The Benefits of Solar Energy?

Solar energy is heat and light that comes from the sun. Thousands of years ago people used solar energy to heat their homes. Today, solar energy is again being used. Why? What advantages are there to installing a solar heating system?

You Save Money on your Energy Bills. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a typical homeowner relying on electricity to heat water could save up to $1000.00 in the first year of operation by installing a solar water heating system! The savings over time increases due to increasing electricity rates....the average solar heating system pays for itself in 4 to 7 years.

It's Better for the Environment. Solar energy systems prevent pollution and many other types of environmental damages.

Using an Efficient Solar Energy Source can help Reduce our Foreign Trade Deficit. Fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural gas -- currently provide more than 85% of all the energy consumed in the United States, nearly two-thirds of our electricity, and virtually all of our transportation fuels. Moreover, it is likely that the nation's reliance on fossil fuels to power an expanding economy will actually increase over at least the next two decades even with aggressive development and deployment of new renewable and nuclear technologies.


OTHER INTERESTING FACTS AOUT SOLAR ENERGY

  • Solar cells, also called photovoltaics (PV) by solar cell scientists, convert sunlight directly into electricity.
  • The shallow water of a lake is usually warmer than the deep water. That's because the sunlight can heat the lake bottom in the shallow areas, which in turn, heats the water. It's nature's way of solar water heating. The sun can be used in basically the same way to heat water used in buildings and swimming pools.
  • Most solar water heating systems for buildings have two main parts: a solar collector and a storage tank.
  • Solar water heating systems can be either active or passive, but the most common are active systems. Active systems rely on pumps to move the liquid between the collector and the storage tank, while passive systems rely on gravity and the tendency for water to naturally circulate as it is heated.

SOURCES:

  1. Solar Energy Fact Sheet, produced in cooperation by the North Carolina Solar Center, the Energy Division, N.C. Department of Commerce, and N.C. State University.
  2. Energy: Our Future Is Today, U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
  3. Solar Rating and certification corporation
  4. Solar Services, Inc. (website materials) c. 1998-2005