Solar energy is a renewable resource that can easily integrate into most structures, homes, office buildings, and warehouses. Solar panels are made of completely natural and recyclable materials like glass, aluminum, and silicon. More importantly solar energy is site-generated energy that utilizes abundant supplies of open roof space to power those structures with no additional need for power lines. It just makes so much sense. No wonder people have been utilizing energy from the sun for 1,000’s of years and more.
It is so easy to be a part of the energy solution in this country. There will never be a better time to go solar than right now. Government incentives and energy providers rebates will never be better. As installation costs continue to fall, the rebates offered by energy providers continue to fall.
Solar energy technology has come a long way in just the last 5 years, and light years ahead of where we were in the 1960’s when the modern solar age dawned with the use of solar PV modules for the space program.And solar energy will continue to grow as a viable energy source as prices continue to fall while costs for fossil fuels continue to rise. There is no doubt that brown fuel costs will continue to rise exponentially due to supply and demand as well as political unrest, world demand, and pollution control issues. During the initial switch to renewables, the U.S. government and smart energy providers are incentivising their customers to install solar on their roofs by paying approximately 75% of the installation costs of photovoltaic solar systems in some cases.
How does solar work?
Photovoltaics
Photovoltaics or PV work by using silicon (one of the most abundant natural resources on earth) to generate a DC electrical current when exposed to the sun’s rays. Then the current is converted into AC energy for use by appliances in your home by an inverter. The inverter also monitors and communicates with the electrical grid. Most PV systems installed today are grid-tied systems because of the cost savings and ease of integration. Modern inverters really are amazing pieces of technology that do so many things like tracking the maximum power output point of the solar array to generate peak efficiency out of the system.
PV has been around a lot longer than many people think. In 1880, Charles Fritts developed the first seleniumbased solar electric cell. Albert Einstein offered an explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905. By 1954, Bell Laboratories developed a silicon-based cell that achieved 6% efficiency, which is about 1/3 of what modern solar cells achieve. By the early 1960’s, PV systems were being installed on most satellites and spacecraft and continue to power deep-space exploration. The latest technology in solar makes the systems more powerful, efficient, and affordable than ever.
The silicon cells manufactured from one ton of sand can produce as much electricity as burning 500,000 tons of coal.
Thermal solar
Thermal solar works just like you think it does. By using the sun’s energy to heat water, we can create a resource that accounts for about 25% (and up) of your home’s energy needs. Thermal can also be used to heat your home with a radiant heating system where hot water is run through pipes generally located in the floor. The heat radiates out of the pipes and fills your room with comfortable warmth. No more cold floors on bare feet issues. Great for bathrooms and other tile floor surfaces, and works on all flooring...even carpet.
The collectors are the main innovation in modern thermal systems. With more insulation, better collector plates, and even the innovation of high-efficiency tube systems, solar thermal is a very viable resource even in parts of the country that you may not have thought could generate solar energy. Thermal systems are also much more affordable than PV systems and with the 30% federal tax credit, you can convert to solar hot water for far less than you thought.
Why should I go solar?
There are so many reasons that utilizing solar energy is a smart decision for your home or business. A solar system adds value to your building while providing pollution-free and tax-free energy for you and possibly someof your neighbors much of the time. Energy independence and terrorism and the middle east is an issue that has come into more focus over the last few years. Solar energy can easily be utilized to produce our own energy right here at home in our own dwellings. No nasty refining plants, no tanker spills. Just glass, aluminum, and silicon. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.
Your system can pay for itself in as few as 7 years and continue to provide free energy at an ever increasing savings to you for the next 25 years. Nothing else you can do to your home will actually MAKE YOU MONEY over it’s life. Nothing.
And our country is focused on helping us to put these energy systems on our buildings. Federal and state tax incentives as well as energy provider rebates exist that make the ROI very attractive as an investment. Depending on your install price and location, your system can pay for itself in as few as 7 years and continue to provide free energy at an ever increasing savings to you for the next 25 years. Nothing else you can do to your home will actually MAKE YOU MONEY over it’s life. Nothing. These systems have also been shown to actually help you sell your home or building when the time comes.
Energy independence, pollution, energy costs, patriotism, the new energy economy - I am going to touch on our 2 major energy sources in this country, oil and coal. I think are key to the world-wide push for renewable energy resources. The best part is that renewable energy can work in conjunction with both oil and coal as a power source.
Solar Energy and Oil
Solar energy and oil can transport and heat our future together with much less pollution.
For as long as most of us can remember, it has been easier and cheaper to import our main fuel source (oil) from other countries and turn it into everything from gas, to heating oil, to plastic. Just plastics needs alone insures that we will always need oil. But as the world has gotten smaller, oil prices have fluctuated wildly, while multinational oil companies have made multi-billions, and oil-profit funded terrorism has gone global. Quite quickly seemingly, it has become very obvious that we cannot depend on other countries to supply our energy needs. So we need to make sure we search for oil from our own reserves. Nobody can argue that. The problem lies in the fact that oil is dirty and polluting in all phases of its development and consumption, and one accident can destroy entire ecosystems in a heart beat. Plus, ALL fossil fuels are a finite resource. As supplies fall and demand continues to rise, the cost of oil is going to continue to rise. A radiant heating system can supply your home with all the natural cozy heat your home will ever need without burning and heating oil, without dry and noisy forced air. A 60 mile range electric/gas hybrid car that you can charge off of your PV system could get 80% of the people in this country to work and back without ever burning one ounce of oil. Just imagine how that small adjustment to our lives could change the world. Amazing.
Solar Energy and Coal
Solar and coal are great partners in powering the future of the country. Solar energy generates peak energy at exactly the same time as peak demand, which is the middle of the day during the summer. This allows energy companies the flexibility to not build what is called a peak demand plant that operates only 20 percent of the year but requires resources and maintenance all year long.
Coal is a great national resource. It is cheap and it has powered our country since we started. It powers huge power plants that supply almost all of our electric grid energy. Coal is going nowhere anytime soon. Coal is dirty though. And the mining process again destroys entire ecosystems. Burning coal is also dirty. The costs to collect just part of the polluting emissions is huge. So this is where the myth of the high cost of solar energy comes to a quick end. The cost of producing this next generation of coal plants is going to be staggering. Plus, the coal industry has enjoyed decades of huge government incentives that have kept the true cost of coal artificially low. So, if it costs the same, and one energy source doesn’t create ANY pollution, why wouldn’t you use that as much as possible? The best part is that solar and coal are already working in conjunction to supply our energy needs in tandem.
What are the incentives?
By now, you probably know about the 30% tax credit, but many other incentives from individual states and energy providers exist.
Visit our incentives page and navigate to your state to see a full list.