It’s often said that there’s nothing more certain in life than death and taxes.
How about if we add the ongoing power of the sun to our list of certainties?
After all, if the sun burns out, we won’t be here to worry about anything else anyway!
Given the constancy of that blazing star in the sky and the fact that it is an ongoing source of pure energy, it only makes sense to try and utilize that steady stream of free energy to meet our daily needs for power.
Solar power is the process of capturing the energy produced by the sun and converting it into electricity.
This is being accomplished both on a large commercial basis (where assemblies of solar collectors are capturing and selling power) and on an individual basis (where homeowners are installing units on their roofs to meet their own energy needs and to sell the additional electricity.)
The solar cells, or photovoltaic (PV) cells, are appearing more frequently on rooftops throughout the world as more homeowners are realizing the economic and environmental gains incurred from the installation of such units.
Private companies are now in existence that will design and install your solar electric system in conjunction with your home’s existing electrical utility system.
This allows for accurate monitoring of your own electrical consumption as well as accounting for your excess power production that is being sold for your profit.
Your home needs an open roof space with a southern orientation so as to adequately capture the direct rays of the sun.
The larger the usable roof space, the more panels can be installed and the more electricity that can be produced. Each kilowatt of solar system installed requires approximately 100 square feet of roof space.
Financial incentives are available for the installation of solar panels with the federal government currently allowing a 30% tax credit to private homeowners and even bigger incentives to commercial solar developers.
As with most newer technologies, the cost of designing, building, and installing solar power systems continues to come down even as the efficiency and wider spread use of such systems increases.
Solar energy is completely non-polluting and is therefore much better and safer for the environment than the Earth-invasive mining of coal and its resulting atmosphere-polluting consumption that is involved in other energy producing situations.
Solar power is the ultimate in clean renewable energy. Consider having solar panels installed on your home for the sake of the environment and as a wise financial investment.
