With the pending energy crisis looming, caused by Peak Oil, and also the need to cut back on carbon emissions to slow down Global Warming, now, more than ever, people are looking toward alternative sources of energy.
   Of course, there's Bio Diesel, Wind Power, Nuclear Energy (but that's not renewable and the problems alied with disposing of nuclear waste are incredible), and Solar Energy - as well as other renewable sources that are starting to come on-line, such as wave power and geothermal.
   But Solar Power is an important part of the solution. Together with Wind Power it provides the opportunity for year-round power. When it's windy and cloudy the turbines run. And when it's sunny and calm the solar panels absorb energy. The only real problems with Solar Power are that the panels are quite expensive and (at the time of writing) demand is double the supply, so prices will continue to rise.

   Also solar panels have a lifetime of only 20-25 years or so, whereas many wind turbines built in the 1930's are still operational to this day. But that said, a lot of companies are investing in solar energy. And not just with solar panels, because there are heat-powered systems (such as for water heating), and the Stirling Engine (invented over 100 years ago) is also being used more and more to generate electricity.
   The amount of energy that comes to us from the sun is far more than we need to power the world, even after taking into account the sun's energy that goes into growing vegetation, heating oceans and causing the weather. This site is dedicated covering this important environmental subject during an era where we are all going to have to re-evaluate our energy consumtion.

- Robin Nixon