Solar energy
Direct use of solar energy means that electricity or heat is generated directly from the sun. An indirect use of solar energy is e.g. windpower.
To generate energy directly from the sun, there are different possibilities. Photovoltaics converts solar energy directly into electric power. Solar thermal installations use the sun to produce heat which is either used directly as heat or in solar thermal power stations steam is generated to produce electric power.
The passive use of solar energy is another solar technology. Whenever a building or the facade of a building is constructed in such a way that it collects energy then this is called solar architecture. In principle it is possible to supply a house with energy entirely by the sun, even in our climes. Additional energy from fossil fuels is unnecessary. Such "zero-energy-houses" are state of the art technology today and even construction costs are only slightly higher than those of conventional houses.
Where as right now 1 kilowatt hour of electric power from photovoltaics costs well over 50 Cent solar thermal hot-water systems are already competitive.
Photovoltaics has the potential to become much cheaper as well. In principle the technology is simple and silicium (for the production of wafers) is one of the most frequent elements in the world. Only the necessary mass production is missing!
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