Energy efficiency is all the rage, these days. There’s a good reason for that, of course. From the rapidly rising prices of almost all consumer goods to the fact that a lot of sources of energy give off carbon emissions, more and more people have turned their attention to solar power.
What is it though, and how does it work? Is it worth hopping on the hype train now, or should we hold off? This article seeks to answer those questions, and hopefully a little more, too. For now, it’ll help to know that it tends to work best in areas that get a lot of sun, as you can read about here: https://sites.energycenter.org/solar/homeowners/learn-about-solar. A great example of that is California, especially in the Sacramento area.
What is it?
To put it simply, solar power is energy that’s harvested from the UV (ultraviolet) rays that shine down on us from the sun. So, it’s taking sunlight and then turning that into energy. It’s pretty simple, really, and there isn’t much that consumers need to know about it beyond that.
How it works is also a bit complicated, so you don’t need to worry too much about the specifics. Just know that most of the time, the energy is gathered via solar panels of some shape or form. There are even small garden lights that have small solar panels in them so that they’ll absorb the sun’s energy during the day and glow at night.
The panels themselves are often called “PV” panels if you’ve ever heard of those. That’s because one of the internal mechanisms is the “photovoltaic” cell put into each panel. All of this is to say that if you’re looking to get solar energy in Sacramento, you’ll likely need to get some PV panels installed for your home. Often, they go on the roof.
Is it Worth it?
The biggest question that comes up in relation to solar energy is whether or not it’s worth it for the average consumer. Obviously, to some extent, this is going to be something that’s up to the individual. After all, if you’re not in a sunny place, it probably wouldn’t be. Thankfully, here in Sacramento, that isn’t really a problem.
What probably confuses people, though, is the way that their energy bill will work following the addition of PV panels. Essentially, what happens is that you get credits towards that bill based on how much energy the panels have collected. You can read a bit more about how that works on this page.
As far as a main takeaway goes, though, there are a few things to think about before you decide for or against going with solar power. Obviously, the first thought for most people should be about whether or not it’s really worth it for them given the expenses involved versus how much light their panels will be absorbing. Where it’s cloudy, there may be other, better solutions. However, as was mentioned before, California is usually pretty sunny.
Thankfully, as far as sustainable sources of energy go, it’s hard to get better than solar. The sun is going to keep burning for billions of years. We aren’t really going to have to worry about when that happens, so in the meantime, why not utilize it as the valuable energy source that it is?
Now, it’s true that not everyone who goes for solar energy is doing so because of the fact that it’s a renewable resource. However, for a lot of us out there, it’s certainly a plus. Unfortunately, a lot of other types of energy, especially from fossil fuels, aren’t going to last forever.
That’s without even getting into the topic of climate change, which can admittedly get controversial. You don’t have to believe in it to know that fossil fuels are a limited natural resource, meaning that eventually we will run out. So, having other sources of energy to fall back on is a really big deal. While there is some cost associated with getting PV panels, it’ll pay for itself soon enough thanks to the money you’ll be saving on your electrical bills.