Solar Energy Facts
This article will go over some of the most interesting solar energy facts. Solar energy is one of the most ecologically sound and appealing sources of power at this time. Let us begin with the obvious. Solar energy has been in existence since the beginning of time. It has always been utilized by animal, plant, and microbial life as the main energy supply. Plants, using photosynthesis, produce the majority of the food on the earth and are at the base of the food chain. Furthermore the fossil fuels we rely on so heavily today were created from plants and animals that lived a long time ago. Only in recent times have human beings been able to collect solar energy in a form that is able to be utilized at all times of day or night, and in any weather, stored and transferred. Each year, the earth's atmosphere receives 3.85 million exajoules of energy from our sun. This most likely does not mean anything to you, however by comparison, the entire consumption of electric energy by all people today in the world is just 56.7 exajoules per year. This means that within a few hours, the earth receives more energy from the sun than people today use during a whole year! Solar energy is an extremely clean supply of energy simply because, compared with fossil fuels, generating this type of energy does not discharge carbon dioxide or other damaging contaminants into the atmosphere. Furthermore solar energy is actually collected by practically every single form of life. You've almost certainly never experienced a wild animal collect wood to make a fire, but you probably have experienced one lying on a rock in order to soak up solar energy. Solar energy is most likely the most environmentally sound energy option readily available these days.
You may be wondering precisely what solar energy is capable of doing for our environment. Annually, humans consume 467 exajoules of energy by using several main power sources: burning coal, gasoline, and oil, together with ‘green' sources like wind, solar, and hydro power. If we could collect just 10% of the sun's energy, we would have the capacity to replace all of the fossil fuel sources and still have adequate room for growth. Without a doubt solar energy facts such as this illustrate how much better solar power is for the environment and how great the potential is for solar energy progress. Now that you've looked over some of the most impressive solar energy facts and now have an understanding as to what solar energy can certainly do for the environment, you would probably want to find out just exactly what solar energy is. To put it simply, solar energy is the heat and light energy emitted by the sun. The sun constantly generates tremendous amounts of energy into our solar system. Around 30% of the sun's energy that reaches the earth is generally deflected by the atmosphere, and another 20% is normally absorbed into the atmosphere. However, almost 50% of the energy gets to the earth's surface, where it fuels photosynthesis in plants, maintains hot tropical and warm temperate climates, sustains the temperature of the ocean, and generally speaking keeps our planet alive. Every bit of this is attained without creating any sort of pollution or destruction of natural resources.
Plenty of men and women do not recognize how solar energy functions on the technical level, and so they wonder what solar energy is going to add to their households, businesses, and communities. During the last three decades, solar energy technology has developed at a rapid rate. Solar energy is collected at a few huge power plants in the U.S., Spain, Australia, and in various other nations, where it provides power directly to the power grid. This signifies that many houses across the planet currently get electrical energy produced from the sun. One of several lesser known solar energy facts is that solar power may also be used on a much smaller scale. Solar panels on the tops of houses and businesses, can potentially create a percentage (or perhaps all) of the power these buildings require. On an even smaller scale, solar panels are utilized in India and Indonesia to disinfect water, and compact solar burners and ovens are currently employed in order to cook meals in other parts of the planet . Solar power may possibly be utilized to power practically any process you can come up with, from large-scale electric power generation for metropolitan areas to boiling just one pot of water. The thing that makes virtually all of these various uses feasible is the development of solar energy systems. You'll notice that there are two primary kinds of solar energy technology presently utilized at this time: solar thermal energy (STE) and photovoltaic (PV) energy. Solar thermal collectors simply just harness the heat or thermal energy released by the sun. This thermal energy is normally utilized to heat water which then may be stored and used for typical household needs or piped to a household heating system. STE can be stored by heating or energizing a thermal mass that can continue to radiate heat energy even when the sun is not shining. Solar thermal collectors have always been considerably more efficient in comparison with photovoltaic collectors however energy storage is without question a little more cumbersome. Photovoltaic solar panels create an electric current when exposed to sunlight. The electric current can be used at once or stored using batteries for future use. This is generally one of the most important solar energy facts whenever you are working with PV energy systems. Battery storage is particularly valuable because it means it is feasible to store solar power for use during the night or even during cloudy or stormy days. Solar energy is a very important alternative power source which will help us preserve the environment. It will also help to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels. You might be wondering how big of an expense it will be for you to change to solar power? Solar power is not as costly as most people think. A full solar energy system for a home might cost you in excess of $30,000, having said that this doesn't really mean you will pay that entire amount. For starters, you'll find a lot of types of incentive programs, including tax credits, rebates and grants, which may lower the cost of installing solar panels by 30% or more . An alternative route you might want to consider is a scaled-down solar energy system that only supplements your household energy requirements. A small system is going to cost substantially less, while still cutting down your current energy bills, and it will certainly make your home a lot more environmentally sound. Currently nearly all electrical energy is generated using fossil fuels. So cutting down your current use of electrical power coming from your area power company by 50% is actually a important step towards establishing a sustainable power grid. In this article, we've made an effort to supply you with a number of useful and thought provoking solar energy facts. As you consider these facts, also consider how much significance you place on the health of our natural environment and on mankind's ability to take care of it. Even if fossil fuels don't run out in the next 50 years, it's likely that their prolonged use as our primary energy resource is likely to cause environmental havoc. Investing in solar power now might not instantly save you money, however your monetary investment can certainly provide a more desirable future for all of us under the sun.
