Solar Energy

Solar energy is the cleanest and most abundant renewable energy source available, and the U.S. has some of the richest solar resources in the world. Modern technology can harness this energy for a variety of uses, including generating electricity, providing light or a comfortable interior environment, and heating water for domestic, commercial, or industrial use.

The first three are active solar systems use mechanical or electrical devices that convert the sun's heat or light to another form of usable energy. Solar power plants can be built as distributed generation or as a central station, utility scale solar power plant. The computer trade is an obvious one. And now so is the solar energy trade. New manufacturers are appearing almost daily, new product innovations are announced just as fast, and existing products are ever more refined, improved, and lowered in price.

Today's solar product offerings go way beyond what most people think of when they hear the term 'solar power' or 'solar energy' – typically they imagine solar electric panels on a roof converting sunlight into electricity. While these 'photo voltaic' panels do represent a piece of the solar pie, many more solar-powered products and technologies utilizing the sun's energy now exist.

“Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute solar energy.” Active solar techniques use photovoltaic panels and thermal collectors to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.

Solar energy is available for almost everyone, but there are some places around the world that have better opportunities to capture and use solar energy. There are even places with extreme solar radiation, which are very useful to generate electricity or heat at greater scales. The potential impacts of solar energy development projects are discussed in this section in general terms on the basis of a typical utility-scale solar project. The impacts of a specific project will be determined by factors such as the number and size of solar arrays, the amount of land disturbed by construction activities.