Solar Energy

Posted under solar power by Ethan Phillips

It is difficult to argue against solar panels being the most important of the technologies that we as a species have developed. Without energy of course, none of the other technologies we have would work, and solar energy is totally clean and renewable. This means that solar power has many advantages of using fossil fuels.

Fossil Fuels

The reason that this is such an important piece of technology of course is because we have to stop using fossil fuels as soon as possible. There are a couple of reasons for this. The main one, in the short term, is due to global warming.

Since the industrial revolution we have been pumping huge quantities of carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. CO2 is a greenhouse gas, meaning that it contributes to the warming of the Earth. With more of it in the atmosphere than there should be, the Earth is warming more than it should.

Nobody really knows what the eventual consequences of this are going to be. There have been some pretty dire predictions though. One is that polar ice caps will melt and this will lead to a dramatic rise in the sea levels. If that were to happen then much of the land that we have now would be underwater.

One of the claims that is being made about climate change is that we may be approaching, or even have gone past, a tipping point after which we won’t be able to avoid some of the consequences of global warming. However if we are going to avoid these things, then we are going to have to start using solar panels so that we get our energy from solar power rather than fossil fuels.

Non-Renewable V Renewable Energy

There is another reason that we have got to start using renewable energy though, although this is more of a long term concern (it is hoped). That is that fossil fuels are, of course, non-renewable forms of energy, meaning that they will run out one day. When that happens, we are going to need an alternative.

So this is another reason that using solar panels in order to generate solar energy is important. If we can’t make a transition to solar power, or some other form of renewable energy, then we will have serious problems. If we do make the transition though, then we shouldn’t have to worry about energy again after that.

The Transition to Renewable Energy

While we have the technology available that we need though, the transition has not happened yet. To be fair, they are relatively new technologies still so it is to be expected that it is going to take a while for them to be able to take over from fossil fuels.

As this is such a crucial issue for the future of the planet, governments have decided that they have to get involved in speeding up the transition. A number of strategies have been employed, but in the UK the main one comes through the feed in tariff, which is available to people using renewable energy to create electricity.

With the feed in tariff, you get paid for all of the solar energy that your solar panels create. You still get to use that energy as well of course. It just means that it makes the use of solar power in to a better investment. This has certainly led to more people getting solar installations, but it has not been enough yet.

All the government can really do though is reorganise where investments are made. The real problem though is that the technology is not really ready to take over entirely from fossil fuels, and the only people who can do anything about that are scientists who design solar cells. But the more funding they get from people getting solar installations now, the more likely it is that that will happen.

If you would like to get involved in the struggle against global warming, go to http://www.solar-energy.co.uk for additional info about solar energy. That is the website where Jacob Turner enjoys writing more articles about renewable energy sources.