Solar energy is one of the main sources of energy in the world today. There are various power technologies which can make use of the energy reaching the planet. Solar power pertains to a variety of methods of harnessing energy from the sunlight. Some of these methods have been available in many traditional building methods for many years. Now, these methods are given attention because of environmental costs and limited sources of energy especially in US and
other developed countries.
There are two types of energy transformation, the direct and indirect solar power. Direct solar power involves only one transformation. Sunlight hitting a photovoltaic cell or a photoelectric cell creating electricity is an example of direct transformation. Another example is sunlight striking a light mill which causes the vanes to rotate.
However, indirect solar power involves more transformations. It is more complicated compared to direct solar power. An example of it is rampant in the environment. Vegetation captures sunlight to make their own food. In this process, solar energy is converted to
chemical energy which is burned later to produce electricity. Also, ocean thermal energy production employs the thermal gradients that are present across ocean depths to generate energy. These temperature differences are definitely due to the energy from the sun.
