Solar panel technology is one of the most exciting technologies on the planet right now. Not only is the idea that you could generate the electricity your home needs using roof panels really cool, but also the fact that prices are plummeting. Solar panels aren’t the preserve for NASA anymore – they’re coming for you and me too.
In this post, we’re going to take a look at five reasons to go solar and start generating your electricity from the sun. Check it out below.
1. Solar Is Good For The Environment
Top of the list of reasons to choose solar is that it is good for the environment. When you use solar panels, you’re displacing massive amounts of oil and coal power generation. That means less CO2 and less disruption to the natural environment.
Solar panels don’t last forever – that’s true – but researchers are getting better at making them last for longer. The solar panels of today will continue to generate power for about 25 years, but in the future, it could be 50 years or higher.
2. Solar Is A Less Expensive Energy Source
Renewable energy sources are actually becoming cheaper over the lifetime of their use than regular mains generation. Once you install a solar panel, you don’t need to do anything else. You collect the sun’s rays and convert them into electricity. That’s it.
Even prepaid electricity companies now use renewables like solar. The reason is that they’re so cheap, they can give their customers better deals. It’s a win-win for everyone.
3. Solar Creates Jobs
Solar isn’t an anti-social technology – it is helping to create massive wealth in the economy. Dozens of firms and thousands of installers are now working around the clock to fit out homes and businesses with solar panels. There’s also a massive fabrication operation going on too. Hundreds of factories all over the country make solar panels and deliver them to customers around the world. It’s a booming industry and one that you can support.
4. Solar Panels Improve Security
Hurricane Sandy taught us that having everyone rely on grid energy is a bad idea. When you centralize electricity generation, you increase the risks of a blackout. A single downed power line running from the plant can lead to millions of people going without electricity – sometimes for weeks at a time.
Solar all but eliminates this problem. With distributed energy production, you reduce the risk of a single node failing. With many people generating electricity from their homes, you change the dynamic entirely. You no longer need to worry so much about a single point of failure. Spreading energy generation far and wide increases grid security tremendously.
5. Solar Panels Lose Less Electricity
No electricity generation process is 100 percent efficient. There’s always some loss of the potential energy contained in the fuel. Coal power plants, for instance, only convert about 30 percent of the energy in coal to electricity. They lose the rest in heat. With solar, though, you’re losing less power in transmission. It all goes to homes.
