Solar Can Help Offset Climate Change

From Main Street to Wall Street, people are realizing the effects that our actions have on the environment—and they're going solar to minimize those effects and lower their carbon footprint.

Until recently, there hasn't been much of a choice but to use the electricity provided by conventional methods. With advances in technology and increased consumer awareness, however, solar electricity is now a very feasible option. So, while you'll be lowering your electric bill, you'll also be helping to raise our air quality.

Coal-fired power plants are responsible for most of all sulfur dioxide emissions in the U.S. Yet solar electricity produces absolutely no pollution. And by using more solar electricity, fewer power plants that produce greenhouse gases would need to be built.

At Integrity Solar, PV solar electric system generates no harmful emissions—zero. This means you can power your home with 100 percent pure sunshine that's not only clean; it's also renewable and abundant. So abundant, in fact, it's been calculated that a 100-square-mile array of solar modules in the Southwestern United States could generate enough electricity to power the entire country.

Solar panels could be the most powerful alternative energy source.

Solar energy is one of many innovations, all engineered to replace oil as a fuel source. While hydrogen power, biodiesel and wind energy have all been proposed as alternatives to oil, solar power remains a prominent contender. In fact, there are many reasons why solar power can easily become the world's most environmentally friendly alternative fuel source.

One advantage of solar energy is that it reduces the environmental "footprint" (pollution we leave behind) to practically zero. Power plants which use fuel to generate electricity produce tons of pollution as they vent carbon dioxide into the air. Solar panels which capture the sun's rays operate by absorption and not emission which means no waste products are produced as they work.

Solar energy is produced from the sun whether we capture it or not. The good news is the sun will continue to produce energy for another few billion years. This makes solar energy one of the most renewable sources of energy accessible to the planet. While the sun may not shine every day, enough solar energy makes it into the atmosphere to supply cheap renewable energy to the entire world. While a standard solar cell currently only converts about seven to nine percent of the sun's energy into electricity, tests on new types of flexible solar panels have shown the capacity to convert 90-100 percent as of 2010.

Solar panels, unlike most other power stations, run cool and have no exposed deadly parts. This means no melt down to destroy entire eco-systems, no concern over personal safety and no need to develop new land in order to construct expansive (and expensive) energy plants. Solar panels can be used   just about anywhere the sun shines and require no recharging, no fuel to run     and only occasional cleaning.

Wind is another possible alternative fuel generator and has been considered on large scales as an option because of its similar qualities to solar energy: wind is also carbon neutral, completely renewable and relatively safe. Wind shares one unfortunate quality with other power sources, however: the sound it creates while generating power. Noise pollution of this kind has been known to damage the flight pattern of migrating birds and insects, damaging eco systems. Solar energy is quiet and completely non-polluting.