Alternative Energy HQ solar power for homes, wind energy, and bio fuel issues
Solar power for your home is an increasingly attractive alternative to traditional forms of energy, be they grid electricity or burning fossil fuels in the home. There are a number of reasons for this. There are the economic realities of energy production now and in the future. There is the ethical issue of using a non-renewable energy source and a moral issue with regards to the damage that fossil fuels do to the environment. This article will cover some of these issues and cover how solar power for the home addresses some of these issues.
Grid electricity and the use of fossil fuels costs money and this will only go up as the resources that power grid electricity get harder to find. In California, it is estimated that it is cheaper to make solar electricity than it is to use the grid variety. This is hitting people in their collective wallets and purses and causing a search for alternatives. Again in California, there are many incentives to install solar panel into homes. There are even incentives for building companies to pre-install solar panels in homes.
This seems to make a lot of sense. The major benefit of solar power, after initial cost and installation, is that the power that is created is free provided the Sun keeps on shining. The cost to buy and install solar panels is now not so expensive and the incentives and rebates make it more attractive. It also seems that over time the cost of solar power can only go down. The technology will become more efficient and the technology to build solar panels will become cheaper. Contrast this with the cost of finding and extracting fossil fuels. This cost will only go up over time.
Given the finite nature of fossil fuels, solar power and other alternative methods of creating power seem to be far more accepted than the other alternative – nuclear power. The average person in the street is generally uncertain, if not, opposed to nuclear power, given the numerous nuclear accidents that have occurred. Having said this, governments seem to prefer nuclear power because it is more reliable on a large scale than solar power or wind power. However, this is not the case for the individual home. It seems that solar panels on the roofs of suburban homes will soon be a common place site rather than an unusual one.
