Humans have been harnessing the Sun’s energy in one form or another for centuries. People were using glass lenses to concentrate the energy from sunlight in order to light fires as early as 700 BC.
The amount of power supplied by the Sun to the Earth is about 10 × 107 W, so enough energy arrives from the Sun in 1 hour to satisfy the energy requirements of the world’s human population for an entire year. Obviously it is not as simple as this — some of the Sun’s energy is lost when passing through the Earth’s atmosphere, and the amount reaching the Earth’s surface can be reduced by clouds and pollution. Despite this, using solar cells to convert the Sun’s energy into electricity is considered to be the most sustainable method of producing renewable energy.
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