Did you know the amount of solar energy reaching the Earth in one hour
is approximately the same as the total energy used by everyone on the
planet for an entire year? Imagine the abundant amount of sunshine in
Texas alone!
Texas continues to grow, and so is the demand for
energy. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) recently
released (Dec. 2011) their 10-year energy outlook which indicated the
need for additional energy generation - in particular, the need for
additional energy to handle peak demands in the summer.
See http://ercot.com/news/press_releases/show/459.
Wouldn't
it be great to meet some of our growing energy needs by tapping the
HUGE potential of energy from the sun? Generating electricity from solar
panels (photovoltaic or PV panels) installed on homes and businesses
have the following key benefits:
1. Electricity generation is
generally aligned with the time of day demand. So, while our air
conditioners are in heavy, almost continuous use during Texas summers,
this is also when the sun shines brightest and solar panels generate the
most electricity!
2. Solar energy installed costs are already lower than other existing peak demand generation sources.
3.
Electricity generated by distributed solar panels on homes and
businesses is located where the demand is consumed (our house/business),
thus eliminating electricity transmission losses.
4.
Electricity generated from solar panels does not require our scarce
Texas water resources for electricity generation like other conventional
electricity generation sources.
5. Distributed electricity
generation from solar panels is generally a quick deployment - six
months versus up to three years for conventional power plants.
For overview information about solar energy, please watch these short introductory videos (about 4 minutes each) at these URLs:
https://www.eeremultimedia.energy.gov/solar/videos/solar_power_basics
https://www.eeremultimedia.energy.gov/solar/videos/photovoltaics_diverse_technology
If
you would like further information about what you could do to help
promote the use of distributed solar power generation in Texas, please
send your request to the email address given below:
planosolar@gmail.com
Plano Solar Energy Advocate (LH)
(original post - http://livegreeninplano.blogspot.com/2012/03/solar-energy-in-texas.html)
