Solar Energy - The Future of Home Generated Energy

Applying solar energy to home has been around since the 50's. However, the ever increasing cost of real estate, the advance in building design and material, coupled with the resources limitation have prevented solar energy from being adopted in a much wider scale.
Man has built homes by taking advantage of solar for heat and lighting since time immemorial. Ancient Chinese and Greeks practiced "passive solar" by orientating the houses to capture the most sunlight as natural lighting and heating during winter.
Architects from ancient times might have not come up with terms such as passive solar or thermal mass but the building design and built by them is no less sophisticated than what we are having now. They were building homes by aligning the structures to the orientation of the sun for achieving a well lit and naturally ventilated living space.
As the cost of the conventional fossil based fuel increases, homeowners and builders are looking more and more into solar as an alternative energy source to power the home.
The technology of solar cells has been developing since the 1950's. Now, a very high level of efficiency of converting the sun ray to electricity can be achieved. The green home can even be disconnected from the power grid and generate sufficient power to be a "energy positive" home.
To generate electricity using solar, the source is always free. However, initial investment is required to design, build and install the entire solar energy system. The photovoltaic cells are made from semi-conducting materials; they are lined up side by side in a grid to create solar panels. The panels are most commonly mounted on rooftops or open area to maximize the exposure to the sunlight throughout the day.
The solar panels are installed facing the south whenever the condition allow. Newer system employed an active tracking system to follow the sun as it rises and falls. Electrons are released from the atoms when the panels are exposed to the sunlight. The movement of the electrons is what generate the electricity.
Generating 100% power requirement is possible but might not be practical yet despite the advancement in solar energy technology. The best solution is to maintain the connection to the distribution grid with a view to live completely off grid in the not too distant future.
Installing a solar energy system at home is a good start to eventually moving away totally from the grid. The electricity from the power grid is generated in large proportion by coal fire power plants that release a huge amount of CO2 into the atmosphere everyday of the year. The paid back period of the solar investment will be even shorter as the fuel prices continual to rise.
With the incentives, grants and tax credits provided by the states, the solar energy technology has undergone rapid development for the past few years. It is projected that within the next 5 years, the cost of a solar energy system will be made affordable for anyone who wishes to have it as a primary source of energy for their home.