Limitless Energy Beyond Perfection

By: Gustavo Ornelas

Solar panels are a resource of renewable energy, which means they rely on a clean source of energy: the sun. The sun’s radiant energy hits the solar panels, and that radiant energy now becomes electricity which is used for homes.

These solar panels significantly saved the people a lot of money yearly with the benefit it has on climate change. Since solar panels don’t require fossil fuels, then carbon dioxide isn’t released into the atmosphere, so essentially, solar panels help in decreasing climate change.

Nonetheless, solar panels can be expensive. Yet, they are very effective and durable, with very minor drawbacks. Solar panels will be used mainly around 10 years from now, with of course, huge benefits for the environment.

We have lived in our society with the main usage of fossil fuels to power our homes, but as time has passed, the fossil fuel usage has had a change that is occurring incrementally to climate change as well as our energy consumption. And unfortunately, fossil fuel usage costs quite a lot in comparison to solar panels. According to the New York Times ``How Sustainable Is the Rally in Renewable Energy Stocks by Norm Alster, “you can save up to 1500 dollars yearly if you use solar panels rather than fossil fuels.”

Solar panels are known to be a great source of renewable energy, helping our environment and our monthly bills in general.

According to Khong, who is an environmental science teacher at Yerba Buena Highschool, he said, ”they will help us save money in the long run, because of the investment you make such as in the heating, and electrical stuff.”

And well, Solar panels help us save money. After all, when the solar panels are installed, we don’t use as many fossil fuels anymore because we are getting energy from the sun, which is completely free and renewable as stated by Britannica “Solar Energy, “Solar energy is radiation from the sun known as radiant energy which goes to the solar panels.” And that reduces our monthly bill.

Solar panels more likely will also be the new future since they will replace non-renewable energy since renewable energy doesn’t affect the environment nor increase climate change. But still, even after 7 years, the fossil fuels will still not be completely replaced.

“No, there will be no complete replacement; it depends on the owner. It depends if he has the money.” “Said Khong.”

Thus, solar panels are also water-resistant and are durable, efficient and consistent every year due to the summer.

“It's a piece of glass that is strong, the things are also inside, and with the summer, the solar panels are always consistent.” “Said Khong.”

That being said, solar panels are a great solution to fight climate change. They won’t obviously help with climate change instantly since to make solar panels, you need fossil fuels. But as time passes, if more people use solar panels, then climate change will start decreasing.

“They won't help instantly with climate change, but as we are using them more, we will become less dependent on fossil fuels, so that will decrease climate change, thus making solar panels use fossil fuels.” “Said Khong.”

Moving onto the installation process, to get the most out of solar panels, you need to tilt them at the right angle which is 23˚. But of course, it also depends on how much electricity you want. IF you don’t want a significant amount, then you can decrease that angle.

“The panels depend on the electricity you want, and the support limit that your roof can give, the angle is 23 degrees which is the best angle.” “Says Khong.”

Needless to say, solar panels might be durable, but they won’t be durable if you apply a decent amount of live load on them because they are made out of glass, so they will more likely break. And on top of that, you have to make sure you know how much your weight your roof can handle. That’s because solar panels are very heavy, and if you apply too many, then your roof will essentially collapse.

“They are fragile, so the glass could break and you also have to calculate the amount of pounds/load your roof can handle and the live load of your solar panels.” “Said Khong.”

Apart from that, some people believe that windmills are a better choice than solar panels, but considering how California is more of a hot place rather than windy place, then solar panels seem to have the advantage here since they will be more consistent.

“Solar panels are more consistent than windmills.” “Says Khong.”

Lastly, solar panels will be more accessible in future generations because the people will tap into something that will always be there for them; the sun. And to even make the solar panel’s energy more efficient, we can use the what released to power up other stuff such as maybe homes that don’t have heaters.

“They are tapping into something that will always show us up, and another thing that will be beneficial is using that heat that is released, we need to understand where we are wasting it, and tap into the wasted heat.” “Said Khong.”

Therefore, solar panels essentially are a great choice from moving from fossil fuels to them because they are the future, they require renewable energy, and they combat climate change as well as the benefit of saving you a lot of money depending on how much you invest on them.