The sun offers us a great source of renewable energy; it’s been around for over four billion years and is likely to stay around for another five billion years, during its life it will supply us with a steady stream of energy. You’ve probably heard a lot about solar energy and how efficient it is. Moreover, over the last few years, there have been several moves to see how effectively we can use solar power in an attempt to alleviate the energy crisis that the world faces. So, how does using solar energy fit into the bigger picture of protecting our environment?

Photo: Prowpatareeya

The point is that even small changes in the way we do things go a long way in terms of saving our environment. So, apart from the obvious fact of solar energy is in abundance, people who are environmentally conscious find that using solar energy is an excellent way to help protect the environment. But what makes solar energy an attractive option is the fact that unlike polluting fossil fuels, its availability is not governed by the oil industry, an industry that is riddled with capitalistic individuals, and influenced heavily by several geographic and political factors that invariably affect the supply.

Solar energy transformed into thermal energy can be used to:

• Cook food – Using Solar Cookers
• Heat water – in Houses, Office Buildings, or Swimming Pools.
• Heat closed spaces – a Greenhouse, a House or even other Buildings.

Solar energy can also be converted to electricity by using:

• Photovoltaic devices or “solar cells” that transforms sunlight into electricity. These systems are often used in areas with no regular electricity supply. Some common devices that are sometimes powered by these solar cells include, street lights, road signs and some gadgets like watches and even calculators.
• Solar Power Plants are electricity generating plants that use thermal energy obtained from the suns radiation to super heat liquids that in turn become steam and rotate the turbines of a generator to generate electricity.

Solar Energy on the other hand is a clean environmentally friendly energy resource and a very viable alternative to existing fossil fuels that pollute our lands, water and air, threaten our health, and contribute substantially to global warming.

Photo: Solar Energy World

Solar power rescue the environment. For starters, switching over to solar power would help cut back our dependence on organic fuels. This in itself is a huge saving, reduced hydrocarbons and emissions in the air, mean fresh cleaner air. Some ripple down effects would be, controlling the global warming, less acid rain, no smog the list can go on and on, however, let me elaborate some of the better know environmental benefits.

The most commonly obvious benefit is the fact that by using solar energy we are able to reduce the levels of pollution. As we reduce the amount of fossil fuels being burnt and switch over instead to solar power from our needs there is a corresponding decrease in the amount of pollution produced. Solar electrification in some rural areas also decreases the dependence of the electricity grid and generators that run on petrol or diesel.