News about Solar, Wind and alternative green power technologies

Solar power is just an incredible way to power our world. If we could find methods of tapping into the sun’s energy for ALL our power requirements, the world would be a much safer and cleaner place. We know the sun is a powerful source of renewable power but only one hour of the sun’s energy is enough to provide for our global power needs for an entire year! That is an unbelievable statistic since right now we are barely scratching the surface of this natural resource.

Compared to what the world is currently dependent on for energy consumption, solar power is renewable and quite clean. It is the perfect method of energy production for sustaining a healthy population and environment.

Solar power is expensive to put in place and for this reason, we do not see more enormous solar power facilities being constructed. They are far more costly to develop than other means of power production, save for nuclear power. It is because of this daunting expense that consumers would end up paying out their share of the difference in cost. There is hope though as solar becomes more popular the cost of developing the technology is dropping and thus the expense of solar power facilities is falling with it.

Another drawback of solar power is the incredible amount of land required to construct the solar power plants. Huge amounts of acreage are necessary so the desert lands are the perfect setting for these structures. The desert presents its own problem due to the population being centered so far away. This means that transmission lines are required in huge numbers and it further increases costs. The environmental issues raised because of the power line trajectory would likely mean regulatory approval and failure is a possibility.

The large solar power plants are great for daytime power generation but the evening hours mean zero production. Solar energy currently is lacking an efficient means to store energy though many unique methods are being evaluated. The top minds in science are working to perfect this dilemma and there is visible light in this particular tunnel that will alter solar power generation immeasurably in the near future.

Currently the best and most efficient way to utilize solar power is to install smaller solar facilities within communities inhabited by energy users. An education process is necessary to promote solar power usage and even offering rebates to users to get them involved in the solar power experience. The majority of people are excited about eventually “going green” and want to do what they can to assist with saving the planet, etc. for their children. At present, there is a collective realization that we must do more as individuals to safeguard the world’s precious resources. The more people who get on board with renewable energy solutions such as solar power, the more it will have a viral effect, and that goes for nations as well.

Not only does solar energy production run cleanly, it is safer for wildlife than fossil fuel or even wind power. The danger to birds with wind is well document as the birds get their wings clipped by huge propellers. Fossil fuels cause so much environmental damage from oil spills to drain pools injuring water fowl and polluting the food and water sources for animals. People suffer from this pollution with lung problems, allergies and complications for asthma sufferers. The asthma diagnosis rate has skyrocketed from previous years.

In the United States, the population uses more than twenty five percent of all global energy yet it accounts for just five percent of the world’s inhabitants, so this is huge utilization of finite resources. Compare that with the approximately two billion people in the world who do not have ANY electricity and you begin to realize how big a problem we have in the western world. Solar power usage would go a long way in alleviating the problem with America’s energy needs as well as for the people with no power at all.

The irony is that it is fossil fuel companies that have the wealth and resources to research and develop solar power generating facilities – among other renewable energy resources. Shell Corporation specifically has forecast that within the next thirty years half the planets electrical power requirements will be generated by environmentally friendly means.

Solar power plants are rising steadily in deserts and unused acreage around the world. Solar is the energy solution for that everyone hopes will take a quantum leap forward because of its many positive attributes if only government and private sector industry can pool their resources to overcome the hurdles t faces. Utilizing the sun to power our planet seems like such a natural solution and a healthy way to preserve our future and the planets.