Solar Energy Facts
There’s a lot of miss-information out there about solar power. This article should help set the record straight, and present some real solar energy facts. Some of these are practical, some you can use as your next piece of cocktail trivia, all are interesting.
1) Solar energy is a renewable, green resource. Meaning it will not pollute our air with carbon dioxide and other harmful greenhouse gases and bad emissions. Also, as your energy needs grow, you can add more solar panels to your home. And solar panels operate silently and require very little maintenance and will last for a long time. The technology for solar energy is constantly improving, making it a great, and growing, energy market.
2) Which country uses the most solar energy?
If you guessed the United States, you’re wrong. Britain? Nope, try again. Brazil? Not yet. Then who? Germany.
In spite of its location way up above the equator and its relatively small population, Germany currently uses more solar energy than any other country. That blows holes in the common assumptions made in the northern states that solar energy isn’t a plausible local energy solution.
3) Albert Einstein led the way in many solar power innovations.
In fact, though his work in solar energy was overshadowed by his breakthroughs on the theory of relativity, it had a large part to do with his Nobel Peace Prize for Science in 1921. Albert Einstein was responsible for numerous solar experiments with early photovoltaic solar panels.
Photovoltaic solar panels are still used today, but in the 1950s they were given a silicon base and became much more efficient than they had been when Einstein was doing his research. Silicon is a product of the seemingly unlimited resource we call sand. It only takes 1 ton of silicon to produce enough photovoltaic cells to make as much electrical energy as can be made from 500,000 tons of coal. Further, you don’t make all kinds of air pollutants when you use silicon based photovoltaic solar panels, as you of course do make when you burn fossil fuels for electricity production.
4) Aren’t photovoltaic panels really expensive?
Actually, photovoltaic panels cost about 200% less than they did in the 1970s (during the super-inflation and high prices people still attribute to solar panels) and are in some cases twice as efficient at the conversion of solar energy into electricity as they were in the 1970s. So you get about four times as much electricity for your money from photovoltaic panels now. Sounds like hyper deflation to me. Seriously, it is just a matter of improved photovoltaic production technology.
5) The initial price of full-scale solar power systems (ones that power you home entirely from the sun) can be expensive, but the savings is worth it. A full-scale system will cost about the same amount of money as a hybrid car, and in average, it will pay itself off in about the same amount of time. But your home produces a lot more energy and wastes a lot more money than a car. In fact, supplying electricity to homes accounts for nearly half of the greenhouse gases produced annually, while cars only produce a fraction of that amount. So, the savings and the effect you have on the environment really make solar a great option and investment, which leads me to…
6) Solar panels add value to your home! Any panels you add to your home will last 20-25 years, with a warranty. And those panels will add value to your home. So it helps the environment and builds equity.
7) If you have a good solar energy system, one that produces even more energy than you use, your utility company can buy it from you. Meaning, if you make more than you use, you’ll get money back from your power company!
If the power goes out, you still electricity during the day. And if you have a battery back-up system, you can have power no matter the circumstances.
There are some useful and fun facts about solar power. I hope they dispelled some rumors and helped you better understand solar power as a viable energy alternative to fossil fuels.
