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8 Best Reasons To Use Solar Power

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The Sun can power everything, and it does already. It radiates pure energy. Enough energy in 1 day to power our planet for 1000 years, if we could capture it all.

Fortunately, we don’t have to capture it all, as that would be impossible. But we can capture a significant percentage of the Sun’s massive radiant energy that hits the surface of the Earth every day.

Currently, solar panels are about 15-20% efficient on average. That means they can capture about 15-20% of the energy hitting the Earth in the area that they cover. 

Giant_prominence_on_the_sun_erupted

NASA/SDO/AIA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

1. Solar Energy is Now Affordable and Getting Less Expensive Each Day!

The fact is as more and more companies get into solar energy, and manufacture solar panels, the costs will continue to get more and more affordable.

The cost per Watt is dropping to $1/Watt and in some areas is even less. (this cost does not include installation). But it doesn’t matter because you can buy a 1500 Watt system complete with mounting brackets, charger, inverter, and cable for about that price. This is CHEAP compared to how much it used to be.

Solar Panels

2. You Can Sell Surplus Energy Back To The Electric Station

If you opt for a grid-tied solar system, you could essentially cut your solar costs even more by selling surplus power back to the electric company. This helps alleviate the load on the grid, and might actually help the whole system in times of over usage during extreme weather.

In other words, it could help toward stopping blackouts from happening. Maybe…

electric station

3. Solar Panels Are Practically Maintenance Free

Once installed, it doesn’t take much time and effort to maintain solar panels. You wipe them off from time to time, clearing them of dust and debris, and make sure the wires are in good condition and connections are good.

There’s very little work beyond the initial installation, which is a huge plus.

Solar Panels

4. Solar Power is Clean Renewable Energy!

Even considering the carbon footprint of the manufacturing plants, the transportation costs, and other carbon-emitting processes in the production of solar panels, it’s cleaner and cheaper than fossil fuels. Especially when one considers the practical maintenance-free nature of solar photovoltaic panels.

It’s much cleaner than coal or other fossil fuels, and you can feel better about your energy usage because you’re helping the environment.

Plants use solar energy, and they clean the air, without which none of us would be here. I don’t know about you, but I like clean air. 😉 It’s a good thing.

 

5. Solar Energy Can Be Captured, Electricity Created & Used In Multiple Ways

Electricity can also be generated using solar reflectors, Fresnel lenses, and heat absorption machines that all produce electricity from the heat energy generated by radiant solar energy.

 

6. Solar Energy Powers EVERYTHING in Our Solar System, Literally!

The sun comes up every day, kind of. Technically the Sun is literally what powers our entire solar system.

If it were not for the Sun, we would not be here. It holds our planets in orbit, provides sunlight to trillions of animals and plants, and provides more energy in a single hour than our planet could use in an entire year.

Why would we NOT use it? It’s stupid not to. It literally powers all life on Earth; without it, life would cease to exist. So it kinda makes sense that we should use the Sun to power our own lives, right?

solar system

Artist rendition, not to scale | NASA

 7. Solar Power is Almost Limitless

Our Sun is a star, and like every star, it has a lifespan and stages it goes through before finally consuming all the hydrogen that powers it.

Fortunately for those of us living today, we have no worries that the Sun will run out of energy anytime soon. In fact, we have a few hundred million years to go before our Sun consumes all the planets in our solar system when it goes Red Giant.

Solar_Life_Cycle

8. 1000 Watts of Solar Energy Per Square Meter Strike The Earth’s Surface At Any Given Time

During daylight hours on a clear day, the amount of energy striking the Earth’s surface over any 1 square meter is equivalent to about 1000 Watts of electrical power.

sun2

There’s really no reason not to use solar power.

Living off grid means being disconnected from the electrical grid, producing your own energy, and living sustainably. You can’t get much more sustainable than using the energy generated from the very thing that powers our solar system.

Solar energy is by far the best source of energy in the galaxy. Literally!

8 Best Reasons To Use Solar Power | Mobile Solar Power

Saturday 22nd of February 2014

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