What is Solar Energy?

Introduction

What is solar energy you might be wondering? The world is talking about it, you see famous actors and politicians conversing around it. You’ve heard that millions have been spent and continue to be spent to harness ‘solar energy’. One thing me must understand is that the sun is a source of energy for all of life. Plants, humans, animals, insects, Earth. It is also necessary for various tasks that Earth performs, rain, snow, seasons, day, and night. The list doesn’t stop there. When humans learned to control and harness this power through ever-evolving technologies, that is solar energy. Harnessing light and heat radiation from the sun and converting it to usable energy.

Benefits of Solar Energy

  • Long-term benefits to the environment

Being a source of renewable energy, we can stop using factories that pollute with massive amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, and instead focus on a renewable energy that is green and clean.

  • Summer Cooling and Winter Heating

A.C or the heating system fires up, now instead of paying the immense bill every month, you can see that bill get smaller.

  • Essentially taking anything that performs a task and using solar energy to make it do work.

A boat, a business office, heck even a barbeque, or maybe a car? (Hybrids count) All of these things that do ‘work’, we can stop giving them electricity, stop wasting our money, and give them Sun’s energy, and still get our task done.

Use of Solar Energy (Residential / Commercial Applications)

  • Heating & cooling
  • Everyday tasks without using electricity
  • Lighting of pathways and gardens
  • Lighting up backyards
  • Security systems powered by solar energy
  • Use solar energy as a replacement for electricity in household objects
  • Save more on gas
  • Drive smoother and know your solar powered car is eco-friendly
  • Portable solar powered chargers for IPhone or other phones
  • Heat pools and water by solar energy
  • Solar Energy to give electricity to your house to supply things that run on electricity essentially free electricity

Read More: Where To Buy Cheap Solar Panels For Your Home

Storage Methods

Since solar panels cannot produce much energy during night time, and since during the day the solar panels continuously harness the sun. One would think where is extra energy directed to? Does it just flow out into the Earth? Most likely not, when people, especially businesses purchase solar panels, they also get rechargeable battery, the extra energy is stored within this battery. This is done because it costs less than extending power lines to the power grid. Instead you can store it in a reachable battery. Most solar powered items have their own version of these, for instance, solar powered motion lights store power inside, and draw from it when needed.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Solar Energy

The pros and cons range, but the pros greatly outnumber the cons.

We will be taking a look at the advantages of solar energy.

To understand true benefits of solar energy, we would explore the specifics, instead we’re taking a broader view on the subject, so that each point made covers many benefits.

Solar energy provides a renewable energy alternative. So when we cut own all our trees, and the electricity we use is gone, how do we use Earths resources when there is none? That’s when we turn to the sun, giving renewable energy that will not be depleted if used. Solar energy saves money. If everyone in the America were to use solar energy right now, this nation would be saving millions monthly, which could go to building recreational spots, health care and more. Solar energy saves lives. Projects are going on around the world where 3rd world countries’ people are experiencing the vast magnitude of solar power, it is helping them to drink clean water, harvest crops, and cool down in places where it is extremely hot. Another advantage that almost every solar company boats about is that, its eco-friendly, good to the environment, green and clean, of course it’s true, but it’s something too simple and majestic, that it is already known without even mentioning it. Like I mentioned to you before, these are broader points, each point can be broken down to specifics, like how solar energy can provide heating to your house, etc…

Disadvantages, although they’re few, they still exist. The number one disadvantage, if it didn’t exist, the whole world would be using solar energy, is cost. Compared to the last 20 years, the price of solar panels and solar energy harnessing devices and machines have been reduced by double, the price is still much too high for the population, which consists and revolves around the middle class. A 4kw to a 8kw installation would be around 20-25 thousand dollars including the installation. Smaller appliances like a portable charger which uses the sun to charge, or the calculator which has a small reddish rectangular screen by which it uses the sun to power the calculator, these small appliances don’t cost much and anyone can purchase them. However when we get bigger on the scale, solar panels, heating systems, cooling systems, that’s when we see the price build up. This is, in my opinion, the only single, and biggest disadvantage of Solar Energy. What you may not have known is that there is a way around this. Investing in solar panels and of the sort will earn you your money back and then some in the span of a couple of years.

Conclusion

Solar Energy is power harnessed from the sun. Man’s oldest ally. Solar energy makes life easier for us all, and those who can afford bigger versions of solar energy have more to gain. The advantages are ranging from not feeling guilty for leaving the water running all the way to saving money in the long run. The single disadvantage is the price, which can be earned through solar energy again after purchase but only if you have the initial fund to purchase it in the first place

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