Saturday, April 23, 2011

What is meant when we talk about "solar energy"? Why is it important?

While some say it's happening too slow, we must admit we're witnessing a much welcome and desparately needed multi-partisan political (i.e. public, private) response to energy demands across North America.

More importantly there's a growing socio-economic appreciation for renewable energy technologies and the critical role these play for sustainable economic growth ... i.e. JOBS! Predictable PROFIT! Improved GDP!

OK, with that in mind - what do we really mean when we talk about Solar Energy?

Solar Energy has been popularly used to refer to solar panels ... photovoltaic (PV) technology.  This technology uses photons to "excite" electrons which forms the basis producing electricity. 

Solar Energy also encompasses solar hot water. That is, the use of sunlight's thermal energy to heat and ultimately generate hot water for residential and commerical use.

What may surprise many is Solar Energy is also a source of wind and geothermal energy.  That's right!  Solar energy causes uneven heating and cooling across earth's atmosphere and more evenly beneath its surface. 

The air expansion and contraction establishes wind or kinetic energy which is captured by wind turbines.  This wind is due to Solar Energy.  And it's readily available for our consumption.

Geothermal heat is simply the earth's heat.  It is solar energy absorbed by the earth's surface.  For residential and commercial applications it represents a fairly constant 55 degrees F.  Taping into it has enormous benefit.

So when we talk about "Solar Energy" ... we're talking about readily available energy that is brought to us by the sun ... every day.  Most importantly - it's here and available to everyone at an ever decreasing cost.

Solar Energy is smart, profitable, and affordable.  So come join us for the next technology boom!

No comments:

Post a Comment