Modern applications of wind energy use strong, light, weather-resistant aerodynamically designed wind machines that, when attached to generators, produce electricity for local, specialized use or as part of a community or regional network of electric power distribution.
 
Approximately 30 percent of the solar energy reaching the outer edge of the atmosphere is consumed in the hydrologic cycle, which produces rainfall and the potential energy of water in mountain streams and rivers.

The power produced by these flowing waters as they pass through modern turbines is called hydroelectric power. 

Through the process of photosynthesis, solar energy contributes to the growth of plant life (biomass) that can be used as fuel, including wood and the fossil fuels that are derived from geologically ancient plant life.

Fuels such as alcohol or methane can also be extracted from biomass.

The oceans also represent a form of natural collection of solar energy. As a result of the absorption of solar energy in the ocean and ocean currents, temperature gradients occur in the ocean. In some locations, these vertical variations approach 20° C (36° F) over a distance of a few hundred meters.

When large masses exist at different temperatures, thermodynamic principles predict that a power-generating cycle can be created to remove energy from the high-temperature mass and transfer a lesser amount of energy to a low-temperature mass. The difference in these two heat energies manifests itself as mechanical energy (for example, output from a turbine), which can be linked with a generator to produce electricity. Such systems, called ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) systems, require enormous heat exchangers and other hardware in the ocean to produce electricity in the megawatt range.