Solar power
hideSolar power is the result of converting sunlight into electricity. Sunlight can be converted directly into electricity using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly with concentrating solar power (CSP), which normally focuses the sun's energy to boil water which is then used to provide power. The largest solar power plants, like the 354 MW SEGS, are concentrating solar thermal plants, but recently multi-megawatt photovoltaic plants have been built. Completed in 2008, the 46 MW Moura photovoltaic power station in Portugal and the 40 MW Waldpolenz Solar Park in Germany are characteristic of the trend toward larger photovoltaic power stations. Much larger ones are proposed, such as the 550 MW Topaz Solar Farm, and the 600 MW Rancho Cielo Solar Farm.
Solar power is a predictably intermittent energy source, meaning that whilst solar power is not available at all times, we can predict with a very good degree of accuracy when it will and will not be available. Some technologies, such as solar thermal concentrators with an element of thermal storage, have the potential to eliminate the intermittency of solar power, by storing spare solar power in the form of heat; and using this heat overnight or during periods that solar power is not available to produce electricity. This technology has the potential to make solar power "dispatchable", as the heat source can be used to generate electricity at will. Solar power installations are normally supplemented by storage or another energy source, for example with wind power and hydropower.
For more information about Solar power, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with solar power
Japan eyes solar station in space as new energy source
Nov 08, 2009 |
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It may sound like a sci-fi vision, but Japan's space agency is dead serious: by 2030 it wants to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth, using laser beams or microwaves.
Will Europe Be Powered by the Sahara
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Europe has long been interested in developing alternative energy sources. And, one of the more interesting places that some Europeans are looking for solar power is the Sahara. With the vast ...
Largest solar panel plant in US rises in Fla.
Oct 24, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Greg Bove steps into his pickup truck and drives down a sandy path to where the future of Florida's renewable energy plans begin: Acres of open land filled with solar panels that will soon power thousands ...
INL, ISU team on nanoparticle production breakthrough
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 19, 2009 |
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Every hour, the sun floods Earth with more energy than the entire world consumes in a year. Yet solar power accounts for less than 0.002 percent of all electricity generated in the United States, primarily ...
More efficient solar power with space technology
Oct 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new system from an Italian company uses weather satellite data to estimate the potential of solar cell power plants and monitor their performance. The approach helps to give a faster return ...
Smaller isn't always better: Catalyst simulations could lower fuel cell cost
Sep 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Imagine a car that runs on hydrogen from solar power and produces water instead of carbon emissions. While vehicles like this won't be on the market anytime soon, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers ...
$21 Billion Orbiting Solar Array will Beam Electricity to Earth
Sep 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The Japanese are preparing to develop a two trillion yen (approximately $21 billion USD) space solar project that will beam electricity from space in the form of microwaves or lasers to around ...
Will China's Planned Solar Field Lower the Cost of Alternative Energy?
Sep 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the biggest complaints that some have about solar power (and other forms of alternative energy) is that it is so much more expensive than the fossil fuels that are more commonly used ...
Solar cell shipments in Japan hit record high in April-June
Sep 08, 2009 |
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Demand for solar cells has been growing rapidly in Japan with a record generating capacity of 83,260 kilowatts shipped to the domestic market between April and June, up 82.5 percent from the same quarter last year, a private-sector ...
Solar Roadways Awarded DOT Contract to Pave Roads with Solar Cells
Sep 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In a first step toward turning highways into energy-generating solar panels, the Sagle, Idaho-based startup Solar Roadways has recently received a $100,000 grant from the US Department of ...
Video: Solar power cools camel-transported vaccines on treks to remote areas
Sep 01, 2009 |
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Video: Professor Winston (Wolé) Soboyejo discusses his camel solar refrigerator project, which may improve vaccine delivery in remote areas of Kenya and Ethiopia.
43 percent: New solar power world record
Aug 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Australian and US solar cell researchers have achieved the highest efficiency for solar power, setting a new world record of 43 per cent of sunlight converted into electricity.
Asian competitors shadow German solar industry
Aug 18, 2009 |
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Germany's solar power industry, until recently the world leader in the technology, is facing an unprecedented crisis, analysts say, outshone by cheaper competitors from Asia, most notably Chinese firms.
Project Sage: Bringing Solar Power to the Masses (w/ Video)
Jul 23, 2009 |
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Research at the UA could one day lead to photovoltaic materials thin enough, flexible enough and inexpensive enough to go not only on rooftops but in windows, outdoor awnings and even clothing.
400-bln-euro plan to pump African solar power to Europe
Jul 13, 2009 |
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Twelve European companies launched a 400-billion-euro (560-billion-dollar) initiative on Monday to plant huge solar farms in Africa and the Middle East to produce energy for Europe.
