17% in 2007, reaching the total equivalent of 8,775 megawatts (MW).
Variability inherently affects solar energy, as the production of electricity from solar sources depends on the amount of light energy in a given location. Solar output varies throughout the day, the seasons, with cloud cover and by latitude on the globe. Windblown sand erodes glass in dry climates, protective layers add expenses.
Solar Energy Perspectives is a 2011 book by the International Energy Agency. [1] Solar energy technologies come in various forms – solar heating, solar photovoltaics, solar thermal electricity – and can make considerable contributions to solving some of the most urgent problems the world now faces: [1] The development of affordable ...
Solar potential of Nepal. Nepal gets most of its electricity from hydropower sources, but it is looking to expand the role of solar power in its energy mix. [10] The average global solar radiation in Nepal varies from 3.6 to 6.2 kWh/m 2 /day, sun shines for about 300 days a year, the number of sunshine hours amounts almost 2100 hours per year with an average of 6.8 hours of sunshine each day ...