ABSTRACT
Solar radiation measurements are the basis for understanding Earth’s primary energy source. Humans have studied the sun and applied their understanding to improve their lives since the dawn of history. Buildings have been designed to take advantage of solar radiation for daylighting and heating since the time of Greek city states, if not earlier. Today, solar-generating facilities that are 200-300 MW in size are under construction; 17,000 MW of peak solar-generating capacity were installed in 2010 with the equivalent annual power output of four to ve large nuclear or coal power plants. The world is tfully preparing for the solar age when oil will be depleted and environmentally benign sources of energy will be needed. Today a wide variety of solar technologies are being used, and new and improved solar technologies are being explored in the lab and tested in the eld. The sun’s energy is free and available to everyone, and the technologies that turn solar irradiance into useable energy are dropping in price as the solar industry grows and production increases. Given the right nancial structure, many solar technologies have found cost-effective markets. For example, a cost-effective project to replace kerosene lamps with photovoltaic (PV) panels and batteries in the Dominican Republic has been successful (Perlin, 1999). Since 1985, the Luz plants in California, with 354 MW of generating capacity, have been producing electricity from solar thermal-electric power facilities. The future for the solar industry is bright as we work to develop sustainable energy sources for the growing world population while reducing deleterious effects of greenhouse gas emissions.
