Solar energy is the technology used to harness the sun's energy and make it useable. As of 2011, the technology produced less than one tenth of one percent of global energy demand. Many are familiar with so-called photovoltaic cells, or solar panels, found on things like spacecraft, rooftops, and handheld calculators.
The U.S. is now home to more than 2 million solar installations, and that number is expected to double by 2023, according to Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
Solar energy has boomed in the U.S. over the last decade thanks to rapidly falling prices on the technology, state mandates that require utilities to source large amounts of renewable energy and a federal tax credit worth 30 percent of the cost of a system.
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Derick is a Clark University graduate—and Fulbright alumni with a Master's Degree in Environmental Science, and Policy. He has 6+ years of solar industry research, marketing, and content strategy experience.
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