1. Solar energy - one of the renewable energy; the conversion of sunlight into electricity. Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaics convert light into electric current using the photovoltaic effect.

2.  Industry - most commonly in Germany, Italy and China – Photovoltaics (PV) becomes more and more popular (exploitation of PV in industry industry raises approximately 40% annually since 2000, which makes it much cheaper).  Consumer electronics – mobile devices (Calculators, mobile phones etc.), places or things power line would be too expensive to connect to (lone houses, speed cameras etc.), some vehicles (Satellites, campers, etc.)

3. Meteorological conditions in Poland change during a year. 80% of entire one-year insolation goes into 6 month (from the beginning of April to the end of September. In winter solar variation lasts for 8 hours per day and it lasts for nearly 16 hours per day in summer. Characteristic things is that diffuse solar radiation makes nearly 50% of entire solar radiations (and up to 65-73% in winter). Annual density of solar radiation is 950-1250 kWh/m 2.

4. Active solar systems in Poland can be used for: heating water in chalets, residential construction, public facilities etc. heating water in indoor swimming pools and outdoor swimming pools heating water for agricultural use wood drying and agricultural commodities drying house heating

5. Nowadays it gets more and more popular to assemble solar thermal collectors in houses. In Poland, people can get donation from NFOŚiGW (Narodowy Fundusz Ochrony Środowiska i Gospodarki Wodnej - National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management) up to 45% of all costs.

7.  Renewable  Abundant  Sustainable  Environmentally Friendly  Good Availability  Reduces Electricity Costs  Many Applications  Silent  Financial Support from Government/State  Low Maintenance  Technology is Improving  Solar panels give off no pollution  ability to harness electricity in remote locations that are not linked to a national grid  Solar panels can be installed on top of many rooftops, which eliminates the problem of finding the required space for solar panel placement  The use of solar energy to produce electricity allows the user to become less dependent on the worlds fossil fuel supplies.

8.  Initial installation of solar panels is expensive  Able to generate electricity during daylight hours only. For around half of each day, solar panels are not producing energy  The weather can affect the efficiency of solar cells.  Energy Storage is Expensive  Requires Space

9. 1.Solar energy is the reason we are all alive today; it is the main source of energy for all life forms. 2.Solar power is one of very few sources of energy that are completely free. 3.On Earth we are especially lucky; the sun is in the top 5% of stars in the Milky Way in terms of brightness and size. 4.Although the sun is over 90 million miles from the Earth, it takes less than 10 minutes for light to speed across that distance. 5.Only 0.01% of the energy produced by nuclear fusion in the sun PER SECOND would be needed to satisfy the entire population of the earth’s energy requirements.

10. 6.The largest solar power plant in the world is located in the Mojave Desert in California, covering 1000 acres. 7.A single Air Force base in Nevada has saved $83,000 A MONTH since it switched from using traditional energy sources to solar energy produced on site. 8.The average US taxpayer pays almost 100 times as much in subsidies for fossil fuels as he does for solar energy. 9.Solar energy has been used for over 2700 years; in 700 BC, glass lenses were used to make fire by magnifying the sun’s rays. 10. Space missions have been using solar energy to power spaceships since 1958 11.Solar panels first appeared on the market in 1956. 12.Demand for solar energy items is currently greater than supply 13.Due to increased competition from manufacturers and DIY solar energy kits, the cost of solar panels are falling. 14.Solar panels are expected to be a standard feature for newly constructed homes and commerical buildings

11. Ewa Siwiec IIe