solar power – solar power is used as an expression equivalent to solar energy (see o solar energy) in the meaning of a name for the the whole industry and human activity related to using o solar energy for producing, generation, conversion to energy in a form that can directly be used – electricity, heat, motion. “… solar power is a definitive alternative to use of fossil fuel …”. Solar power can even be used to describe and include the parts of the industry that deal with the manufacturing and trade of components, products for the generation industry – solar cells, solar panel, solar inverter manufacturing and also the manufacturing and trade of solar product fabrication equipment – the factory equipment used to manufacture solar components. In the case of converting solar , light energy to electricity the two main technology streams of this industry are solar photovoltaic electric and solar thermal electric. The term power in the more specific scientific meaning is the measure of the ability to deliver, generate, transform or use energy at a certain rate – quantity of energy per a unit of time; power in this case is measured in watts (W) and one watt of power is the rate of rate of one joule (J) of energy delivered in a second (s) time; using industrially more popular units of measures – one watt (W) power is delivering one watt hour (Wh) in the span of one hour (h); in electric terms, also, one watt (W) power is a generating, delivering or using electricity at 1 volt (V) voltage at current 1 amp (A). Solar power this way measured in watts (W) is used at the capacity measurement, identification of different modules, products, systems, solar power stations. The derivatives kilowatt (kW) and megawatt (MW) are also used – 1kW = 1,000W, 1MW = 1,000,000W. Often the scientific term and the meaning if industrial activity of generation, transformation of energy is used interchangeably, like in the first real life usage example we are giving here.
Real life examples of usage of the term:
“… When the project was first announced, Lockheed and its investment partner estimated up to 10 gigawatts of solar power could come online globally by 2017 …” CNNMoney.com
“… provides a snapshot of the solar power market in India, including the installed capacity …”
Solar Power on Wikipedia