Part I
Playing the Energy Game
In this part . . .
You may be ready to go solar, but first you need to take a look at how you use energy in your household and how your energy bill is measured and calculated. Solar investments can save you money and make your life more comfortable, but part of the process is understanding exactly what types of solar investments you should make â and how big they should be. Here, I show you how to systematically dissect your energy bills and how to look around your house to find all kinds of energy conservation measures to reduce your energy bill even before you invest in solar.
Chapter 1
Helping the World through Solar Power
In This Chapter
Investing in solar energy
Looking at the benefits of solar power
Solving for challenges
Producing energy can be dirty work. Carbon emissions, coal slurry, nuclear waste, and other pollutants can wreak havoc on the environment, cause health problems, and make people hopping mad. And many energy sources are in limited supply, particularly fossil fuel sources that have traditionally dominated the worldâs energy usage. Not only does that drive prices up, but it also leads to political conflicts when people decide theyâre not willing to share. Youâre probably not ready to go completely unplugged, but you do want to play your humble part to save the environment, help the country become less dependent on foreign energy sources, and save money. Tall order? Maybe not. Above all the energy sources in use today, solar shows the most long-term promise for solving the worldâs energy problems. Solar power works well on both large and small scales, and it is possible to start using solar power right away. You can start small, and work your way up.
On any given day, 35,000 times the total amount of energy that humans use falls onto the face of the Earth from the sun. If people could just tap into a tiny fraction of what the sun is providing each day, society would be set. Of course, some problems do crop up, but theyâre solvable, and going solar can be well worth the effort.
To understand the role solar energy can play in your home, you need to have a good understanding of where your own energy comes from, where itâs used, and how much pollution each of your energy sources generates. In this chapter, I explain how solar fits into your day-to-day life â and why itâs such a good energy option.
Looking for Sustainable Energy
The words renewable and sustainable are being knocked around quite a bit, and both are strongly associated with energy conservation. Renewable forms of energy constantly replenish themselves with little or no human effort. Solar energy is just one example â no matter how much you use, the supply will never end (okay, it may end after billions of years, but your using solar power wonât make the sun burn out any faster). Other examples of renewables include firewood, water (through hydroelectric dams), and wind power. Note, however, that firewood is notoriously polluting; the term renewable does not necessarily imply good environmentalism. Firewood also has another potentially severe drawback in that people go out into forests and cut down trees, often without much thought to the overall health of the forest (a good example of not seeing the forest from the trees).
To make sure that resources last, humans need to focus on conservation, recycling, environmental restoration, and renewable and alternative energy sources. Sustainability is commonly associated with such a holistic approach to personal lifestyle. Not only are sustainable forms of energy renewable, but they also have the ability to keep the planet Earthâs ecosystem up and running, in perpetuity. Sustainable energy, such as solar, is nonpolluting to the greatest extent possible. The basic notion behind sustainable energy sources is that by their use, society is not compromising future generationsâ health and well-being, nor their ability to use their own sustainable resources to any less capacity than we have in the past. Who can argue with this very fundamental version of the Golden Rule?
Understanding Why Solar Is King
Solar power has historically been more expensive than other energy options, but thatâs changing fast because of government investment in technologies, as well as the simple fact that many more people are investing in solar, which results in economies of scale. Solar energy equipment increases your financial standing in basically three ways:
Savings on your monthly utility bills.
Appreciation of your homeâs value.
Predictability in your utility bills for years ...
