The Power of Solar Energy In today's world, the growth in demand for energy is exponential. Many of the energy sources that supply society with energy currently rely on non-renewable resources such as oil and coal. These resources also pollute our environment. Other resources such as hydroelectricity and wind power are not as reliable as their availability varies due to environmental conditions. It is important to investigate alternative energy resources as current forms and production will not sustain the world with the current increase in social demands. A vital and almost unlimited source of energy is the sun. Solar panels take advantage of the sunlight that hits the earth every day and convert it into a usable form of energy and have the potential to meet the world's energy needs. So, what is solar energy and where can you find it? The sun's energy has great potential properties for future use as the earth's primary energy source. Solar energy is the radiant energy produced by the sun as a result of nuclear fusion. It is transmitted to the earth in portions of energy called photons, which interact with the atmosphere and the earth's surface. The attractions of solar energy are many. In a monetary sense, solar energy costs nothing; it is within reach and will not run out for billions of years. It does not pollute or otherwise harm the environment. It does not create dangerous waste products such as plutonium. The extremely positive side of solar energy makes it clear that it is an excellent candidate to become the earth's future energy source. There are several ways in which solar energy can be converted into other forms of energy. Photosynthesis and biomass play an important role in converting solar energy into other forms of energy. Solar Energy......middle of paper...... York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1977."Howstuffworks" Knight, David C. Harnessing the Sun: The Story of Solar Energy. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1976. McKinney, Michael and Schoch, Robert. Environmental science systems and solutions. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury, MA 2003. Microsoft Bookshelf 98. CD-ROM. Redmond Wa: Microsoft, 1998.[2] Encarta 98 ​​from Microsoft. CD-ROM. Redmond Wa: Microsoft, 1998.[1] Quinn, Neil. Photo credit.Scientific America. Energy for planet Earth. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1990. “Solar Energy.” Grolier multimedia encyclopedia, third ed. 1999."What are solar panels" < http://www.qrg.nwu.edu/projects/vss/docs/Power/>Interesting LinksInteresting Facts about Solar Energy:>