1. By Aaron Le Conte

2. We would still be left with 5562 Terawatts of power, from the sun, that could be used. This is equal to 370 times the amount of energy needed in a single year. 89,000 Terawatts (10^12 watts) is equal to how much sunlight hits the earth in 1 year. 15 Terawatts is the amount of energy the world used, as a whole, in 2004. If we take into consideration, that only 50% of the suns raise reaches the panels, due to reflection and absorption from clouds and the atmosphere. If we also take a common efficiency for photovoltaic cells to be 12.5% because the other 87.5% is either absorbed of reflected.

3. Here’s a closer look at the radiation the sun gives off

4. Daily Outputs from our Solar PV Sanyo Hybrid 3.28 kwp System. An average household, consumes 3300 to 4900 Kwh per annum. If the house above produced an average of 300 kwh per month for the two sunniest months, the yearly amount produced would be 3079. Any energy saver could drop the electric usage to beneath that easily. The above results show that any one family can survive solely on the energy they produce.

5. Solar Energy Advantages You can save a lot of money, after the initial investment has been paid off, you will be getting electricity for free. If you have a household that only uses a small amount of electricity, your payback period could be very short. If you produce more electricity that you need, your utility company will buy the excess electricity off of you. Solar Energy is clean, renewable (unlike gas, oil and coal) and sustainable, helping to protect our environment It does not pollute our air by releasing carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide or mercury into the atmosphere. This means that solar panels do not add to global warming or acid rain. A Solar Energy system can operate independently, not requiring a connection to a power or gas grid at all Solar Energy systems are virtually maintenance free and will last for decades

6. Solar Energy Disadvantages The initial cost is high, mainly because of the semi-conducting materials used. Solar panels require quite a large area for installation to achieve a good level of efficiency The production of solar energy is influenced by the presence of clouds or pollution in the air No energy is produced at night, therefore during the winter months you will only have a couple of hours of good sunlight.

7. Conclusion If you can afford the initial investment, then you should get solar panels installed. They will increase your cashflow over time, they are great for the environment, reducing greenhouse gases, leading to a cut in global warming. You can change a monthly out going bill into an check addressed to you. You may be able to reach a point where you do not need to be linked to the main grid at all, by living off everything that you produce. All in all you are making the world a better place, by a small contribution, which not only benefits you but everyone around you. Making everyone much happier.

8. http://www.solar-benefits.com/index.5.gif http://www.alternative-energy.co.uk/index.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Available_Energy-2.jpg http://iea-pvps.org/pv/materials.htm http://ezinearticles.com/?Solar-Energy-Advantages-Disadvantages&id=50178 http://www.zenwaiter.com/photos/indexnew/Smiley-face.gif LIST OF REFERENCES