Solar power

From magnifying glasses to steam engines, scientists through the centuries have found innovative ways to harness the power of the sun. Converting more solar power into electricity is high on the political agenda in many countries, amid the push to find domestic energy sources that are less polluting than fossil fuels.

Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, commercial CSP (concentrated solar power) plants developed in the 1980s, and the 354 MW SEGS CSP installations is the largest solar power plant in the world and is located in Mojave Desert in California.

The 80 MW Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant in Canada, is the world’s largest Photovoltaic Plant.

Despite rapid growth in recent years , solar power accounts for less than 1% of US electricity use. Solar power is more entrenched in European countries such as Spain and Germany, Which have promoted its development with strong incentives called feed in tariffs, which require electric utilities to buy solar power at a high . Fixed price. 

There are several ways to use the sun’s power to generate electricity. One of the most promising is called concentrating solar power. This involves using mirrors to reflect and focus the sun’s rays, providing heat, which in turn helps power a generator. Another is Photovoltaic panels, such as the displays on the rooftops of the homes and office buildings.

Solar energy is not available at night, making energy storage an important issue in order to provide the continuous availability of energy. Solar power is a Intermittent energy source. meaning that all available output must be taken when it is available and either stored for when it can be used, or transported , over transmission lines, to where it can be used.

Solar power can be stored at high temperature using molten salts. Salts are an effective storage medium because they are low cost, have a high specific heat capacity and can deliver heat at temperatures compatible with conventional power systems.