Why They Frown At Solar Energy: Efficiency Or Lack Thereof

The world’s humans need to switch over from energy sources that put of gasses that harm the planet to clean, sources of energy that can replenish itself. Even the White House has finally admitted that there is a hole in the ozone layer and we need to do something about it. When the White House agrees there is a hole in the ozone layer, you know that hole is bad.

But why has there been such an opposition to solar energy? Efficiency ratings do not excite investors, politicians and power plant workers. Solar energy needs a large area to provide, in proportion to the space you need, very little power. Even when combined with wind power, solar energy efficiency is dismal. When wind and solar energy is used, it can transform only 30% of the sun’s heat into usable energy. The photovoltaic (PV) panels that make up 92% of the current solar power gathering technology can only transform 15% of the sun’s heat into usable energy (according to BusinessWeek).

Yikes.

Don’t Give Up

Just because the solar energy efficiency of current times can make you wince, is no reason to give up on the idea of solar energy. Remember when the first computers came out? They took up entire office buildings and all they did was the mathematical equivalent of cracking walnuts. But not you can find computers chips as small as … well, actually, I’ve never seen one. My eyes are really bad. Believe me, you could a computer chip right on my eye and I still wouldn’t see it.

But the point is, if there is a big financial and survival reason to improve the solar energy efficiency ratings, we can do it. We did it with phones, personal computers and M&Ms. We can do it with solar power.

Roll Up, Roll Up

There are promising solar energy efficiency improvements in the solar power panels themselves. Instead of being rigid, they can now roll up in a mat for easy portability. They can’t light your house, but they can charge up your phone, mP3 player or any other small appliance. You can easily find these solar energy efficiency fueled mats in camping supply shops.

For years now, other common items we use everyday can be run entirely on solar power, or at least the power of indoor lights. These items include watches, calculators and indoor wind chimes. Okay, maybe you don’t use indoor wind chimes everyday, but other people do and they don’t need to plug it into the wall.

How about if everyone had one appliance that ran solely on solar power? At this point in time, every little savings to the ozone layer helps.