Solar Power

Solar Power

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Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight to electricity by using the photovoltaics (PV).

Photovoltaics were initially solely used as a source of electricity for small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to remote homes powered by an off-grid rooftop PV system. Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. As the cost of solar electricity has fallen, the number of grid-connected solar PV systems has grown into the millions and subsequently the gigawatt-scale photovoltaic power stations are being built. Solar PV is rapidly becoming an inexpensive, low-carbon technology to harness renewable energy from the Sun.

The International Energy Agency projected in 2014 that under its “”high renewables”” scenario, by 2050, solar photovoltaics would contribute about 16 %, of worldwide electricity consumption, and solar would be the world’s largest source of electricity.

In 2019, solar power generated 2.7% of the world’s electricity, growing over 24% from the previous year.