I never really understood why this would even have to be asked. The sun is free and has almost unlimited energy potential. For that matter, why do solar panels cost so much? Is is just because they are not commonly made? If everyone had solar panels on their own homes, it would significantly decrease the amount of energy that needs to be produced by power companies.
More Pages:
- Solar Panel: How Does The Distance Of A Light Source Affect The Amount Of Energy Produced By A Solar Cell? (5/5/2012)
- Solar Power: Solar Power Questions!? (9/9/2011)
- Solar Producer: What Is The Main Source Of Energy For Producers Such As Plants And Other Photosynthetic Organisms? (6/22/2011)
- Solar Energy: Survey On Solar Power!! EXTREMELY URGENT!!!? (5/9/2012)
- Solar Turbines: Why Cant We Install Wind Turbines And/or Solar Panels All Throughout America For Our Energy Needs? (5/21/2011)
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree, in the UK we don’t get that much strong sunlight so i understand why it doesn’t take off here (although that could be supstituted for wind power) but i don’t understand why the US doesn’t do it.
You are so right. The only problem is that our government is addicted to the money it gets from special interests that don’t want us to follow your clear and obvious logic. We, the people, are going to have to rise up and demand this kind of action before it is too late. Our Earth is dramatically declining and we must do something in spite of the politicians.
it is all about the green paper
three reasons.
one, neither solar nor windpower, nor both of them combined can come even close to fulfill the powerdemands of any modern economy, much less the american, where powersaving is still a misunderstood enigma…
two, both are unreliable and unpredictable… there is no way to forecast the wind and much less the exact clouding over a specific piece of land.
three… most people dont want solar panels, and much less windmills in their area… they find them disfiguring the scenery…
sad but true.
Why America and why not other countries. For that matter – sun is bright in Gulf – why not there. Well there is a technological problem in this. The space required for the solar panels to capture the sunlight to convert into electricity is huge and hence would need lots of open space which is not practical.
Yes but in America they’d rather save money than save the enviroment. Look at the Kyoto case. America agreed with it but didn’t sign it. They know what to do but just wont do it.
There are small areas, in America, where solar and wind power are used. At the moment, it is far too expensive for the average consumer to convert to solar energy. The power companies don’t want to lose the big money they get from the status quo. They lobby corrupt individuals, within our government, to keep their “gravy train” moving on its track. Money. It all comes down to money.
its because the entire government want us to be reliant of foreign oil the addiction is like crack to those in office i am sure they get a cut of OPEC take at some level, remember when jimmy carter was prez he said in an address that this country would never again be so reliant of foreign oil but not 27 years later we use 68% more then we did then, oh that’s right we might displace a bird if we drill in Colorado or Alaska did you know that there is more oil in Colorado then there is in the entire Mideast its true but environmentalists and stupid congressmen have kept us from drilling we could or should have gas prices under 1.00 a gallon but well big oil and senators want there cut plus they want to keep average Joe poor
Coals free, you just have to dig it up, solar’s free you just have to put the infrastructure in. 70-80% of the power in the grid is the base load and is topped up. Solar and wind is good for topping up but no good if the sun sets or the wind dies.
It would take a lot of money that woulf go to waste. From Northern California to Washington (a temperate rain forest), there would be too many rainy days. Roof top solar cells in Florida (where sunlight is plentiful) would be subject to hurricane damage. For most of the country, you would never recoup the cost of the solar panels. If the price of electricty increases, this may no longer hold true.
Wind power is noisy and, in most places, unreliable. How many trees should be cut down to make room of wind turbines?
Because not ever place have high windspeed all the time that cause the turbine to spin. Solar Panels are expensive and doesn’t work well in places that aren’t sunny.
because we are all so stupid and cant stop acting like little babies and saying things like “i dont want to pay $ 7 for a gallon of gas”
we need to stop being idiots, the cost of using gasoline in the US is $ 10-15/gallon, the cost is subsidized by income taxes. we are so stupid to think that the money that pays for roads and military and all the other costs associated with using oil comes magically out of no where. it comes from your income tax, you pay 100 times the amount in income tax as you do in gas tax. if you raise the gas tax to reflect the cost of using the oil, then we would do more things that make sense, like using wind and solar power, but we dont do it, because the true cost of using all that oil is hidden because we pay for it with our income tax. and then everyone that reads this will act like a baby and say things like, “i dont want to pay $ 6/gallon like the french”. the french are stupid, i dont want to be like them either, but we should pay $ 10/gallon for gas, because that is how much it really costs us to use it and the cost is paid for out of your income tax. reduce the income tax and increase the gas tax, the total amount of tax stays the same, but then people start thinking about conserving and doing what is practical. right now, gas mileage on a car rates about equal to cup holders when the average american consumer buys a car, think of how stupid that is. we need to stop being socialists and stupid-we need to stop susidizing the use of oil-raise the gas tax.