Sceptics say that solar panels,devices made mainly of silicon which convert sunlight into electricity, are always being heralded as the coming thing, but they never actually become economical. Shell international petroleum, however,predicts that by the year 2050 renewable power, particularly solar,
will play a larger role in world energy production than non-renewable sources.strikingly,the cost of electricity from solar panels has fallen from around 500 dollars per watt in the 1960s to under four dollars in the late 1990s.many companies are making large investments to break the two-dollar barrier-the crucial price,as it is the average cost of electricity in california.
solar panels offer many advantages over other forms of energy. burning coal and oil causes air pollution and contributes to global warming, as does their transportation, while nuclear power is not only expensive, but faces strong public opposition following the chernobyl disaster.several developing countries,especially mexico and india, are investing in solar panels,finding
that it already makes economic sense to install them in remote villages,thus avoiding the need to build expensive power stations and power transmission lines. nearly two-thirds of all the solar panels made in the US are exported to developing countries.
Planes have flown using the electricity from solar panels even on cloudy days, and solar-powered vehicles improve every year. in space, converting sunlight into electricity is easier than it is on the earth, as there is no atmosphere to reduce the strength of sunlight. vital communications satellites depend totally on solar panels as do manned space stations and robots exploring the surfaces of other planets. in the future we will gat used to seeing solar panels everywhere.