Can We Teach Ordinary People How Solar Energy Works?
The perception
that it is possible to teach ordinary people
how solar energy works depends on who you
talk to actually. Some may think that solar
energy is a field that anyone can readily
grasp to a certain extent, depending on what
you want ordinary people to do with it. This
means that, if you simply want ordinary people
to adjust to using solar energy systems, that
depends on how intelligent people are when
it comes to using solar energy systems (particularly
home solar energy systems.) The more techie
minded among us may claim that there is more
to solar energy than the ordinary person could
possibly grasp and that to over-simplify solar
energy concepts is to diminish the perception
of the possibilities that come with use of
solar energy and solar energy systems.
Who is right here?
The truth is that both perspectives are partially
correct. The truth is that no one right now
has all the answers regarding issues with
solar energy usage so it would be unreasonable
to expect that we can teach ordinary people
everything there is to know about solar energy
usage. Actually, what we can reasonably expect
from ordinary folk is for them to express
an interest in one particular form of solar
energy system at a time. The world of solar
energy usage was not built in one day, or
one week, or one month – it has been
in development for more than 100 years now
and counting.
That interest expressed by ordinary folk is
actually very crucial if adoption of solar
energy applications is to spread and be propagated.
If a high-minded techie starts talking in
highly technical language about this field,
most likely the eyes of ordinary folk will
glaze over and they will tune out the message
completely. So that is not the best way to
help ordinary folk realize that solar energy
issues are part and parcel now of modern life
in this Earth and that we are all either part
of the solution – or part of the problem.
What are the problems now then that we expect
knowledge about solar energy and its applications
to help solve for us? One issue is sustainable
fuel supply – since solar energy is
free, overwhelmingly abundant, and definitely
useful, then we can reasonably expect sunlight
to serve as a sustainable fuel supply for
people now and in the distant future. Another
issue is to lessen or even halt dependence
on emission-rich fuel supplies (like coal,
wood, and fossil fuels) so that the impending
global climate changes can be halted and even
reversed. This is very important for ordinary
folk to understand. If we can convince people,
for example, to stop idling their car for
extended periods of time and just turn off
the car engine if they are going to wait for
someone, that will help save on quite a bit
of fuel actually. It is the little things
that ordinary folk that when summed up result
in vast effects on the global population.
And this is why it is important to help ordinary
folk understand how adoption of solar energy
can help them, their local community, and
the global community as well – each
in its own turn in the process of life.
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