What is Solar: Definition and 1000 Discussions

Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), indirectly using concentrated solar power, or a combination. Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and solar tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic effect.Photovoltaics were initially solely used as a source of electricity for small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to remote homes powered by an off-grid rooftop PV system. Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. As the cost of solar electricity has fallen, the number of grid-connected solar PV systems has grown into the millions and gigawatt-scale photovoltaic power stations are being built. Solar PV is rapidly becoming an inexpensive, low-carbon technology to harness renewable energy from the Sun. The current largest photovoltaic power station in the world is the Pavagada Solar Park, Karnataka, India with a generation capacity of 2050 MW.The International Energy Agency projected in 2014 that under its "high renewables" scenario, by 2050, solar photovoltaics and concentrated solar power would contribute about 16 and 11 percent, respectively, of worldwide electricity consumption, and solar would be the world's largest source of electricity. Most solar installations would be in China and India. In 2019, solar power generated 2.7% of the world's electricity, growing over 24% from the previous year. As of October 2020, the unsubsidised levelised cost of electricity for utility-scale solar power is around $36/MWh.

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  1. Dr Wu

    Still confused about solar flares..

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  2. marellasunny

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  3. L

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  4. Buzz Bloom

    I Constraints on Dark Matter in the Solar System

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  5. hikari1987

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  6. X

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  7. Clara Chung

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  8. Clara Chung

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  9. B

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  10. B

    B What is your favorite planet of the solar system?

    What is?
  11. A

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  12. J

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  13. J

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  14. P

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  15. H

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  16. Chris Miller

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  17. caters

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  18. hsdrop

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  19. petrushkagoogol

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  20. C

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  21. pug

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  22. pug

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  23. S

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  24. Jafar Hussain Shah

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  25. J

    A Why 15 million K is sufficient for fusion in solar core?

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  26. E

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  28. F

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  29. S

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  30. S

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  31. G

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  32. G

    I Lunar versus Solar orbit at solstices

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  33. Dr Wu

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  34. Noisy Rhysling

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  35. J

    I How to derive full solar sprectrum from gamma rays

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  36. P

    Solar panels vs reflecting surface?

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  37. Allen_Wolf

    B Solar Energy at Mars: How Much Can Be Produced?

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  38. DaveC426913

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  39. wolram

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  40. D

    Solar Panel Voltage Boost Troubleshooting

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  41. D

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  42. U

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  43. Astronuc

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  44. parshyaa

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  45. petrushkagoogol

    I Disequilibrium of the solar system

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  46. W

    I Solar physics: coronal holes & sunspot cycles

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  47. W

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  48. E

    B Solar cell educational graphics - review for possible errors

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  49. C

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  50. I

    Python Is Leapfrog the best choice for N-body simulations?

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