In 2016, an airplane spent over 550 hours in the air, traveling over 25,000 miles around the world, using only the sun’s rays as power. While you can’t book a solar-powered flight yet, the Solar Impulse 2 proved that solar-powered transportation is not out of the realm of possibility.
There has been a lot of buzz in recent years about how solar power can help society. But, many people think you can’t use it on a wide scale. The truth is that solar panels can power a large number of things in everyday life.
Let’s answer the question “what can solar panels power?”
Solar Power for Home and Business
In recent years, the ability of solar panels to generate electricity for homes and businesses has exploded. Costs have drastically decreased and more and more people are aware of the financial and environmental benefits of solar power systems.
Switching to solar power can help save the average homeowner money on their energy bills. Just check out this site if you want to see how much you could save by installing solar panels on your home.
On a small scale, you could purchase a solar power generator as a backup if you lose power. Many times, photovoltaic panels are installed on rooftops. They can also be installed on large scales to provide power to larger businesses and even entire towns.
Transportation
If you own an electric car, you can charge it with solar power. However, even more, exciting is the possibility of large-scale vehicles that run on solar power systems.
Researchers are developing ways to power buses, trains, and even airplanes using solar power.
Everyday Devices
Many personal and everyday devices can be powered with solar power. For instance, you could purchase a solar power bank that charges using a tiny solar panel. Or you could wear a solar-powered watch or even a smartwatch.
As solar power becomes less expensive and companies invest energy into integrating it into their products, you’ll likely see even more wearable devices that use solar power.
Lighting
Adding lighting features to your landscape can be complicated due to the need for a power source. However, by choosing solar lighting, you can skip the wires.
Garden lights solar power can also reduce your energy bills. Many municipalities have also discovered this as it’s becoming more common to find solar-powered street lights around many cities.
Heating
Solar space heating systems can be paired with a forced hot air system to heat your home. In addition, you can also harness solar energy to heat water that you use inside your home. In fact, homeowners could earn five to ten percent returns when installing a thermal solar array.
A growing application is to heat swimming pools with solar energy, especially in the southern and southwestern US.
What Can Solar Panels Power?
You may have been wondering “what can solar panels power?” Currently, this includes homes, wearable technology, heating, and even transportation. As technology advances, this list will probably continue to expand.
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