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How does solar power work? The sun shines light on the Earth in ample energy to fulfill all the earth's power needs many times over. It doesn't give off carbon dioxide emissions. It won't run out. And it's free. So how on Earth can people turn this bounty of sunbeams into useful electricity? The sun's light (and all light) contains energy. Usually, when light hits an object the energy turns into heat, like the [|warmth you feel while sitting in the sun]. But when light hits certain materials the energy turns into an electrical current instead, which we can then harness for power. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-does-solar-power-work
 * What is solar power? Solar Power is a echo friendly way of getting energy.**

[|Solar powered] electrical generation relies on [|heat engines] and [|photovoltaics]. Solar energy's uses are limited only by human ingenuity. A partial list of solar applications includes space heating and cooling through [|solar architecture], [|potable water] via [|distillation] and [|disinfection], [|daylighting], [|solar hot water], [|solar cooking], and high temperature process heat for industrial purposes.To harvest the solar energy, the most common way is to use [|solar panels]. 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 include the use of photovoltaic panels and [|solar 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]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy
 * Solar energy**, radiant [|light] and [|heat] from the [|sun], has been harnessed by humans since [|ancient times] using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar [|radiation], along with secondary solar-powered resources such as [|wind] and [|wave power], [|hydroelectricity] and [|biomass], account for most of the available [|renewable energy] on earth. Only a minuscule fraction of the available solar energy is used.