With electricity prices going up, new worries concerning global warming increasing, and the new solar technologies becoming available at such attractive prices, making electricity from the sun is certainly one of the smarter ways to help both the environment and the bank account.

The Earth receives 174 petawatts (PW) of solar radiation at the upper atmosphere. While traveling through the atmosphere, 6% (10.44 PW) of the incoming solar radiation (insolation) is reflected and 16% (27.84 PW) is absorbed. Average atmospheric conditions (clouds, dust, pollutants) further reduce insolation by 20% (34.8 PW)through reflection and 3% (5.22 PW) through absorption. What is left over (95.7 PW) is still a vast amount of energy that is available on a daily basis to be harnessed and put to work. Using the solar energy we will have available on a more or less permanent basis, we can use that solar power to heat our homes, heat cooking equipment, and bathing water or a number of things. As the growing energy issues continue to impact energy prices, solar power becomes more and more attractive.

The opportunity to convert your home appliances, such as your hot water, outdoor pool, refrigerator, and so on has never been better. Within a short period of time, especially if proposed governmental legislation to counter global warming is put into place, the price of electricity generated from coal, natural gas, and oil will be increasing at an alarming rate.

Some people consider our reliance on oil, gas, and coal powered electricity to be worrisome enough to be suggesting a massive new project to convert a large percentage of electrical generation in North America into a solar powered solution.

"High prices for gasoline and home heating oil are here to stay. The U.S. is at war in the Middle East at least in part to protect its foreign oil interests. And as China, India and other nations rapidly increase their demand for fossil fuels, future fighting over energy looms large. In the meantime, power plants that burn coal, oil and natural gas, as well as vehicles everywhere, continue to pour millions of tons of pollutants and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere annually, threatening the planet.

Well-meaning scientists, engineers, economists and politicians have proposed various steps that could slightly reduce fossil-fuel use and emissions. These steps are not enough. The U.S. needs a bold plan to free itself from fossil fuels. Our analysis convinces us that a massive switch to solar power is the logical answer."
Check out their solar plan here to read more on...

The market for solar photovoltaic panels, which are cells made of crystalline silicon and used to turn sunlight into electricity, has grown by roughly 42% annually since 2002. The reasons for you to consider being part of this growth are very good indeed. Save money, be independant of the electrical grid (which as infrastructure become more and more worn over the years results in frequent power losses), and help cut back on the coal, natural gas, and oil consumption used to generate electricity.

A new product being available is a roofing shingle with solar cells embedded into it. These solar shingles have all the benefit of solar, without having to take up additional space. Solar Shingles are expensive compared to regular shingles, but with time the costs and price to go solar will drop, making this an excellent investment to keep your eye on for the future.