subject: Government Still Not Putting Enough Effort Into Solar Energy [print this page] Government Still Not Putting Enough Effort Into Solar Energy
Future generations will probably wonder why we focused so much on generating power from petrol fuels when we have practically an endless source of energy available in the sun. This nation has had solar energy technology, in some form or other, since the mid eighteen hundreds. But, the government still is not putting enough effort into supporting and promoting the development and use of solar power.
The United States Solar Energy Technologies Program which will expire in 2011 is funded, but not enough to push us to the front of the line of countries investing in solar energy. The huge downside is that our neglect is letting other countries get ahead of us in what could be a dominant form of energy in the next decade or so.
When the sun is high in the sky on a hot day, you can virtually feel the sun's energy pulsating through your body and warming everything around you. And then, in the evening, the brick walls and concrete pavement slowly gives up the heat that it has collected during the day.
In the perfectly developed solar town, a great deal of that energy would be captured and utilized to heat the home, air condition the home, and power the electrical appliances of homes. Captured solar energy could also be used to power our electric cars, power our street lights, heat our swimming pools, and even give excess energy back to the electric company.
If we, as a society, would adopt the widespread use of solar power, not only would our air be cleaner, but global warming would slow down, and our energy bills would dramatically decrease as well. And while, it might not be Utopia, it would be nice.
A number of people have decided to not wait for the government to act, and instead have begun to take matters into their own hands. They are doing what they can to personally move themselves off the grid and towards a solar based ecosystem. And some of the technology has advanced so much that many of their neighbors don't even know that that their home is solar based.
For instance, when solar panels were first introduced to the marketplace, you could always identify a solar home by the characteristic solar roof panels that nearly all solar installation companies utilized. And, those solar panels, which at one time were so costly, are now so inexpensive that they are typically one of the cheaper parts of the installation process. In fact, the reason that many homeowners haven't yet made the transition to solar power is that they hate the look of solar panels atop of their house.
Today, however, you can buy shingles that have actual solar collectors embedded inside them. And, unless you look closely, you can't tell them from normal shingles. And not only are they beautiful looking, but they are also much more efficient than those solar panels of years past giving you more energy per unit.
As you might expect, the solar shingles are more expensive that ordinary, non-solar shingles, but not by much. And when you add in the fact that many states will give the homeowner and businesses tax breaks and vouchers for installing solar technology, they are much more affordable than you might think.
