The Power Of Solar Energy Can Transform The World!
The Power Of Solar Energy Can Transform The World!
Electricity
Electricity plays a key role in our daily lives, in our homes, workplace, and schools. Everything we do in a developed country depends on electricity. We depend on electricity to help give us heat, cool air, and light. It warms our water, connects our computers, our phones and so much more.
In 1752 Ben Franklin applied science to better understanding the nature of electricity by tying a key onto a kite string during a lightning storm. He learned that lightning and electricity were one in the same, paving the way for our future. Today electric power generation is created when kinetic energy turns copper coils (or wire) within a turbine, which in turn spins a generator, creating electricity. Another way that electricity can be produced is from the sun. Solar power generates electricity from the sunlight through photovoltaic cells. Solar panels (photovoltaic cells) use direct currents by trapping the solar energy from the sun in large reflectors that then transfers the energy to receivers that generate electricity to power gas or steam turbines.
The Power of Solar Energy
Solar energy is a free and natural resource and does not produce greenhouses gasses except at the production state. Solar power has low maintenance and does not require raw materials to be constantly extracted, then refined and transported. The cost of building and installing new solar electricity is more affordable than it was just 10 years ago, and it is becoming more common on homes in the US and other countries in Europe and South America.
Yet, over 1 billion people in the world don’t have the luxury of electricity and still use candle’s or dangerous kerosene lamps to light their homes. They also still heat their homes with wood which is known to create respiratory illnesses. In Africa, the use of kerosene is the most accessible form of fuel for lighting. It can release approximately 190 million tons of Co2 into our atmosphere.
By the year 2050, the world population is projected to increase by nearly 130 million people. The population in the United States makes up for 5% of the world’s population and we consume 24% of the world’s energy. The average American consumes as much energy as 370 Ethiopians or 307 Tanzanians. These areas much like many other countries across the globe also have a high capability of producing solar energy making them good candidates for producing clean energy. This is why it is so important to create renewable energy in developing countries.
A Helping Hand
Developing countries have huge economic challenges that reach far beyond having electricity. It takes outside nonprofits and organizations to help bring solar power to these communities. Clean energy gives opportunities and security to people in the form of jobs and creates better health, which transforms lives, economies and ultimately the planet. Organizations like Little Sun and the Starling Project both have a mission to provide sustainable solar energy to these communities. Our actions go beyond what happens to us as they are impactful on a global level. Solar is just part of a greater solution to alternative energy that succeeds in creating a healthier planet that we will all benefit from. We all deserve access to healthy, safe, and clean power.
Little Sun
The Little Sun organization began with a mission to bring electricity to people in Ethiopia and has now changed the lives of over a million people with the help of the sun. One of their products, Little Suns, are high-quality portable and personal solar lamps that are distributed across the world. They are bringing solar energy to more than 10 African countries and have distributed over 838,300 Little Suns with the majority going to communities that were entirely without electricity. They give them to children so they can now do their homework with a safe light at night. They also provide desktop solar lights & solar energy chargers which helps connect these people to the outside world, bring safety and light to women and children. They also distribute them to refugee camps. Through their organization, they have been able to strengthen communities from the inside by creating local jobs and generating profits that are distributed locally. The program employs local young African entrepreneurs giving them opportunities they have never had before.
Purchase Little Sun Solar Products Here:
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Starling Project
The Starling Project has a similar undertaking in helping to provide sustainable energy to developing countries by giving them the right to a healthy and safe life through long-term solar power projects. After launching in 2015 and through the sale of all-natural candles that are handmade in Brooklyn, they have been able to donate over $200k to UNICEF’s solar power programs. Their most recent undertaking is bringing solar energy to four hospitals in Rwanda. For every candle sold they are able to give light for light in the form of life-saving solar energy.
Purchase Starling Project Candles Here: https://givebackgoods.com/collections/candles
Sources:
https://sciencing.com/different-ways-make-electricity-7228215.html
https://news.energysage.com/8-facts-solar-energy/
https://www.epa.gov/burnwise/wood-smoke-and-your-health
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Tara Dodson is the creator of the Living Full Circle Blog and will be our guest blogger each month for Mindful Mondays where she hopes to inspire us to make sustainable choices in our daily lives while at home, traveling, and in the workplace.
She is the mother of three, has an endearing partner, and has traveled internationally since she was a child. She enjoys spending time with her family outside whether it is in the garden, biking to the beach, hiking, or doing a beach cleanup. She serves her local community by working for public service by day, provides sustainability consulting to businesses and organizations on the side with her business, Full Circle Resource Management, LLC, and as co-founder of Keepers of the Coast, she creates coastal educational and sustainability programs.
As a recent graduate from Southern New Hampshire University with an MBA in Sustainability, her background is embedded in conservation, sustainability, and traveling. With over 15 years of experience, she hopes that you will join her on this journey of inspiration.
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