Great Green Idea: Green Energy: Popular Ways of Using the Solar Energy

Popular Ways of Using the Solar Energy

The effort to support the environment leads to more ideas and innovations of how to harness, store and use green energy. Green technology has resulting in new innovations in the use of wind, water and other sources to create electricity. In addition, solar energy has become very popular around the world as an effective energy alternative. Each day, news reports reveal various ways in which people are thinking outside of the box to make use of solar energy.

Solar Energy in the Office

A well known financial company recently announced the installation of solar panels on three of their corporate offices across the United States. The company has made a commitment to invest in alternative energy sources. One of their offices, located in Arizona, recently installed the largest solar energy system on an office building in the state. The array consists of over 4500 panels that will generate around 30% of the power used in the building. In addition to the switch to solar energy, the company has also adopted other eco-friendly changes throughout their offices. Among these changes is a huge reduction in paper use, as well as recycling and reducing the number of computer servers in order to lower energy use.

Industrial Use

In a Missouri warehouse, the installation of solar panels is expected to cut energy bills from $36,000 down to $1,500 a year. The 416 panels are the largest solar energy array in the state. Over an eight year period the chemical distributor worked toward making the warehouse as energy efficient as possible. The business has been going green by upgrading to energy saving equipment and cutting power consumption. The return on investment is expected to be at $500,000 over the 25 year life span of the panels because they will produce more energy than is needed for the building. The funding from energy initiatives and federal stimulus helped to pay for the solar panels in the 88,000 square foot warehouse.

Education Leads to Green Jobs

A new solar energy program is offered as a course of study at an Illinois university. The increase of businesses deciding to use solar energy has led to a need for certified solar energy installers and other renewable energy professionals. Classes will eventually include Introduction to Photovoltaic Systems as well as studies on how to select, design and maintain the panels. Students who pass all of the classes offered will qualify to take the North American Board Certified Energy Practitioners exam in order to receive accreditation.

Sharing the Green

An energy provider in Scotland is providing free solar energy to its customers. The company will give free renewable energy to its customers by offering installation of the panels at no charge. Other green energy providers have successfully extended the same offer to their customers in the past. In exchange for the free installation, the homeowners agree to allow the panels to remain on their homes for 25 years. The energy company also gets to keep the proceeds from the tariffs paid for excess energy that is fed back into the national grid.