| The world's efforts to veer away from the high | | | | fossil fuels. Architectural features such as insulation |
| environmental costs of power sources such as | | | | and efficient lighting and appliances help reduce the |
| fossil fuels has led to aggressive developments in | | | | usage of energy in any structure. Even heating |
| the field of solar energy. Now there are many | | | | and thermal cooling systems are now powered |
| ways of harnessing energy from the light of the | | | | by solar energy, and so are circulation pumps. |
| sun, and more and more solar power applications | | | | A lot of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants |
| are being implemented. | | | | are now being built in developed countries and will |
| Solar energy technically refers to energy from | | | | soon replace existing power sources. Japan, |
| the sun. This "energy" is actually electromagnetic | | | | Australia, Germany and the United States are |
| radiation, which the sun abundantly sends out to | | | | among the countries actively pursuing the shift to |
| the earth. So bounteous is solar energy that the | | | | solar CSPs. |
| planet is only able to use a very small fraction of | | | | There's good news: solar energy is getting |
| it - about 400 million times less than what the sun | | | | cheaper. The average retail cost of a large solar |
| gives. Scientists and inventors are now finding | | | | panel is now only $4 per watt (from about $7 |
| new ways to channel all the unused energy for | | | | just a few years ago). The decline in prices is |
| more practical applications. | | | | slow, but is enough to make developers optimistic. |
| Solar energy also encompasses "indirect" forms | | | | Tax and rebate incentives have also been given |
| of energy from the sun, like wind, hydropower, | | | | to the solar energy industry, enabling developers |
| and biomass, among others. Solar energy is now | | | | to work more aggressively without worrying |
| being incorporated in industries ranging from | | | | about overspending. This means that the world |
| architecture to mass energy (power plants). | | | | may be powered entirely by the sun sooner than |
| Many industrial buildings and homes now employ | | | | we think. |
| solar designs to substitute for grid electricity and | | | | |