Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of ever-evolving technologies such as solar heating, photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, solar architecture, molten salt power plants and artificial photosynthesis. It is an essential source of renewable energy, and its technologies can be characterized into passive solar or active solar. The large magnitude of solar energy available makes it a highly appealing source of electricity.

I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. ~ Thomas Edison

Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), which converts light into electric current using the photoelectric effect, or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). In CSP systems lenses or mirrors and tracking systems are used to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam.