Solar Power

Today we use power of the sun or solar power to heat buildings and water. In some places people still use it for cooking and disinfecting. But more important we also use solar power to make electricity. With electricity we can cook, heat or make drinking water from seawater. Currently solar power accounts for only a small percentage of energy used in the world. But its catching on, in 2005, $7.5 billion was spent worldwide on solar power. That amount was 40% higher then and year before. Solar power works best in parts of the world with hot and sunny climate, that’s why most of the new solar power plants are being constructed in Australia, Spain, US and Middle East. But that doesn’t stop other countries around the globe in taking advantage of solar power for example Germany doesn’t always have sunny weather. But they make use of what sunlight it has. They have built the world’s largest solar power plant, called Gut Erlasse Solar Park in Arnstein. The solar panels in the Gut Erlasse Solar Park power plant make 12 megawatts of electricity enough to power a town with nine thousand people. But other nations aren't staying behind in this race and are building much bigger solar power plants. A solar power plant in Australia (Victoria) will produce 154 megawatts when it’s completed. Israel is also planning a 100megawatt solar power plant in its Negev Desert which will later be expanded to 500megawatts which will cover 5% of their power need.