Chủ Nhật, 20 tháng 1, 2013

Why Solar Energy is Good For the Environment

Do you ever wonder why solar energy is good for the environment? Then, to say you're not alone would probably be an understatement. We as a race are finally waking up to the frightening reality that is the phenomenon known as global warming, the facts of which are shown in the media regularly and which are there for all to see. Just look at the rapidly receding ice cap at the North Pole that's threatening the environment and the very existence of such wildlife as the polar bear, whose habitat and food source is gradually disappearing. How can we just sit back and contemplate the disappearance of such a beautiful creature and iconic figure as the polar bear?
There's a lot of interest these days in solar energy and how it can help in the battle against global warming and the terrible consequences of carbon emissions, so let's take a look at just why solar energy is good for the environment.
Free Of Charge
We have the great good fortune to benefit from the sun's energy for free each and every day. This is energy that's not only free of charge, but free of any pollution or anything else that might be detrimental to the environment. In fact, the sun's too generous in a way because we receive a lot more energy in one hour than we as a planet can use in a whole year - about 6,000 times more, in fact.
The sun's energy reaches us in the forms of light and heat, so the sun does its part, then it's up to us as to what we do with all that energy. What can and do we do with it?
Passive Solar Energy
This is one of the easiest ways to take advantage of solar energy and one which just about everybody, however unwittingly, applies. What's one of the first things you do every morning? Open the drapes, right? Well, just that one small action means that you're actually taking advantage of the sun and using passive solar techniques.
Passive solar heating can be just that simple. In its simplest form, it's a matter of allowing as much sunlight into a home or building and capturing that heat for use at night. The heat is captured in the home or building's walls and floors and is absorbed, thereby keeping the area cool during the day, while at night the walls and floors release the stored heat into the cooler nighttime air, keeping the area at a comfortable, warm temperature.
This way you take advantage of free solar energy to provide not only daytime cooling but also nighttime heat. This will mean using your air conditioning and your heating less, reducing the amount of fossil fuels used and as a result the amount of pollution being released into the environment. Good for you and good for the environment.
PV Solar Energy
PV is the common abbreviation for photovoltaic and refers to the process by which sunlight (not heat, but light) is converted to electricity. That's how solar panels you see on the roofs of buildings work. A solar cell is made up of silicon semiconductors that react with sunlight to generate electricity. A solar panel is built using a number of solar cells to generate a certain amount of electricity, generally the more cells, the more electricity is produced, but that's not always the case, depending on the efficiency of the cells, i.e. what percentage of sunlight striking the cell is converted into electricity.
PV panels use no moving or mechanical parts, nor do they need any fuel to run, so they don't consume any fossil fuels nor do they create any carbon emissions, and they use energy from the sun, which is constant and renewable, so PV panels are a definite plus for the environment. The more people switch to PV power, the less fossil fuels will be used, and the cleaner the environment will be. There are many other examples of why solar energy is good for the environment, but it should be fairly obvious from what's mentioned here just how much the environment can benefit from the increased adoption of solar energy.
Grab your FREE report, and go here to learn more about why solar energy is good for the environment. Ray Boreham suggests you'll find a wealth of information and tips on solar and renewable energy at http://www.all-you-need-is-solar.com.

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