ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the Sun and its energy, the two leading technologies used to take advantage of the Sun's energy and presents the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analyses. Solar power is generated on Earth by the conversion of sunlight to electricity or heat. The grid-connected solar photovoltaics (PV) industry has seen price declines and rapidly changing economic conditions and changing technology as thin-film PV has increased market share. Worldwide the use of solar energy systems is growing rapidly, although it still has a very small proportion of the energy market. Solar electric generation is economically superior where grid connection or fuel transport is difficult, costly, or impossible, such as on a satellite, on island communities, and remote locations. Compared to fossil and nuclear energy sources, very little research money has been invested in development of solar cells, so there is potentially considerable room for improvement.
