Solar-generated electricity produces no emissions, is renewable and widely available. Ongoing research has led to improvements in solar cell efficiency. Economic incentives such as carbon credits will let solar projects leverage the advantages of a clean technology. To meet rising energy demands and wanting to reduce greenhouse gases, governments around the world have been giving increasing priority to solar energy projects.
Renewable
The world has limited supplies of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, but the sun will continue to shine for billions of years. While financial, technical, and practical obstacles to development exist, increased use of solar power won’t affect its continued availability.
No Emissions
Solar power plants turn sunlight into electricity either directly with solar cells or indirectly by using heat to power an engine and generator. It consumes no fuel and produces no emissions or greenhouse gases of any kind. A study by the University of Florida examines the economic advantage of carbon credits on a proposed solar power project. These kinds of incentives will encourage the use of solar power.
Large Potential
According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the earth receives about 100,000 terawatts of energy from the sun every year while we generate 13 terawatts from fossil fuels, nuclear, and all other sources to power our civilization. Uninhabited sunny regions may become prime areas for solar development. A solar project called Desertec, currently in the planning stage, proposes to develop solar energy in the Sahara Desert.
Remote Locations
You can use solar cells where conventional power is too far away, unreliable, or inconvenient. In the wilderness, batteries can go bad in storage, but you can use the sun to power emergency lighting and telephone equipment. Communications satellites have used solar panels for decades. According to the Bell Labs, Telstar I, the first communications satellite, had 1,600 of the first commercially available solar batteries.
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