Solar energy, rays from the sun that can be used to generate heat, chemical processes, and electricity. Total solar energy on Earth is much in overabundance of the world’s current and expected needs. This widely dispersed energy source has the ability to meet all of humanity’s energy demands in the future if properly exploited. With its infinite supply and non-polluting nature, solar energy is predicted to become increasingly popular as a renewable source in the 21st century, as opposed to the limited fossil fuel energy coal, petroleum, & natural gas.
Even though sunlight is Earth’s primary source of energy, it is actually rather weak at the planet’s surface because of the lack of sunshine intensity. To a large extent, this can be attributed to the massive radial dispersion of radioactivity from the faraway Sun Earth’s atmosphere & clouds, that absorb or deflect up to 54% of the sun’s rays, contribute a slight additional loss. Nearly half of the sunlight that hits the ground is visible light, while the other half is infrared radiation and the rest is ultraviolet and other electromagnetic radiation in lower proportions.