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As we strive to decrease our usage of fossil fuels and become more environmentally aware, solar power should continue to grow and become more mainstream, especially in light of new technology which makes it more effective. Tapping into the sun’s power and then converting it into solar power energy that we may use for everyday needs is accomplished via several methods.

The two most common are the photovoltaic system and the concentrating solar power system. The Photovoltaic system or PV system, converts sunlight directly into electricity and is the one most commonly used in residential and industrial applications. The Concentrating Solar Power, or CSP system, uses the heat from the sun instead of fossil fuel, to provide the heat to fuel a traditional power plant, generating enough electricity to power a city. A CSP system generates electricity on a large scale using one of three methods, the parabolic-trough system, dish engine system and power tower system.

Panels for generating solar power energy can vary greatly in cost depending on the type of installation you are aiming for. If your building is in a more remote area and is industrial you can use the typical boxy style roof mounted panels. If you want a more discrete, dual purpose installation you can even have your structure constructed with solar cells built right into the roofing, awning and window materials.

Solar panels can be mounted in a rooftop setup in addition to ground and pole mounts. The ground and pole mounts offer additional solar power energy design flexibility especially when your structure is in the shade part of the day. Solar panels can also be equipped with mechanisms that allow them to track the path of the sun throughout the day maximizing their exposure to the suns rays.

A parabolic-trough system uses long mirrors to magnify the sun’s heat. Oil, pumped through pipes embedded in the mirrors, absorbs this heat and carries it away from the mirrors. The heated oil is then used to heat up water which creates steam that is harnessed to power a generator.

Dish-engine systems utilize a reflective parabolic type dish to focus the heat from the sun to heat fluid much like the parabolic-trough system except this fluid expands when heated which make it move large pistons that power an electrical generator for the production of solar power energy.

Power tower systems utilize a large array of mirrors which concentrate the heat from the sun on a receiver which in turn heats up molten salt that flows through the tower-mounted receiver. Heat from the molten salt is used to heat up water which creates the steam that powers a generator.