Martin Green
Power to the People
Sunlight to electricity using Solar Cells

ISBN- 0 86840 554 X

In only a few days the Earth receives more energy from the sun than from all fuel burnt over the whole of human history.
Three weeks of sunshine offsets all known fossil fuel reserves.

The sun already provides almost all the energy needed to support life as we know it.
The challenge for a sustainable future is to tap into a tiny fraction of that energy to supply the relatively modest demands of human activity.

Probably the most elegant way of doing this is to convert it straight into electricity using solar cells, or photovoltaic cells as they are also known (photo refers to light and voltaic refers to electricity).

In spite of this high-technology, solar cells are surprisingly easy to use. Place in the sunlight, they just soak up the sun’s energy and change it into electricity.