About the renewable resource of solar energy...
Solar energy represents one of the largest, untapped and renewable energy sources that are available to almost everyone.
Solar energy technologies harness the sun's energy for us to use to heat and to cool any type of building that requires either heating or cooling. There is no type of building that cannot use this technology.
However, even though the available solar energy greatly exceeds our energy needs, there are some limiting factors such as cloudy weather, length of sunshine available and night time that will dictate how effectively we use the energy. Sometimes just by changing how we manage our energy requirements, can overcome those limiting factors.
Some advantages of using solar energy are as follows:
- - Energy from the sun is virtually free after the initial cost has been recovered
- - The sun's energy, when available, provides virtually unlimited supply of solar energy
- - The use of solar energy helps to decrease greenhouse gas emissions
- - Existing and new geothermal customers can benefit from solar energy to help enhance their heating requirements especially in the summertime. In some systems, this extra energy can be stored in the earth and reused in the wintertime.