High Tech Facts About Solar Energy

I sat down with my kids and talked to them about solar energy being inexpensive, friendly to the environment, and last for a very long time. Solar energy is crucial to our planet, and technology needs to become widespread. I told them they need to know about solar energy because it plays a massive part in the future.

At first, I wasn't sure my kids understood what I was saying about solar energy. I thought, "How can I talk to my kids about solar energy? How can I make the subject of Solar Energy fun for them to know and understand?" Perhaps, some classrooms bring the subject up for discussion or as a science project. But I felt it was important to talk to my kids about it.

I decided to bring it up as simply as possible without being complicated. I just needed to know where to look for more information and figure out how to explain solar power at a kid's level of understanding.

I bought a book to read to my son about solar energy called Running on Sunshine: How Does Solar Energy Work?

As I read it to him, I also learned about solar energy. I found out that there are solar roads that light up when danger is ahead - like an animal on the road. Tiny solar chips carefully placed in a person's eyes help an otherwise blind person see.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to teach their children about solar energy and how we currently benefit from its use.

I discuss solar energy while driving with my kids and at family meals. We talk about the environment and how solar power plays a significant part in keeping the planet clean and free from environmental impurities, explaining what that means.

We talk about the sun as a clean source of energy compared to biofuels. I avoid the word "biofuels" and keep it simple and explain how bad it is to use biofuels. Gasoline or oil is an energy that is not clean. It comes from the ground and burns poisonous chemicals into the air, whereas the sun is not dirty, and the air stays clean when using the sun.

The Internet is full of information about solar energy for kids. I highly recommend surfing the Internet and discovering incredible solar energy facts that can be very light, fun, and almost not educational.

Magazines, Newspapers, and Journals contain current information about alternative energy. Scan the publications and look for information about solar energy. When you find an article or anything related to solar energy, cut the clipping out and pin it to the refrigerator for everyone in the family to read.

I discovered that bringing up solar energy with my kids draws their attention to the fact that it does exist. The more I talk about it, the more they understand the value of solar energy. Pretty soon, they were bringing me articles of science on the subject — especially my oldest daughter.

Bill Hurd is a college professor in Southern California. He established a class on installing PVs because Hurd recognized that the solar power industry is a growing field, and more jobs will be available in the future. More jobs are an indication of alternative-energy growth. Your kids might consider a career in the field of alternative energy.

It’s not hard to see the handwriting on the wall when government buildings have subsidized alternative energy. You and your kids can peruse career sites of alternative-energy companies like BP Alternative Energy and Alliant Energy.

They ask people to help shape the evolution of the energy industry on this planet. I found job listings: a geologist, conversation program engineer, and hydrologist.

So it appears that Bill Hurd is a brilliant, calculating professor and knows that solar power is here to stay.

Another way to get your kids interested in solar energy is to mention a celebrity doing their part. Johnny Depp, who starred in the Alice and Wonderland movies and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, purchased an island for $3,000,000 with no power lines available to stretch to the remote island in the Bahamas. So, being green-minded, he plans to use solar and hydrogen to power his home on the island. It's a better way than using a diesel generator.

Diesel exhaust is a dangerous pollutant of excellent particulate matter. The matter not only wears down the body's defense system and embeds in the deepest recesses of the lungs but also disrupts cellular growth. Diesel causes premature deaths, emergency room visits, hospital admissions, and asthma attacks.

Depp consulted with Mike Strizki to help him build a system that produces power to satisfy his exuberant lifestyle. Strizki is familiar with the system because he made one for his home in New Jersey. In the video below, he talks about his various projects.

Strizki's system on Depp's island can store excess energy as hydrogen for days and nights without any sun. Storing hydrogen is tricky because it is a terrible gas to keep in a small space unless it's compressed.

The problem is that little energy comes from large amounts of hydrogen. The solution is to get large quantities of hydrogen into a small space. Strizki uses propane tanks to store the hydrogen at his home, which is not bad. The fact that it's green is impressive and sets a good example for the rest of us.

Every day the sun comes up and goes down. It’s clean, simple, and accessible. I had an effortless time explaining this to my kids, and so can you, as long as you keep it simple.