25Solar Power
25.1 Solar Resource
Solar power generating facilities fall into two categories: photo voltaic (PV) and concentrated (CSP) solar plants.
Solar power systems offer many advantages. Stand‐alone systems can eliminate the need to build expensive new power lines to remote locations. For rural and remote applications, solar electricity can cost less than any other means of producing electricity. Solar plants of PV type require minimal maintenance. These plants are easy to combine with other types of electric generations such as wind, diesel, hydro, or combustion turbines to facilitate better usage of solar resources and other fuels. Solar plants are also easy to expand incrementally by adding more modules as power demand increases.
Solar electric power systems are environment friendly. They run quietly and without polluting. When solar electric technologies displace fossil fuels for pumping water, lighting homes, or running industrial facilities, they reduce greenhouse gases and pollutants emitted into ...
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