The Sun is Green
In recent years there has been a huge focus on renewable and sustainable energy. The reason is fairly simple, fossil fuels are finite. Our current global reliance on sources of energy that will no longer be available in the next 100 years is just not a good plan. Research into alternative and sustainable sources of energy has increased tremendously in the past decade due to the inevitability of global oil depletion. One of the most powerful and obvious source of renewable energy available to us is the Sun and its energy can be harvested most often through the use of solar panels.
Solar energy can be converted to electricity through either photovoltaic or heat engines. Originally solar panels were about 1% efficient, but current advances in technology gives us panels that are 30% efficient or better which has made them economically viable finally. The primary difficulty with solar energy is the efficiency of power transfer, as the sun showers the earth with more than enough energy every day; several terawatts.
Getting solar panels for your home is one of the best investments that a homeowner can make. Once the initial investment has been recouped, electricity from solar energy is better than free, since you can sell excess electricity back to the utility companies on the grid and actually get paid for the energy produced by your solar panels. Solar energy is completely clean with absolutely no harmful emissions or pollutants.
Although there are a number of other viable alternative and renewable energy sources, few are available to the average consumer. Wind power is growing in use but the cost of creating a “wind farm” is beyond the ability of the average homeowner to afford. This is where solar panels have a huge advantage in the market. They are extremely affordable now and capable of producing more than enough energy for a home and even enough to give power back to the electrical grid.
The next advance in solar panels appears to be in thin film technology. Although thin coating a surface to gather solar radiation is less efficient that solar panels, it can be used to cover far greater surfaces and collect far more solar energy.
