Solar energey -- energy dervied from the sun -- supports virtually all life on earth. Solar energy was valued by the early greeks, native americans and ancient chinesese, all of whom oriented their buildings toward the sun, warming ther homes via solar heat. Still, thousands of years later, we rely on solar power to meet our energy needs, and as our energy needs grow, so too should our reliance on the sun. Modern solar energy technologies harness the sun's energy to meet today's ever-increasing energy needs. Thanks to technological advances, the sun's power can now be used for heating, lighting, electrcitiy and even flight.