Solar Energy Advantages
Solar Energy Advantages
Every day we hear about how great solar energy is, but do we know why? Solar energy provides an incredible source of power – for your home, office, cabin, RV or anywhere you need energy that can provide a sunny location.
What really are the solar energy advantages? Below you will find a list of the benefits of solar energy, although there are many more.
Advantage #1 – Clean energy
Solar energy is completely clean; it has no negative effect on the environment and produces no greenhouse gas emissions. Besides being clean, solar energy is totally renewable, at least for the next 5 billion years or so. On the other hand, most of conventional electricity is created using coal-fired power plants which create millions of tons of carbon dioxide each year, causing irreparable damage to the earth, and we probably only have about 50 years of this type of energy remaining.
Advantage #2 – Free energy
“Free” may be a bit misleading, as there is certainly a large investment in equipment involved to get a home or cabin up and running with solar energy. However, once everything is installed all the energy created is yours, and you can even give excess energy to your electric company to build up a credit for dark or rainy days. It may take a few years for the investment to pay for itself, but after that point you are not paying anything for electricity.
Advantage #3 – Reliable
As long as the day is bright you will have electricity, meaning that you never have to worry about power outages. If you add some batteries to your system then you will even have energy to draw upon when it is dark or very cloudy.
Advantage #4 – Portable
Wherever you go you can take solar power with you. In your car you can mount a small panel to use to charge your cell phone or run electronics. In your RV a few panels can be mounted on the roof to give you power for lights and small appliances and in your home or cabin you can have as many solar panels you require to run everything you need. If you happen to move the system can be easily dismantled and taken with you to a new location.
Advantage #5 – Low Maintenance
Once your solar panel and other components are installed, there is very little maintenance needed. As long as you get a good rain once in a while your panels should remain clean, so all you will need to do is routinely check the connections and wires to ensure they are functioning properly.
Advantage #6 – Easy Installation
Putting in a solar panel and wiring it to your house is incredibly easy, but a licensed electrician should be hired. As long as you can safely mount the panel in a sunny location and follow instructions to connect the wires and the rest of the components you will have solar power in no time.
Advantage #7 – Increased House Value
If you end up selling your home in the future, then you will likely find that you will get a much better selling price if your home is equipped with solar power. New home buyers are very interested in homes with solar power systems already installed, as it saves them the cost of having to do it themselves. It is estimated that for every $1000 of electricity created per year by a solar panel system a home’s value increases by $20,000 – that’s not pocket change!
There are many other solar energy advantages that are not listed here, but these are certainly the biggest and most important ones.
