For billions of years the Sun has provided heat and light to our planet, the Sun is without doubt the Earth’s oldest power source. Thanks to photovoltaic technology we can now harness this ancient power source to provide heat and light to our homes even when it’s not shining. So how can you benefit from solar power?
The sun shines for free and gives us it’s energy for nothing (unless the government finds a way to tax it), this means that installing solar panels will save you money, the governments feed in tariff means you might even be able to make money from installing solar panels on your property.
In the UK the government has introduced a feed in tariff scheme, the scheme means if you install a renewable or low carbon electricity generating technology like solar and generate more power than you use your electricity supplier will pay you. By installing solar panels on your home you could make up to £14,000 over 20 years.
Solar power is going to be a renewable energy source as long as the sun keeps shining and the Sun will shine for at least another one or two billion years, this means that unlike fossil fuels it’s a renewable energy source. Another difference between solar power and fossil fuels like oil and gas is that it is low carbon, low carbon energy sources don’t produce green house gasses or pollution this means they are good for the environment and people’s health.
Other Sources of Low Carbon Energy
Other sources of low carbon energy include: Hydro, Nuclear, Wind and Geothermal. Solar panels are less unsightly than wind farms, safer than nuclear power stations and although it sounds eco-friendly hydropower can have a really negative impact on the environment. Hydro power can cause the displacement of people and wildlife, fish death’s, even plants and trees can be killed due to the large amounts of methane and carbon dioxide that hydro power creates.
So, How Does Solar Work?
Solar panels contain photovoltaic cells, these cells convert light into electricity. Believe it or not the history of solar energy generation goes all the way back to 1839 when a French physicist called Edmund Bequerel discovered that certain materials would produce small amounts of electricity when exposed to light. William Grylls Adams discovered that selenium produced electricity when it was exposed to light in 1876.
Basicly solar panels generate power because they contain photovoltaic cells, the cells enable light particles to knock electrons free from atoms. Learn more on the NASA website here.
If you install solar panels on your home any energy you don’t use will be fed back into the national grid, this means that by installing solar panels you will not only get your electricity for free, any energy you don’t use may actually make you money. So that was some of the benefits of installing solar. Solar power is better for the environment, it creates less pollution, it’s safe, it’s less unsightly than wind turbines or power stations and it can generate you money.
About the Author
This post was supplied by Mark Stubbles. Mark writes for a site that connect homeowners with Solar installers all over the UK, http://www.getsolarpanelquotes.com/.
Photo credit: Argonne National Laboratory