The
advantages
of solar power are far-reaching. Although solar power
is an energy source that we have only recently tapped into, it may
easily become the most important energy source of the future. This
is because of the many advantages of solar power.
What are the advantages of solar power?
- It is a renewable resource. We do not have to worry about the
sun ever going away (after all, if it did, we would be dead). Although
it may disappear behind a few clouds for a few minutes, disappear
completely at night, or for hours during the winter, we can always
expect it to come back in full force.
- Solar power is non-polluting. Unlike oil, solar power does not
emit any greenhouse gases or carcinogens into the air. Solar power
is good for the environment (at least, it certainly is not harmful
like other sources of power!)
- The light and energy from the sun is free. In other words, once
you have your solar lights or solar panels set up, etc., you are
not going to have to pay to run them.
- Solar cells require very little maintenance, greatly because there
are no moving parts that must be maintained.
- Solar cells can last a lifetime.
- Solar power is silent powered. The methods used to find and extract
oil can be very noisy. Even wind power can create a lot of noise.
Solar power, on the other hand, is completely silent.
There are so many advantages of solar power that it is amazing that
it is not yet more common. Perhaps the main reason for this is that
at the onset, solar power can be expensive. Solar cells are not cheap.
Of course, technology for this is improving, and it will continue
to improve as the cost of other forms of power increase.
The band, They Might Be Giants know about the power of the sun. In
their song, “Why Does the Sun Shine?” they highlight the
great power that is the sun:
The sun is a mass of incandescent gas
A gigantic nuclear furnace
Where hydrogen is built into helium
At a temperature of millions of degrees…
We need its light
We need its heat
We need its energy
Without the sun, without a doubt
There'd be no you and me
More than ever now, “We need its energy.” With costs
of other types of energy on the rise and the depletion of many types
of fuels, etc., we really need the energy from the sun. “Without
the sun, without a doubt, there would be no you and me.”