The future of solar power looks very bright. The biggest renewable energy source, and the indirect source of all our power here on earth, is the sun. It is renewable, clean, and causes no environmental problems, plus it will always be there. We have a potential source that could provide for all our energy needs.

Unfortunately it will take up a lot of land to make it usable for the masses, as solar panels take up a lot of space to generate any significant amount of power, and the sun doesn't shine all the time. There are however other places that we could site the panels, and these are literally out of this world, in space. It may sound like science fiction, but it has been discussed in respected scientific circles. It may not happen any time soon, but to solve our energy needs in the future we may have to look beyond the bounds of our planet.

There are two places that could provide sites for large solar collector arrays.

1. Earth orbit:

Currently most satellites and other orbital vehicles deploy large solar panels to collect energy from the sun to run their internal equipment. It is possible in future that very large panels could be placed in orbit to produce large amounts of electrical power that could then be used on earth.

There are many advantages to lifting the panels out of the atmosphere. One is that they can be of a very light and thin construction, due to the fact that there is no weather in space, they wont need to withstand large forces. Plus as gravity is reduced, they wont need any large support structures.

The energy can then be transmitted to earth as a low intensity microwave beam, and collected by a receiving station on the ground where it can be converted into a usable form of electricity. This can then be fed into the grid to be used like any other source of electricity.

2. From the moon:

Looking farther afield another potential site is the moon. Many theories have been put forward about ways to use the surface of the moon to generate power from the sun. One plan involves building a band of very thin solar panels around the moon in line with the greatest sun exposure.

As the sun never sets on parts of the moon, these would be subjected to very intense sunlight all the time. Again the resulting energy would be sent back to us in the form of microwaves and reconverted. It is said solar power from the moon could supply all of our power needs.

Both of these solutions would be very expensive, and wouldn't bring cheap energy for a long time. Both are possible, but unlikely to happen in the near future. You can however produce energy at home today with solar panels that you can install on your roof. The future of solar power may be out of this world, but it is available to everyone now in your own home.

Solar power at home:

Do you want to disconnect from the grid, and make your own electricity? Find out how by visiting this how to build solar panels guide at www.how-to-build-solar-panels-at-home.blogspot.com/. Convert your home to solar energy for less. Save the planet, and say goodbye to those large electricity bills.