Solar Power has, like any other energy resource, has it's advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages include little to no pollution, and a free resource base, the sun. Solar Power, however, is not cheap and is not easily stored on cloudy days and at night. The solar constant is roughly 1353 watts per square meter. Of this amount, 25% is scattered back to space by clouds, 9% is scattered by the atmosphere, 10% is absorbed by clouds, and 9% is absorbed by the atmosphere. This leaves roughly 400 to 500 watts per square meter on average after the losses. Today's technology cannot efficiently convert solar power to electricity. On the average, solar panels are roughly 10% efficient. This yields roughly 55 square meters of solar paneling needed to meet the energy needs of one house.
Electricity is produced by using solar radiation to heat a fluid. When this fluid is heated, it then goes through a heat exchanger to transfer the sun's energy to water. This produces steam which drives the turbine generators. This then produces electricity!
The applications of solar power are quite useful. One easy example is the use of solar power to simply heat water for a household. This is used quite a bit in Florida to heat swimming pools. Another more exciting example is the recent use of solar power to drive the new version of the Pathfinder aircraft. The original aircraft reached an altitude of 8500 meters and a speed of 100 miles per hour. The new solar powered version only weighs 400 pounds and gets all it's needed energy from the sun. Solar arrays will span across the top of the 800 square foot wing span. The hope is for this aircraft to reach heights of 65,ooo feet or more. This will be used to study the environment, ozone layer, and track storm systems. The best part about it is no harmful emissions will be given off while trying to study the atmosphere!!
The following is a list where more information about solar power can be found.