Energy from the sun will be our main energy in the future ,and there are many ways that solar energy can be used effectively.  Applications of solar energy use can be grouped into there are three primary categories: heating/cooling, electricity production, and chemical processes.  The most widely used applications are for water and space heating.  Ventilation solar air heating is also growing in popularity.  Uptake of electricity producing solar technologies is increasing for the applications photovoltaics (primarily) and concentrating solar thermal-electric technologies.  Due to recent advances in solar detoxification technologies for cleaning water and air, these applications hold promise to be competitive with conventional technologies.

The advantages of solar energy

Solar energy has the following advantages over conventional energy:

• The energy from the sun is virtually free after the initial cost has been recovered.         
• Depending on the utilization of energy, paybacks can be very short when compared to the cost of common energy sources used.         
• Solar and other renewable energy systems can be stand-alone; thereby not requiring connection to a power or natural gas grid.         
• The sun provides a virtually unlimited supply of solar energy.         
• The use of solar energy displaces conventional energy; which usually results in a proportional decrease in green house gas emissions.
• The use of solar energy is an untapped market.