Future generations will probably wonder why we focused so much on generating power from petrol fuels when we have practically an endless source of energy available in the sun. This nation has had solar energy technology, in some form or other, since the mid eighteen hundreds. But, the government still is not putting enough effort into supporting and promoting the development and use of solar power.
The United States Solar Energy Technologies Program which will expire in 2011 is funded, but not enough to push us to the front of the line of countries investing in solar energy. The huge downside is that our neglect is letting other countries get ahead of us in what could be a dominant form of energy in the next decade or so.
On the hottest days of the year, you can literally feel the sun's energy pulsating through your body and warming everything around you. And then, in the evening, the bricks, walls and concrete pavement slowly gives up the heat that it has collected during the day.
In the perfectly developed solar town, a great deal of that energy would be captured and utilized to heat the home, air condition the home, and power the electrical appliances of homes. Captured solar energy could also be used to power our electric cars, power our street lights, heat our swimming pools, and even give excess energy back to the electric company.
If we, as a society, would adopt the widespread use of solar power, not only would our air be cleaner, but global warming would slow down, and our energy bills would dramatically decrease as well. And while, it might not be Utopia, it would be nice.
A number of people have decided to not wait for the government to act, and instead have begun to take matters into their own hands. They are doing what they can to personally move themselves off the grid and towards a solar based ecosystem. And some of the technology has advanced so much that many of their neighbors don't even know that that their home is solar based.
For example, it used to be that you could always tell a solar house by the distinctive solar roof panels that just about every solar installation company used. Those solar panels, which used to be so expensive, are now so inexpensive that they are typically one of the cheaper parts of the installation process. In fact, the reason that many homeowners haven't yet made the transition to solar power is that they hate the look of solar panels atop of their house.
Now, however, you can find solar collectors embedded in actual shingles that look just like any normal shingle that you would buy from the home center. And not only are they beautiful looking, but they are also much more efficient than those solar panels of years past giving you more energy per unit.
And even though, these solar shingles are, of course, more expensive than standard shingles, they are only minimally more expensive. And when you add in the fact that many states will give the homeowner and businesses tax breaks and vouchers for installing solar technology, they are much more affordable than you might think.