My solar community

Community solar: what is it?

A community solar project—sometimes referred to as a solar garden—is a solar power plant whose electricity is shared by more than one property.
‘Community solar’ can refer to both ‘community-owned’ projects as well as third party-owned plants whose electricity is shared by a community.
The primary purpose of community solar is to allow members of a community the opportunity to share the benefits of solar power even if they cannot or prefer not to install solar panels on their property. Project participants benefit from the electricity generated by the community solar farm, which costs less than the price they would ordinarily pay to their utility.

Community solar is becoming a feasible option for many, because of the expanding solar industry and cost-effective solar products that are now on the market. This type of cooperative agreement allows a group of individuals who would be unable to go solar on their own to pool their resources together and fund a viable green solar solution. Sharing solar power allows multiple participants to receive or lease power from one solar array. As more communities and residents plug into this newer and cleaner energy alternative, this concept appears to be gaining in popularity.

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Power?
Did you know that the energy sun provides to the earth for one hour could meet the global energy needs for one year? Undoubtedly, the sun is a powerful energy source, and even though we are not able but to collect a fraction of this energy, yet harnessing this power by installing solar panels can make a significant difference to the planet.
So, there is a reason why solar energy has become a trending topic, when talking about renewable. While it has been widely criticised for being expensive or inefficient, solar energy has now proved to be extremely beneficial - not only for the environment but also for private economy.
However, nothing is perfect, and solar power could not be the exception. GreenMatch has outlined the key advantages and disadvantages of solar power in the following points:

Water heating
Solar hot water systems use sunlight to heat water. In low geographical latitudes (below 40 degrees) from 60 to 70% of the domestic hot water use with temperatures up to 60 °C can be provided by solar heating systems. The most common types of solar water heaters are evacuated tube collectors (44%) and glazed flat plate collectors (34%) generally used for domestic hot water; and unglazed plastic collectors (21%) used mainly to heat swimming pools.

As of 2007, the total installed capacity of solar hot water systems was approximately 154 thermal gigawatt (GWth). China is the world leader in their deployment with 70 GWth installed as of 2006 and a long-term goal of 210 GWth by 2020.Israel and Cyprus are the per capita leaders in the use of solar hot water systems with over 90% of homes using them. In the United States, Canada, and Australia, heating swimming pools is the dominant application of solar hot water with an installed capacity of 18 GWth as of 2005

Uses Of Solar Energy
The potential for solar energy is enormous, since about 200,000 times the world’s total daily electric-generating capacity is received by Earth every day in the form of solar energy. Unfortunately, though solar energy itself is free, the high cost of its collection, conversion, and storage still limits its exploitation in many places. Solar radiation can be converted either into thermal energy (heat) or into electrical energy, though the former is easier to accomplish.

On a smaller scale, the Sun’s energy can also be harnessed to cook food in specially designed solar ovens. Solar ovens typically concentrate sunlight from over a wide area to a central point, where a black-surfaced vessel converts the sunlight into heat. The ovens are typically portable and require no other fuel inputs.

The Future of Solar Energy

The truth is, solar energy technology is still being developed, and many people see it as a form of investment. With steady and quick growth over the last ten years, the number of installed units has only increased.
In fact, the solar energy industry has doubled its number of jobs since 2010. In 2015, there were more than 200,000 people employed in the solar energy industry.
While cost is still a major concern in this business, we can look at it with optimism after seeing that the prices have dropped more than 60% in the last decade.
Solar energy has great potential to grow to a very large scale. The researchers who conducted this MIT study predict that solar energy has the ability to generate multi-terawatt scale power.