Sunbeam Solar - Environment

If you are someone who wants to reduce their carbon footprint a 1 kilowatt grid interaction solar system will save about 7 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. If Australian households switched to solar hot water and renewable energy sources we could reduce Australia's dependency on coal fired power stations by 50% straight up.

Ancient civilizations worshipped the Sun. Solar Energy is a profound energy source for humanity. It is about realising the future now and for the generations of humans who will inherit the earth. It is promoting the sorts of cultural changes we will have to make to survive creating a new long term economic model and industry that will employ our children and their children.

Procrastination is our enemy - many people hold onto the past old technologies in a vain hope that new technologies will somehow solve all our problems - The Silver Bullet! The fact is that any new energy souces will still depend on our only true energy source - the sun.

More efficient energy use

We need to be more efficient with our energy. As populations grow there will be less to go around. Species on earth have evolved into niches and diversity has flourished due to the availability of these niches. Observations of nature have shown that it is not survival of the fittest or strongest but it is the survival of the most efficient and well adapted. Although humans are prolific in the modern era if we don't adapt or become efficent we are on our way to becoming Dodos!

Grid power derived from coal is only a fraction of 1% efficient. Coal is old sun locked up in carbon through the process of photosynthesis - from the sun that landed on earth eons ago.

Mining is destructive 

The mining process is extremely destructive clearing land (current carbon sinks) and drilling and blasting through the bedrock of the earth's crust to expose the old fossil forests. Coal has to be washed to remove silts and strata layers. This uses enormous amounts of water which is then polluted. The coal is pulverized until it is a fine talc consistency and then blasted into the steam boiler at the power station. This is clean coal technology today! From there the steam produced by the boiler is used to turn a Turbine Synchronous Generator to produce AC power.

Solar turns today's sunlight directly to electricity.

Syd Welling of Sunbeam Solar Systems has had 8 years experience in the coal industry so understands profoundly the enormity of coal consumption to power our energy needs. Centralised power disempowers our citizens, which is extremely dangerous if we are to combat climate change. Huge corporations have invested heavily in old technologies and are reluctant to change. Empowering individuals to produce and save energy at the point of use and giving the individual the power to be part of change has to be the way forward. In fact point of use technology over centralised systems must be the future. For too long we as individuals have shirked our responsibilities in the hope that governments and corporations know what they are doing. Climate change, peak oil, habitat destruction and species extinction are all proof that they haven't a clue and don't care!

Phantom loads

Appliances not turned off are still using power. These are known as phantom loads and are very wasteful. An average house can save 10% of its power consumption just by switching off phantom loads.