Solar power and its uses

Solar power is a form of renewable energy that many of us have come to rely on in recent years. Countries all over the world are using solar power every day to power their homes, offices, and machinery – and today we want to discuss this in more detail. 

Solar power is a great source of energy as it uses the energy from the light of the sun and converts this into electricity for other uses. It is a powerful source of energy and one which does not take up energy from the earths natural resources and this makes it useful as well as sustainable. 

Sustainable energy such as Solar Panels are becoming more and more popular in our homes and offices, and there are many important uses for solar energy to be seen. Today we want to take you through a few of the uses of solar energy in our world. 

Aside from being the source of all life on the planet; solar energy has been used in the natural world since the dawn of time and it continues to be used as a light and heat source for many. From photosynthesis in plants to photovoltaic (PV) cells; it is a diverse energy source to explore this year. 

Here are some of the most popular uses for solar energy and some of the ways you can implement this energy into your life. 

1. Solar Electricity

The first use for solar energy is for electricity – and this is the most popular at the moment. For the last few years, solar electricity has been used in more and more homes and office buildings and will only continue to grow in usage as we move away from traditional fossil fuels.

Growth in PV electricity has been mostly due to the falling price of solar panels – making them more accessible to people for general use. Nowadays you can even choose whether you want to buy or lease solar energy. This is a great way to encourage more sustainable energy and looks to make a big difference to our world. 

2. Solar Water Heating

Solar energy is known for being used as an electricity source, but it can also be used as a way to heat water. Water heating is an important application of solar energy as we use hot water to heat our homes and to shower and bathe. Solar water heaters are installed in the roof of a building and a rooftop cell absorbs sunlight and transfers this to the water tank as heat. They are used in homes but also in public swimming pools to keep the water a steady temperature. 

3. Solar Heating

Space heaters are popular for people working in cold offices, and they can be powered by the sun. Solar space heaters are useful for many applications and are portable for ease of use. Solar space heating systems are used in the home alongside a forced hot air system to heat the home. 

4. Solar Ventilation

Solar ventilation might seem like an odd application – however solar ventilation systems are very useful in public buildings such as stores or offices where lots of people work in close quarters. Solar attic fans are used commonly in an office setting to drive in fresh air throughout a space and rid it of stale air.

These fans are powered by solar energy and will easily cool an area and refresh it without using a ton of power. In the summer in particular this is useful because as we enjoy more sunshine, we also enjoy a highly powered cooking system to keep the home and offices cool and comfortable. 

5. Solar Lights 

After solar panels, solar lights are by far the most popular use for solar energy. Solar lights can come in many forms and are incredibly useful for bringing light into a space without using energy from your main plug sockets. Energy lights have solar panels either on top of the light itself or as a separate pad at the end of a string.

They can be used for solar fairy lights in the house or garden, for solar lanterns that add light to the border or flowerbeds, or solar motion sensing lights for security on the side of the home. These applications are useful and they often provide a huge amount of light without the need for a sunny day or an exterior electricity source. 

6. Portable Solar

It is so important in the modern world for us to be able to carry things from one place to the next. It is important for us to be able to carry the world in our pockets from our phones to our tablets – connecting to work and the world in any setting. Portable solar energy is a super important application of solar energy and it allows you to take a battery pack with you on the go that is powered by sunlight.

It means that you never have to worry about running out of battery on your phone because you can simply use this to power your life constantly. It is also important to note that Japan is currently researching how to add solar technology into our clothes to help power devices on the go. This could be a real game-changer as we essentially would become our own batteries. 

7. Solar Transportation

We all know about electric cars and vehicles – but have you thought about solar powered ones? Technology in solar power is rapidly increasing and the power we can gain from the sun is ever growing. Harnessing energy from the sun to power our cars and public transport is something that has been researched for some time – and the implication of this could change the way our world works all together.

Being able to power our cars by the sun rather than fuel will change the gloves market and it will also allow us to save our precious natural resources. Solar powered vehicles are already being tested with applications in planes and buses already active; and it will be interesting to see where this goes later on and how it develops. 

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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