SOLAR ENERGY FACTS
Making solar energy the main source of energy for home and business is becoming more and more popular as the necessary technology drops in price and the search for alternative, sustainable energy becomes ever more important on our polluted planet.
SOLAR ENERGY FACTS
Making solar energy the main source of energy for home and business is becoming more and more popular as the necessary technology drops in price and the search for alternative, sustainable energy becomes ever more important on our polluted planet. If you’re thinking of going solar, here are some useful and interesting solar energy facts & statistics that are just a fraction of all there is to know about solar energy.
THE SUN – FACTS & FIGURES
- The source of solar energy is, of course, the sun. Light takes less than 10 minutes to travel from the giant ball of exploding gasses that is the sun to the surface of the earth.
- 174 Petawatts of solar radiation reach our atmosphere every single day.
- The sun is one of th4e largest and brightest stars in the Milky Way
- All life forms on earth are dependent on the sun for survival.
- Solar energy has been powering space missions since 1958.
- Glass lenses are though to have first been used in 700 B.C. to start a fire by concentrating the sun’s rays.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SOLAR ENERGY
- Just 15 minutes of full sun would be enough to capture enough solar energy to meet the electrical power needs of the world’s population for a full year.
- Solar lights work on cloudy days, too.
- Due to new technologies allowing for the cheaper production of certain materials, the solar panels installed on rooftops today are over 500 times cheaper to produce than the first solar cells of the mid-1950s.
SOLAR ENERGY FACTS FOR AUSTRALIA
- The Australian government is planning to source 20% of the world’s electricity from renewable energy by 2020
- Among the seven continents, Australia has the highest solar radiation per square metre.
- In October 2012, there were almost 2 million solar panels installed across Australia on approximately million homes
- The average Australian family home needs around 20kWh of electricity a day
- If harnessed properly, solar energy has the potential to become the continent’s largest energy source.
- The amount of solar energy striking Australia is approximately 15,000 times more than the energy consumption of the entire continent.
- There is in fact enough roof space in Australia to completely meet the continent’s current electricity demand using solar power alone.
THE COST OF SOLAR
- The price of solar energy systems is constantly decreasing as production technologies continue to advance and reduce costs. Aside from the cost of installing solar panels, solar energy is essentially free, as sunlight is available to all, the world over. A breakdown of the cost is as follows: A typical home solar power system installation can cost anywhere between $19,000 and $40,000, of which the solar panels themselves cost about 1/3 of the overall price. However, hiring professionals to install your solar power system is worth its price of about $3,000—nobody would want to damage their newly-bought solar panels by mishandling them, right? Additional permits and fees may bring the price up by another $3,000 or so.
- Australia’s Renewable Energy Trust (RET), has decided to try to source 20% of electricity from renewable energy by 2020. Some state governments have special rebate schemes in order to encourage the installation of solar PV panels.
- The world of solar is quite complex, and so there are many questions you should have answered before you decide to go ahead with the project, but hopefully this article has given you basic solar energy information and has encouraged you to do more research into this exciting, new technology. Please see our Solar FAQ section for the answers to other questions you might have.
SO, ARE YOU READY FOR SOLAR PANELS NOW?
Simply call us in Brisbane today and we’ll let you know if you qualify for our no deposit, no interest solar panels deal almost immediately.