The Benefits of Solar Energy
There are a lot of benefits of solar energy, and if you do it right, it’s surprisingly easy to start.
A few months ago, I succeed in taking my business solar (as I wrote about in my earlier Going Solar post). I’m not fully off-the-grid in the rest of my life yet, but hope to be at some point in the future. In the meantime, however, even just having my business powered by solar is a good feeling. And I’ve found that there are quite a few benefits of solar energy. Even if you’re not ready to go completely “off-the-grid,” there are numerous options for adding small amounts of solar into your power system. Offsetting your grid-power usage with solar is not only more eco-friendly, but it’s pretty easy on the wallet too (and honestly who doesn’t dig that?)
Reduced Costs Are Benefits of Solar Energy
Obviously the best part about going green by going solar (other than making the environment cleaner of course) is the money you save on electric bills! Solar is FREE energy (after the initial purchase of the panels and the power box). And if you’re running yourself entirely on solar power, then you have no electric bills at all. Those solar panels will pay for themselves in a pretty short amount of time.
Going solar also makes you aware of each watt you’re using, and once you see the power you’re using, you automatically become very energy conscious. It takes very little trouble to cut your power usage, and make it easy to run yourself entirely on solar power. Even if you’re only partially solar, you still get the benefits of solar “consciousness” and will probably find yourself wasting less electric and therefore saving on your electric bills.
Solar Energy is Better for the Planet
Going solar has a been a long time goal of mine, because it’s a much more eco-friendly power source. So many of the standard power sources are so bad for our beautiful planet. Natural gas supports Fracking. There’s no such thing as “clean coal.” And nuclear power is not the “clean” energy it’s often touted as. (Sure, it burns clean, but all that used nuclear fuel is anything but clean).
Personally I don’t like the idea of my energy usage contributing to anymore disasters like Fukushima, Chernobyl, and Three Mile Island, so solar was very attractive to me. (Plus one of the biggest benefits of solar instead of nuclear, is that if we’re not powering our homes with nuclear power plants, then there’s no excuse for anyone to have nuclear that could later be used for nefarious reasons either. – Talk about taking a small step toward making a big difference!)
Solar is a Limitless Energy Source
Another of the great benefits of solar energy is that it is literally a limitless energy source. The Goal Zero products I use for my solar have the option to connect multiple solar panels and power packs together to give yourself faster charge times and longer lasting power. If you have multiple packs, you can be using one power pack, while having another charging off the sun.
That’s the beauty of power sources like wind and solar, there’s no finite amount. They are literally infinite. You can charge multiple power packs with the same amount of sun that it takes to charge one. The benefits of solar are that you can’t ever “use it up.” The sun doesn’t get less if you use it. If you have the gear to absorb it, there’s always plenty to absorb. Gather enough, and you can have enough to get you through all the cloudy days we have up here in a NY winter. (I’ve also been thinking about investing in a pedal or hand crank generator to keep my power packs topped off on the days when there’s no sun. I’ll let you know how that goes when I get around to trying it.)
Even if you don’t go fully solar, powering part of your life on solar gives you smaller electric bills. And since the sun is just there for the taking, why not use it. Have you been thinking about going solar? Let me know in the comments below. And if you’re someone who’s already gone solar, if you have any helpful tips for those who want to, post them below. Let’s make this world a brighter place (pun intended, we are talking about going solar after all…)
Written By Amber Reifsteck, The Woodland Elf
The information provided on this website is for general information purposes only. If you choose to rely on the information on this website, you do so at your own risk and you assume responsibility for the results. (Full disclaimer here)
Enjoy this post? Click here to subscribe by email and get new posts delivered to your inbox.Ads by Google
