Harnessing the energy of the sun in more efficient ways is a major concern for engineers, politicians, and others looking for cleaner and cheaper sources of power. In the world of affordable clean energy, solar power is certainly one of the most talked about. Yet despite all the attention solar energy has been getting, it still accounts for less than 1 percent of electricity use in the United States. California is the state in the U.S. which has the highest solar utilization.

There are a variety of ways solar power can be transformed into electricity. The way with the most potential today concentrates the sun’s rays using an array of mirrors. The concentration of rays creates a great deal of heat, which then in turn can power a generator, producing the needed electricity.

Another way to make electricity using the sun is with photovoltaic panels. These can be seen on the rooftops of houses and office buildings. These panels are composed of several separate photovoltaic cells, which actively and directly convert the sun’s energy into electricity. The larger the number of solar cells in a panel and the higher the quality of the solar cells, the larger the total electrical output the solar panel can produce.

At the moment it is quite expensive to produce electricity using the sun’s rays. Electricity from the sun can cost four times as much as power from coal, and twice as much as from wind energy. Currently, obtaining electricity from the sun must be subsidized, but with the development of new technologies, and the costs dropping, there is optimism that eventually the solar power industry will be able to support itself.

Opening up the power supply industry to competition through deregulation not only allows individual consumers to choose their energy providers, but they now can also choose whether to support more environmentally friendly sources for producing electricity.

IDT Energy has a ‘Buy Green’ option for its customers. Choosing this option means that a certain amount of the electricity a consumer receives is produced from sources which use our natural resources in a way that does no harm to the environment. These sources may include wind power, running water, solar power and organic matter, which are all renewable and are relatively clean compared to the more standard sources of electricity which often include the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas.

IDT Energy is proud to say that they have joined the State to help create a center for environmentally friendly technologies here in New York. Within 10 years New York hopes to obtain 25% of its power from green sources, and IDT is playing an important role in this development.

In Rockland and Orange Counties, New York, IDT Energy is one of two providers of electricity which is generated by wind and water to consumers who are served by Orange and Rockland Utilities Inc.

The good news is that this green solution is actually coming down in price, making this alternative source for electricity production more attractive to consumers.

It is a sign that renewable energy is becoming a viable alternative to traditional forms of electricity production as business in this sector increases, while the costs goe down.

This is the first time that the green power alternative was actually cheaper than power produced by coal, natural gas, nuclear power or hydro plants.

Apollo Fuel Cell Rocket

Although fuel cells were first invented in 1839 and were used in the Gemini and Apollo missions of the NASA space program, we are still working on making fuel cells a realistic alternative to internal combustion engines.

A clear benefit of improving fuel cell function would be to reduce the United States’ dependence on foreign countries for its energy needs. Consumption far exceeds production: in the year 2007 the U.S. produced 5.1 million barrels of oil each day but used 20.7 million barrels per day.

Since the source of the electricity which fuel cells produce is hydrogen and oxygen, which are available in the air, It is easy to see how fuel cells could greatly increase the U.S. independence from foreign oil suppliers.