Solar Power – Renewable Powering with the Earth’s Most Effective Energy
Distinct from all other energy sources, including renewable energy sources, solar power is the only energy with the potential to supply more energy than it uses.
Solar power capabilities include:
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The sun is so immensely powerful that with adjustment to current structures, solar energy can power, nearly everything that relies on an outside energy source.
Solar energy is derived from a process that converts approximately 650,000,000 tons of hydrogen into helium per second, in turn creating heat and electromagnetic radiation. Though only a miniscule fraction of the sun’s total radiation reaches the earth, with the exception of geothermal energy and nuclear fission and fusion, the sun’s energy is an indirect source of every type of energy we use.
Key attributes of solar energy that make it much more beneficial than fossil fuels:
- • Solar power is pollutant free
- • Solar power is renewable and inexhaustible
- • The only land that needs to be destroyed for solar power plants is the land it occupies
- • The only land that needs to be destroyed for solar power plants is the land it occupies
What are the financial rewards of using solar power?
- • Significant monthly savings on monthly utility bills
- • Revenue from utility companies if you produce more energy than you use
Solar power suffered from years of low research funding but with the demand for cleaner energy spiking in the face of global warming, the money and efforts allocated to making solar power more functional and accessible to home and business owners is greatly increasing.
Installing solar energy systems is becoming much less costly with the latest government funding for solar power projects. There are also state and government renewable energy use tax incentives. (find the resource link below)
There are different methods used to collect and store solar energy. The predominant methods used include:
- • Photovoltaic cells, used to make solar panels - Photovoltaic cells directly convert radiation into electricity. They are made of semiconductors, most commonly silicon. The sunlight produces electricity as a result of energy derived from electrons breaking off from their atoms and flowing freely in a single direction, creating an electrical current
- • Concentrating solar power - mirrors are used to focus the sun’s energy so that it heats water or generates steam. The steam can be used to spin a turbine and generate electricity
- • Heat-absorbent materials - used to collect heat for water or buildings
- • Passive solar power collectors - natural collection of heat though they can be located and designed for optimal collection. Examples include black painted walls, windows, skylights and sunrooms.
Can you use solar energy wherever your home or business is?
Yes. Solar energy can be harnessed where ever there is sunlight. Outer space is no exception.
Solar power can be used across all sectors and to create systems of all sizes from large-scale to small. Here are some of the sectors that utilize solar energy:
- • Businesses can use solar power to reduce emissions and cut costs on heating and cooling, electricity, powering industrial processes and heating water.
- • Homeowners can use solar power to either lower reliance on non-renewable sources or act as the sole provider of heating, cooling, water heating and electricity.
- • Solar power plants can use solar energy to sell solar energy to businesses and homeowners.
Solar Power Resources
Solar Power use Government Incentives
Solar Power use State Incentives