kc3 Final essay!!!

The Sun’s Magical Abilities
By: Czarina Caberto

Electricity is something that is very essential in many of our lives. The only bad thing is that we are using too much of it that it's killing our Earth! Mother nature is sure not happy about that! Yet, there is a solution to this problem. We can all start using solar energy. Solar energy is basically using energy, light, or heat that comes from the sun. Solar energy can be used in a tremendous amount of ways. The heat that makes us hot while playing outside on a summers day, the heat that gets the inside of a car hot while it is parked outside, the energy that makes a solar calculator to work, the heat that sets a blade of grass under a magnifying glass on fire is all from solar energy. Using solar energy has changed our environment in a multiple number of ways. Its powerful uses have kept many people satisfied.

Solar technology dates back all the way to 1839 when French physicist Antoine-Cesar Becquerel observed that shining light on an electrode mixed in a type of solution would create some electricity. In 1941, an American, Russell Ohl, invented what is called the silicon solar cell. Years later, in the United States, Swedish-born John Ericsson came up with more ideas to harness solar power. He made the “parabolic trough collector,” a type of equipment, which functioned more than a hundred years later on the same basic design. Yet, this technology was far too expensive. In the 1970s, many people were hoping that through large investments in financial support for the people and research, solar energy costs could drop and become competitive with fossil fuels. By the 1990s, this thought became a reality, which is why solar power is used now more than it was used back in the day. Solar power is also encouraged today because of the following reasons.

Many years before, people started to notice the dramatic change of our universe's ozone layer. The cause of this change is the over use of electricity, especially by many Americans. In order to generate electricity, you would need to use oil. Another way to make electricity is by burning firewood. The process of using oil to make electricity is much more common and easier than burning firewood. Yet, they both contribute to the damage of our precious ozone layer. Oil is something that is extremely scarce in our world today. If we keep doing this, we will eventually run out of all the oil that our planet Earth has. Besides burning firewood, which takes a really long process, then electricity would not be made. Aha! Solar power to the rescue! Solar power does not use oil or firewood. Using oil releases carbon dioxide, a dangerous greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. Burning firewood can cause air pollution, which causes great damage to our ozone layer. It can also cause deforestation, which means cutting down our trees. Burning wood does not only arise issues in the environment, but it increases the risk of people, specifically, those who burn wood, to gain one of the respiratory illnesses ever!

People have been coming up with some ways to reduce the use of fossil fuels. In Hawaii, the federal government has been coming up with ways to promote using solar power to homeowners through tax credits. Other state's in the United States have supported this by passing over three billion dollars in similar processes. Hawaii is one of the top solar power users in the US. Our state is totally making it foolish not to go with solar power! Governments in many states, not including Hawaii, are most likely to promote useless changes in our society via the amount of money that people have in their bank accounts by the rules they pass. In other words, do what the government tells you, then you'll save money and if you fail to do so, then your money goes down the drain. Hawaii has taken it to an all-new level, in a good way, of course.

To promote the use of solar power in our state by homeowners, Hawaii has been using some great techniques to lure people in. Those who convert their residences to solar get a tax credit of up to $5,000, which is by far much more valuable than a tax deduction because it is going to the amount of tax you owe rather than your gross income. So basically, solar wipes out any state tax bill you would have. Wow! Now that the state is using solar to their advantage, it has offered tremendous tax credits to commercial property owners, too. If a commercial property is converted or changed to solar in our state, the owner can get between $250,000 and $500,000 in tax credits. Two thumbs up for Hawaii's government! Lucky for us, Hawaii is a state with sun all year round. Now homeowners can enjoy it at almost every part of the year and on their tax return! According to the Hawaiian Electric Company, solar power only works when direct sunlight hits the solar panels. So, sadly, during the night, solar power cannot be generated. Nighttime is usually when homeowners who have installed solar panels use the process of making electricity with oil. Yet, if you were to compare the electricity bills of these “solar panel owners” and those who depend on oil, the amount they would have to pay is way different.

Even though solar energy is obviously very helpful, why aren't many of us using it? Well, some people do not like using new things. Sometimes, it is hard to use a new system once you have a new system working already. Although, solar energy technology is improving each and every single year, so many of us might want to use it more. Our generation can encourage people to start using it. If we all decide to use it, our lives would definitely change for the better!