It’s August, and that means some of the sunniest days and most beautiful nights of the year. One more thing August’s night sky brings: the Perseid meteor shower, a dazzling display of nearly 100 meteors per hour, peaking next week in the late evening sky.
What does this have to do with solar energy, you may ask? Well, another celestial encounter is set to occur this week. According to EcoWatch, Rosetta, a solar-powered space probe, will meet up with the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Garasimenko nearly 400 million miles away from the sun. According to the European Space Agency, Rosetta is powered by high-tech, low-Intensity, low-temperature cells, and is the first space mission to reach the outside of the asteroid belt through solar power.
Why wasn’t solar power used before, you may ask? Well, critics worried that the power of the sun may not be strong enough at long distances to power a spacecraft and nuclear energy was relied on instead. However, due to various mishaps where nuclear-powered spacecraft have reentered the atmosphere and distributed hazardous contamination, the push toward solar energy has been achieved with Rosetta’s new technology.
What does it mean for us on Earth? If the risks of nuclear energy are too high for international space agencies, why don’t we push for the use of solar energy in our everyday lives as well?
With Aztec Solar’s financing options as well as incentives from major utility companies, there is no time like the present to take advantage of clean, renewable energy in your California home or business. Call us to see how you can get solar power today!