July 8th, 2009
Quick Guide to Solar Energy
Solar power has become more widespread over the past few years and here are the reasons why:
All our energy comes from the sun. The sun drives the weather systems that turn wind turbines and the water cycle, which power hydroelectric stations. Oil, coal and gas are the remnants of plants that grew thanks to photosynthesis. Generally, people refer to ‘solar energy’ as the technology that allows us to generate power from the sun.
Solar energy basically falls into two categories: solar photovoltaic, for generating electricity and thermal solar, for generating heat.
Solar photovoltaic are the panels that convert sunlight directly into electricity. They are located on the roofs of homes and offices at an installation cost of between £10,000 – £15,000.
Thermal solar panels capture the warmth of the sunlight and use it to heat water. Installation costs around £4,000 and cuts household emissions by around 8%.
Solar technology currently provides only a small proportion of the world’s electricity and heating energy. Hopefully this will change as the panels become cheaper and less energy-intensive to produce therefore becoming affordable as well as more environmentally beneficial.
