Abundant sunshine, no moving parts, no waste, easy to set up anywhere… Let’s take a deep dive into why solar power is better as a source of affordable renewable energy.
Unlimited Sunshine
Energy from the sun is about as close to that proverbial never ending “free lunch” as we can get! Our Sun has been delivering energy to this Earth for billions of years and should be good for another five billion years or so. “Running out” is certainly not going to be a worry for many generations to come. This makes solar one of the most abundant renewable energy sources on the planet and beyond!
The only limits are nighttime and very cloudy days. That’s where a means of storing energy from your solar panels comes in. Even on cloudy days, a large solar panel system can still generate a significant amount of energy.
Clean
There is no reliance on fossil fuels or anything to burn, so there’s zero carbon footprint – no greenhouse gases, no emissions whatsoever. Certainly no water usage is required. Rain water runoff from your panels can even be collected.
There are no waste products to have to manage or cleanup, nor are there any “consumables” you’ll have to keep spending money on. This makes solar a great choice for the conservation of Earth’s precious resources.
So much of our conventional power is still being generated from dirty non-renewable fossil fuels. When you switch to solar, you are using less energy from these “dirty” sources, thus consuming less fossil fuels – thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions. You can benefit the environment one solar panel at a time.
And…
No Moving Parts
There are no moving parts to wear out or otherwise maintain. That means less junk going into our landfills. Most solar installations are stationary with exception of high end systems that automatically track the sun.
As for maintenance, it’s really just keeping your panels clean (which is important!) and making sure your battery storage system is in good health. The electronic stuff like chargers and inverters will last a long time if installed in a safe sheltered place and kept cool.
Your solar electric system will work reliably year round from the hottest days of summer through the cold of winter.
Easy To Set Up
Remember that little science class project of connecting a little solar cell to a toy motor with a propeller on it? You took it out into the sun and the propeller would spin! I had lots of with various solar power electronic experiment kits that Radio Shack sold back in the day. Your first practical solar power system is not that much more complicated – just a bit bigger.
A typical solar electric system will consist of an array of solar panels. There will be some wiring to connect the panels to equipment that stores the energy and coverts it into AC voltage that you can use. All you need to do is find a location that receives the most sun for longest time during the day and set up some solar panels there.
These components are pretty much plug and play. Just run some wiring, snap them all together and you’re in business. On top of that, there are tons of “how to” videos, ideas and information on the web. Myself, I will be contributing my own experiences here on SolarElectricNow.com.
If you ever have to move, you can dismantle your system and take it with you just as easily. Maybe you’re selling your home or property. You can leave your system there for possible increased property value!
Very Affordable
Your first solar power system can start out as a small and inexpensive system that just charges mobile devices and runs a few LED lights. You can even start with a portable all-in-one system that can supply solar power on camping trips.
Many solar power kits are designed let you easily chain components together for increased power capacity. That means your first starter system can basically become a part of your next larger system.
You can grow at your own pace – 100 watts at a time.
As a very general “rule of thumb” for estimating the cost of new solar panels, I would say as of 2019 that prices average out to about $3.70 per watt according to recent data at the DOE funded Berkley Lab website.
Your cost to fully convert a typical single family home to solar electric power may be in $10,000 to $20,000 range after rebates, etc.
It is an investment that pays dividends – Your solar electric system will over time pay for itself and beyond! This will come mainly in the form of savings on your conventional electric bill. Additionally, your city or utility company may even offer incentives or rebates for installing a solar electric system.
Many energy companies re now offering programs to “buy back” solar power that you generate.
You Can Do Solar Anywhere There’s Sun
Roof tops, sunny areas in your yard, apartment balconies, sides of your home that get sun, car ports, other outdoor buildings – you name it! Solar power can be collected just about everywhere the sun shines. Solar panels come in many sizes and shapes to fit in all places. There are even roofing shingles that are actual solar panel units and are stronger than ordinary shingles. These look like an ordinary roof – you would never guess it is generating solar power!
As technology and research continues to evolve, we are able generate more solar power from smaller spaces. Yes, there is even paint that turns any surface into a solar panel!
Well, there are many renewable energy systems and technologies out there. You decide what is better for your own situation. Either way you go, let’s all free ourselves from “electrical bondage”!
The best advantage of all is that there no feeling better than having your own free electrical power and not being at the mercy of “the grid” and electrical power outages.
