Environmental Issues and Solar Panel Energy

Learn more about how the use of solar panels affects our world.

Renewable Energy

Learn more about the various kinds of renewable and non-renewable energy sources we use and how to make the distinction. Learn how solar panels and solar cells are reliable sources of renewable energy, and why it’s such an important quality.

Reduce Energy Consumption

Learn more about how you can reduce your energy consumption, cut your energy bills, and help out the environment by reducing your reliance on pollution-generating sources of energy.

Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuels are the most widely-used means of generating electricity, and have been for some time. However, fossil fuels, as we have discovered, are a limited and non-renewable resource. Estimates have determined that fossil fuel reserves may well run dry by as early as 2050. Not only are fossil fuel reserves dwindling, but byproducts and emissions from burning fossil fuels are harmful to the environment, and have been associated with global warming theory. Click here to learn more about fossil fuels: how they were created, how they are used, and how they affect our environment.

Fossil Fuels vs Solar Power

Comparison of fossil fuels and solar power

Fossil fuels are a source of non-rewewable energy. These hydrocarbon-rich resources were typically formed ages ago when rapid burial of organic materials (brought on by mudslides, etc) was forced under the surface of the earth before being oxidized.

Over time, temperature and pressure have forced this organic mass into a useable natural resources which power much of the world’s energy needs. When fossil fuels are burned, energy is generated, and this energy is usually used to generate steam, which in turn turns a turbine, which generates usable electricity. Fossil fuels are current cheaper and more reliable than solar power, but unlike solar panels, which are clean and utilize virtually limitless renewable energy, the burning of fossil fuels pollutes the atmosphere, degrades local environments, cause health and smog problems, and fossil fuels are in limited supply. Fossil Fuel reserves are expected to run dry (meaning that so little will be left that extraction will no longer be sustainable or profitable) some time in the next century. Solar panels are a viable solution to meet the world’s energy needs during, and after, the impending energy crises brought on by the depletion of oil, coal, and natural gas.