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ur amazing Sun provides an unfailing source of light and energy, warming an otherwise frozen Earth and making it possible for life as we know it to exist. From a distance of 93 million miles, the Sun delivers 13,000 times more power to the Earth than all of human society consumes worldwide. Put another way, a year's supply of energy arrives every 40 minutes. We have developed 2 different ways to directly use the sun's radiation to produce electricity using photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies.

For years, panels of photovoltaic cells that change sunlight directly into electricity have been supplying power to places where running electrical wires or using batteries is not practical like rural homes, research stations out in the field and freeway call boxes. As well, many urban residents have installed solar panels to take advantage of a clean energy alternative. Not only has the technology continued to evolve over the last 20 years, the price of photovoltaic cells has fallen over 200%. With lower prices and better and better solar products, the vast potential of solar energy is coming into its own.

The second solar technology, solar thermal systems, uses the sun's radiant energy to heat a fluid that produces steam, which rotates a turbine and powers a generator. Right now, the best use of solar thermal energy to generate electricity is found in southern California.

Over the next decade, capturing more of the sun's radiation to power California could replace natural gas, coal, and nuclear sources and give our lungs a big boost.

Next - Geothermal Power

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