Can Increased Consumption of Solar Energy Benefit Us?
If solar energy
is cheap, and if it becomes more readily accessible
cost-wise and technology-wise, can increased
consumption of solar energy benefit us then?
Most probably it will, because then there
will be less strain on the fossil fuel production
industries to churn out fossil fuel supplies,
less emissions from fossil fuel usage, and
heightened awareness of the many benefits
that solar energy usage can bring if more
and more people use it.
In 2006, the numbers for global photovoltaic
installations reached a soaring 1,744 megawatts
for a sharp increase from just 1,460 megawatts
in 2005. Those statistics become even more
remarkable considering back in 1985, the demand
for solar installation per year stood at just
21 megawatts. This shows us that people are
starting to listen to solar energy proponents
and that it might be possible for majority
of the global population to make a switch
to solar energy systems either partially or
wholly within this century alone.
Another reason that the growth in demand for
solar energy and solar energy systems gives
us hope is that the solar energy industry
is becoming a vital part of the global economy.
Many people now make a living in this business,
which is in itself an exciting new field to
be involved in. It is not hard to imagine
the psychic rewards that come with working
in a relatively emission-free energy industry
like solar energy, because you know that you
are helping people, the environment and yourself
all at the same time. That probably makes
getting up in the morning a more pleasant
prospect for the people who work in solar
energy production, and solar energy systems
development.
It would not hurt us much if everyone in the
world were to switch totally to solar energy
use in this century alone – after all,
the earth can get enough energy in just one
hour of exposure to the Sun to meet the energy
consumption needs of the entire global population
for an entire year. No other source of renewable
energy can boast of that type of potential
as solar energy can.
One potential problem that could limit the
growth of the solar energy industry is the
need to find supplies for raw materials of
the silicon solar cell modules. In any business,
lack of raw materials is always a detriment
to business, and the solar energy industries
are also businesses. This in turn can affect
access by ordinary consumers to solar energy
systems (even home solar energy systems) because
inadequate raw material supplies tends to
drive up overall costs of manufacturing, resulting
in higher costs of the final product. Solar
energy systems tend to be very expensive already,
so it is very important that prices of the
systems and products be reduced to affordable
levels so that more people will be inclined
to switch to solar energy usage.
Actually, for current fossil fuel emissions
to go down to a very great degree, it would
be great if Canada, Saudi Arabia, China, Russia,
and the US were to switch to solar energy
production and usage rather than dependence
on fossil fuels to power their economies.
These five countries are responsible for the
highest energy production numbers in the world,
as of 1999. And conventional fossil fuel processing
to make energy is the leading source of harmful
emissions that contribute to global warming.
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