Solar Basics

The sun’s heat and light provide an abundant source of energy that can be harnessed in many ways. There are a variety of technologies that have been developed to take advantage of solar energy. These include power systems, passive solar heating, photovoltaic systems and solar hot water.

Solar power can be used in both large-scale applications and in smaller systems for the home. Homeowners can also use solar technologies for domestic hot water heating, or to produce electricity to operate “off-grid” or to sell the extra electricity to the utilities, using a grid-tied solar PV system.

Beyond these localized uses of solar power, utilities and power plants are also taking advantage of the sun’s abundant energy and offering the benefits to their customers. Concentrating solar power systems allow the utilities to produce electricity from the sun on a larger scale, which in turn allows them to forestall building new fossil fuel burning facilities.

Solar power technologies, from individual home systems to large-scale concentrating solar power systems, have the potential to help meet growing energy needs and provide diversity and reliability in energy supplies while reducing CO2 emissions.