Using solar panels to power your home

The words renewable and sustainable are being knocked around quite a bit, and both are strongly associated with energy conservation. Renewable forms of energy constantly replenish themselves with little or no human effort. Solar energy is just one example — no matter how much you use, the supply will never end (okay, it may end after billions of years, but your using solar power won’t make the sun burn out any faster). Other examples of renewables include firewood, water (through hydroelectric dams), and wind power. Note, however, that firewood is notoriously polluting; the term renewable does not necessarily imply good environmentalism. Firewood also has another potentially severe drawback in that people go out into forests and cut down trees, often without much thought to the overall health of the forest (a good example of not seeing the forest from the trees).

Producing energy can be dirty work. Carbon emissions, coal slurry, nuclear waste, and other pollutants can wreak havoc on the environment, cause health problems, and make people hopping mad. And many energy sources are in limited supply. Not only does that drive prices up, but it also leads to political conflicts when people decide they’re not willing to share. You’re probably not ready to go completely unplugged, but you do want to play your humble part to save the environment, help the country become less dependent on outside energy sources, and save money. Tall order? Maybe not. Above all the energy sources in use today, solar shows the most long-term promise for solving the world’s energy problems.