Solar Energy Is Pure Sunshine!
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010Pure sunshine makes almost all of the world’s energy. Let’s repeat that; Pure sunshine makes almost all the world’s energy! No matter how you look at it the sun works in mysterious ways, whether the energy is harvested from of a tree, plant and then used indirectly as wood, pellets, oil or coal(taking billions of years) the majority of energy we use is a product of the sun. Enough sun energy falls on the earth in a single day to supply us with energy for several years. This could also be through several man made sources including solar panels, solar heating and solar hot water panels. The energy the sun supplies is free, all we need to do is put the equipment in place to harness the raw power going to waste every day. The energy we harness and use today will not deplete the energy we can harness and use tomorrow or the day after and best of all there will still be plenty for our children without the harmful effects on the environment. The drawback for many is the start up cost for purchasing and installing a system. You are paying for your electricity in a lump sum in advance before you even get to enjoy the clean energy. Our culture unfortunately is governed by “pay as you go” which makes all the utility companies very popular since they only charge us for what we use in a given period of time. Imagine paying up front for installation and never having to pay another electricity bill. Maintaining the system is well, basically maintenance free. So what do you need to make solar energy—-Just the equipment – the sun does the rest! The equipment would be PV Panels, charge controller, batteries, system monitor, inverter and a circuit breaker panel. There are more and more manufacturers, distributors and suppliers of this equipment every day. If you do not believe me the go to the government site http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/page/solarphotv/solarpv.htmland see the information for yourself. Since 1997 this industry has grown exponentially each and every year. To fulfill your energy requirements in any weather a good backup system to the solar would be a wind generator. Usually if it is cloudy a solar system will not generate the same output as it would on a sunny day. With the weather being unsettled usually there is wind and wind can also mean electricity backup. It takes and average wind speed of 9 miles per hour to keep a wind generator generating electricity. If wind power is not an option than additional energy storage batteries can also be a solution. No matter how you look at it solar energy, green energy and wind energy is the only option for a socially responsible culture. We just need to adjust to the change now before the damage we do to the earth is irreversible. The government is offering tax credits for the installation of solar energy systems, up to 30% of the cost, you can see the tax form and instructions here http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5695.pdfany way you look at it, and it makes more and more sense to install a solar system to create energy.