The first time i came to know about Solar Energy was after watching the movie “Race the Sun”. It was a story about low- income and under achieving Hawaiian students encouraged by their teacher to join the Solar Car race. In the movie, a car shaped like a cockroach and covered with solar panels used the sun’s rays as an alternative energy source to run the car.

Solar energy is the energy produced by sun’s light and heat. Solar energy is not only a free source of energy, but its also unlimited in supply. There are no air and water pollution caused about by using solar energy. But there is still some impacts on the environment although indirect.

The use of solar power for homes for daylight systems are also being used to maximize the energy released by the sun. This system is used to supply internal illumination by replacing the non-natural lighting. The different types of Daylight system include Sawtooth roofs, Light Shelfs, Skylights and Light Tubes. Daylight systems when they are properly implemented can reduce lighting-related energy consumption by 25 percent.

The light from the sun can be converted into solar thermal technologies, and can be used for the purpose of heating water, space heating, space cooling and process heat generation. Solar energy can also be used to distil water and make saline or brackish water potable or drinkable.

Photovoltaics or PV is the method used to convert sunlight into electricity. PV has been mainly used to power small and medium-sized things like a calculator powered by a single solar cell. There are homes powered by photovoltaics. Using solar energy for water and space heating is the most widely use application of solar energy. While ventilation and solar air heating is also growing in popularity.

Solar energy efficiency with all its benefits has some limitations. Its disadvantage being that it does not work during night time. The cost of setting up solar stations is expensive, but the benefit of using solar energy when accumulated is so much more.