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Energy is one of the hottest topics of twenty first century because development of nations today is gauged from the way they have progressed technologically. With the advent of modern machinery a novel source of energy was found in the form of petroleum, coal, kerosene oil and many other such derivatives.
However the excessive use of fossil fuel in industry and vehicles pollutes the atmosphere resulting in acid rain and many respiratory diseases. It is for this and other reasons that a growing number of people are becoming more and more interested in the use of alternate, environment friendly energy resources. This quest has pushed us to look beyond the norm and what could be the better option other than solar power itself.
Here are five reasons why we should use Solar Power are as follows:
Site of production
Solar energy is natural source of energy from which all organisms derive their energies. In this respect it is like a large battery charger which is ceaselessly feeding us all. Limitations of other forms of energy is that they can be produced at local sites or at specific points of globe but this source of energy can be utilized wherever light of sun can reach. It can be used to cook food, to light up a bulb, to run electricity in domestic as well as commercial use.
Source
Source of solar energy is Sun. Our sun is approximately 150 million kilometers from earth. Only a very low amount of sun energy reaches earth yet energy acquired in a single minute is enough to power earth for one complete year if we could find a way to properly utilize it.
Soil affectivity
Method of soil disinfection by solar energy was first described by Katan in 1976. The method basically involves mulching with polyethylene during hot weather which would kill most phytogens owing to achievement of lethal temperatures.
On the other hand, solar cell can be used to generate electric field in some cadmium contaminated soils for its removal. Utility of solar energy was found to be comparable to conventional power supply.
Eco friendly
It could be stated that solar energy is matchless when talk of green house gas emission is there. There is no more addition of carbon dioxide in atmosphere to cause global warming. Or havoc of Acid rains.
No depletion in the source
Solar Power is forever there. It is natural. It has been used in ancient times for drying; heating .now with knowledge of basic underlying processes we can use it for maximum human use and benefit. We only have to search ways and means of utilizing it. Keeping in view that, more than 2 billion of people in world are living without availability for electricity. This is their only hope.
A solar power system generally consists of solar cells or the photovoltaic cells, connected to it is the photovoltaic regulators, then the lead-acid batteries, the inverter and finally the generator or the grid.
To any average house the installation of this system may be a bit costly, because, the present cost of installation works out to be $10,000 for the production of 1 kilowatt home solar system. To install such a system it takes hardly 1-2 days and the system can start working soon after.
The interesting fact is that though the initial installation cost may seem to be high the advantages of installation are many. Specifically speaking, a 1 kilowatt per hour power producing panel requires only about 100 square feet of area and this area can be the roof top also, so no special location is required. This produces electric energy of around 1600 Kilo Watt Hour per year during sunny days and 250 KWH in cloudy days where the suns heat is available for 5.5 hours and 2.5 hours daily respectively.
Another important factor in solar power is that we can use it directly to heat water thereby reducing the cost of electricity for heating water. It is observed that in a year the amount of electricity used to heat water in US alone works up to 30% of the total power consumed, when we use solar heaters this cost is completely free.
The solar electricity can be used for different purposes like cooking too which reduces our dependency on other fossil fuels. When we use a back up system the electricity can be obtained continuously and can also be stored in batteries for emergency use.
There are some useful tips to harness higher energy from the incident rays. These are:
• Orientation – the orientation of panels is very important because it decides the amount of rays incident on the panels. In the northern hemisphere the orientation should be towards the south and vice versa in the southern hemisphere.
• Location – the panel has to be located in a shade free area where suns radiation can reach. Roof tops are ideal. The amount of energy actually harnessed depends wholly on the location. Hence a proper weather study helps to tap higher energy.
• Number of panels – the number of panels to produce 1KWH of electric energy is about 10; this number can be increased if and when necessary.
Though the initial costs are high the cost of power after installation is completely free. This reduces the entire electricity bill thereafter. It reduces the cost of burning of 170lbs of coal and 300lbs of CO2 from being emitted in to the atmosphere in a year.
Thus we are able to get high quality, best free energy and no bills.
