Published on July 8th, 2007 | by Stephanie Evans

What are the Benefits of Solar Power?

The two most obvious benefits of solar power, and what is so alluring about it, are the fact the sun shines every single day for free, and that solar power panels generate zero CO2 emissions.

The sun generates more than 10,000 times the amount of energy the entire world consumes annually. This vast potential for “free” energy remains greatly untapped as our dependence on fossil fuels has hindered funding and research into solar energy as a potential substitute. Most of the criticism of solar power is based on this reality; the technology is simply lagging. However, our technology tends to progress proportionally to the amount of money we invest in that technology. With concerns over dependence on fossil fuels and CO2 emissions growing, the funding and research into alternative energy sources is growing as well. One of the benefactors of this increased awareness is solar energy.

Fossil fuels create large amounts of CO2, and CO2 contributes to what is commonly called global warming. Yet, alternative energy sources such as solar power do not create CO2 emissions. Solar power is a source of “clean energy” or “green energy,” and coupled with its abundance there is ample reason for us to continue to explore solar energy not just as an alternative energy source, but as a potential foundation of energy production.

Solar power presents so many benefits it is foolish to discount it now because it is “too expensive” or “impractical”. All those old enough to remember when CD players came out remembers they were gigantic and cost a small fortune. However, once people caught onto to the benefits of CD’s the technology exploded and the cost dropped significantly. The point being, the more people push for solar power and alternative energy sources, the more money governments and businesses will invest in the technology.