Solar Power
The sunlight that reaches Earth's surface delivers 10,000 times more energy
than we consume, and solar power aims to harness this force. Solar technologies
use sunlight to provide heat, electricity, and even cooling for homes,
businesses, and industry by conducting electrons across an array like the one
at right or like the tiny solar cell in your calculator. Researchers have
optimistically proposed that if they could cover just 0.1 percent of the
Earth's surface with highly efficient solar cells they could in theory replace
all other forms of energy. At universities around the world, efforts are under
way to develop the kinds of advanced solar arrays using nanotechnology and
other cutting-edge science that could perhaps accomplish this goal in the
future.