Be sure to “favorite” SolarElectricNow.com and check back often! Feel free to chime in with comments or questions.
Cheers!
Good post on solar power. I can’t wait for the production costs of solar power panels to come down so that they become attractive to builders all over the planet. Just need to keep funding research and development into solar power materials and technology. I live in an apartment so I can’t have solar panels in my roof but I have some cool “toys” that make use of solar power. One is a cool camping fan that is solar powered. I stick it inside a homemade air conditioner that I take camping in the summer it’s a bucket or ice box with a frozen milk jug of water and the fan sits inside and sucks the cool air out a hole that I drilled in the side. Also have a solar powered battery charger (though it is so SLOW) and a couple arduino powered obstacle avoidance robots that draw some power from a little bitty solar panel lol
Hey there, thanks for your comment. Costs for getting set up with solar electricity have come down considerably. It is somewhere around a few dollars per watt/hour.
Best to you!
Wow! What a great article, I personally agree with you that solar panels are the best way to create power, simply it’s cheap without recurring cost, once installed it does not more attention, it’s also environment friendly, making it more better, it’s very affordable due to different sizes, I would high recommend this post to several friends am sure it will have great impact on them, I really appreciate you for sharing such an informative article, I am sure to subscribe to your newsfeed to learn more about this and other related articles.
Thank you
My pleasure, and thanks for your comment.
Solar panels are pretty low maintenance. One thing you need to do regularly is keep them clean of dust buildup and obstacles.
Best to you!
Hello there this is a nice and educative article, harnessing the power of the sun to produce electricity topic that cannot be overemphasized because according to you it is easy to use, it’s clean you do not need to disturb others with generating sound and also its availability since the sun Josh is a place it can be used what’s the current price of getting solar equipment it’s something that needs to be reviewed because only middle-class people can easily afford solar equipment like panels converters batteries etc, those in the rural and less and lower class people can’t really afford them.thank ones again for this post.
Hi David, thanks for chiming in!
Costs are coming down – I thinks it is around a few dollars per watt initial investment to get started. The beauty of solar is that you start very small and scale up.
Best to you!
I really liked this post Oren and I totally agree with why solar power is better and why we should all be using it. I got into solar power energy many years ago when it was far more expensive than it is today. I really don’t understand why some people cannot see the benefits of solar.
Those who thought I was nuts for getting solar powered lanterns, a solar powered radio, and a solar powered USB charger were so jealous of me when Superstorm Sandy knocked power out for almost two weeks here in the New York City area. Solar power made living much easier.
Now that solar power is much cheaper almost every new building being built here in New Jersey has solar panels on the roof and I keep seeing the local power company building solar farms. I am also looking to get some newer portable multi-port charging panels that are under $80. Do you have any recommendations?
Hi Robert,
Thanks for your comment and experience. Every major disaster is always an eye-opener to why renewables and alternate energy are very important. Yep, people will laugh until disaster strikes and they’re caught with their pant down around their ankles!
It’s good to see many areas offering incentives for installing solar power nowadays.
I like the Goal Zero Yeti portable power stations. They come in several sizes from 50 watts to a few kilowatts.
All the best!
Hi Oren. Thanks for sharing this money saving, clean & stable energy post “Why Solar Power is Better – Sunshine! That’s Why”. Indeed sunshine is a precious gift, a free source of energy available for all in planet earth that can be utilised to provide us clean and stable electric energy. Solar energy is gradually taking over.
Shifts, thanks for you comment! Solar has come a long way. We’re seeing it at work everywhere on Earth and in space away from Earth.
Cheers to a clean future!
The benefits of solar power are numerous and all to our won advantage. Like you have said earlier “Sunshine is unlimited”, it shines forever and ever except at night or raining or snowing periods; it is readily available for use when it shines, it is likely to remain available for billions of years and generations to come, it is very clean, it requires no moving parts, no regular servicing and of course very affordable ; although it may seem expensive, but it will save us a lot of money and provide us with stable electric energy for some number of years
It’s my favourite electric power source.
Good vibes!
Techie, thanks for your comment!
Solar is my favorite by a country mile! Very low maintenance other than keeping your panels clean and free of dust and obstacles.
It’s a modest investment that pays for itself very quickly.
Cheers and best to you!