Advantages of Solar Energy

Lets look at the advantages of solar energy systems. Every day, the sun shines and sends to Earth an abundant supply of clean, natural and renewable energy. In fact, one single hour's worth of sunshine can power our entire world for a whole year!!

All we need to do is figure out how to affordably harness this energy, which is a tremendously worthwhile endeavor because of the enormous benefit to us all.

As we all know, energy prices are volatile and most likely will continue to be. In the United States, we have gone from $10 per barrel oil and $1.00 per gasoline in the early 1990?s to a high of $147 per barrel oil and in some states almost $5.00 per gallon gasoline more recently.

Heating oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels follow the up and down trends of the petroleum markets. Since petroleum fuels are in dwindling supply, and are not a long term, sustainable energy source, it only makes sense to look into a source of energy that is less volatile and somewhat more reliable.

It's also important to know that many electricity-producing industries use fossil fuels to produce the electricity to sell to you. Many state and federal rules keep these industries from raising and dropping their rates immediately, so often times we do not see a dramatic change in our electricity rates when compared to what the oil markets are doing. However, due to the expectation that energy costs will eventually go back up again, some states are now allowing an increase in electricity rates.

You may be among the fortunate few who are paying only 8 cents per killowat hour now, but there are those in many states who are now paying from 12-15 cents per kwh now or who will soon be paying that. There has been talk in some parts of the electricity-producing industry that an eventual rate of 25-30 cents per kWh will be needed just to maintain their ability to deliver that power to us.

Imagine going from paying an average household electric bill of $150 a month to almost $500 a month for the same energy! It is becoming more obvious to individuals that there must be a two-tiered approach including energy conservation and the use of some form of renewable energy. The solar energy advantages at this point seem to be the best choice for a sustainable and renewable energy source for most households.

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