''Solar Energy Perspectives'' is a 2011 book by the
International Energy Agency
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the entire global energy sector, with a recent focus on curbing car ...
.
[Solar Energy Perspectives: full text (free download)]
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Solar energy
Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essen ...
technologies come in various forms – solar heating
A solar thermal collector collects heat by absorbing sunlight. The term "solar collector" commonly refers to a device for solar hot water heating, but may refer to large power generating installations such as solar parabolic troughs and sola ...
, solar photovoltaics
Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially us ...
, solar thermal electricity – and can make considerable contributions to solving some of the most urgent problems the world now faces:[
]
The development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits. It will increase countries’ energy security
Energy security is the association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption. Access to (relatively) cheap energy has become essential to the functioning of modern economies. However, the uneven d ...
through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible and mostly import-independent resource, enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the costs of mitigating climate change, and keep fossil fuel prices lower than otherwise. These advantages are global. Hence the additional costs of the incentives for early deployment should be considered learning investments; they must be wisely spent and need to be widely shared.[
]
''Solar Energy Perspectives'' builds upon past analyses of solar energy deployment contained in the ''World Energy Outlook
The annual ''World Energy Outlook'' is the International Energy Agency's flagship publication, widely recognised as the most authoritative source for global energy projections and analysis. It represents the leading source for medium to long-term ...
'', ''Energy Technology Perspectives'' and several IEA ''Technology Roadmaps''. It aims at "offering an updated picture of current technology trends and markets, as well as new analyses on how solar energy technologies for electricity, heat and fuels can be used in the various energy consuming sectors, now and in the future".[
]
See also
*''Deploying Renewables 2011
''Deploying Renewables 2011: Best and Future Policy Practice'' is a 2011 book by the International Energy Agency. The book analyses the recent successes in renewable energy, which now accounts for almost a fifth of all electricity produced worl ...
''
* The Third Industrial Revolution
*''The Clean Tech Revolution
''The Clean Tech Revolution: The Next Big Growth and Investment Opportunity'' is a 2007 book by Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder, who say that commercializing clean technologies is a profitable enterprise that is moving steadily into mainstream bus ...
''
*List of books about renewable energy
This is a bibliography of renewable energy.
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished). About 16% of global final energy con ...
*Mark Z. Jacobson
Mark Zachary Jacobson (born 1965) is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University and director of its Atmosphere/Energy Program. He is also a co-founder of the non-profit, Solutions Project.
Jacobson's career has focu ...
References
{{reflist
2011 non-fiction books
Books about energy issues
Energy economics
Renewable energy commercialization
Sustainability books
International Energy Agency