Solar Energy Today

Today, solar energy is one of the most promising renewable energy sources. This means that we can use the sun's energy today, because the sun will shine again tomorrow. To be useful, however, solar energy must be collected, converted and stored.

COLLECTING

CONVERTING

STORING

Since sunlight is not concentrated in one place, solar energy needs to be collected. Solar power plants can capture a lot of energy since their collection devices are laid out over large, flat, open, sunny areas.

On a small scale, sunlight can be used in its original form for heating a room. If converted to electricity, solar energy becomes useful on a large scale. Photovoltaic cells and solar power plants convert sunlight into electricity.

There's no sunshine at night, so solar energy needs to be stored. Solar power plants can store the sunlights heat—sometimes in liquid salt tanks--and use it later to boil water into steam that spins a turbine to generate electricity.