Man has come a long way from candles, horse drawn carriages, clothes scrubbers, wooden or stone grinders for grain, oxen pulled hoes in farms, hand held fans etc. We now do all these things using electrical appliances or things like cars which run on fossil fuels. Unfortunately our dependence on such equipment has gotten so high that we can’t imagine life without blenders, washing machines, and even air conditioners. This increased use of various kinds of energy has led to a global crisis of sorts where we are fast running out of fossil fuels and other natural non-renewable energy sources. So what other options are available?

Instead of relying only on non-renewable sources of energy, it is time we focussed our attention on renewable sources of energy like wind, tidal, biomass etc. Of these kinds of energy, solar energy is probably the one which is most well known and easily available everywhere.

For millennia man has been using sun for drying clothes and food, for growing crops, for lighting fires and even for cooking. Even now there are several countries which continue using the sun’s energy for these daily chores. This is the passive, direct use of solar energy and can’t meet all our energy demands. In order to do that, solar power i.e. electricity from the sun, has to be produced. Solar energy can be converted easily into solar power (electricity) with the use of photovoltaic cells (photo=light voltaic=electricity).

In order to use solar energy, a solar power system has to be put together and installed such that maximum sunlight can be absorbed. This sunlight is absorbed by solar panels which are basically arrays of photovoltaic cells. These cells are made of a semiconductor like silicon which help in generating electricity. When the photons hit the electrons, the electrons are made active.

The cells are fitted with a positive and negative charge and when the electrons flow in one direction current is produced. This is solar power. This solar power (electricity) can be used for a wide variety of purposes. In order to utilise this solar power (electricity) even at night, the system is fitted with batteries and a charger so that the electricity can be stored for later use.

Depending on how much solar power (electricity) is generated, a solar power system is capable of running laptops, notebooks, a small television, lights, a fan, and smaller appliances like calculators, watches, cell phones, cameras etc. An advantage of solar power (electricity) is that it is a clean source which doesn’t produce any harmful by products. While the installation of the system can be expensive, the advantage is that it pays for itself in a couple of years and you can always sell any surplus energy back to the grid.

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