In the wake of the March’s devastating earthquake in Japan, which resulted in thousands of deaths and the Fukushima nuclear accident, it’s clear that nuclear energy is not the right way to go. While nuclear physicists unsuccessfully try to figure out ways to make nuclear energy safer, it reveals the best ideas are to seek different avenues of harnessing and distributing energy. The tragedy has shined a light on solar energy and its clean, safe way of production. San Francisco solar power companies are the leading wave of making solar power available for everyone.
On March 11, 2011, a nine-point earthquake hit off the coast of Japan, causing a destructive tsunami that slammed the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. The tsunami waves reached up to 14 meters while the reactor was set to withstand just six meters of water. The waves disabled emergency generators that were to cool the reactors in the plant, causing them to overheat. Over the next month, the plant went through several nuclear meltdowns, releasing high levels of radiation. Contamination of food and water became one of the utmost concerns for Japanese residents as the meltdowns were labeled as Level Seven – a major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects requiring implementation of planned and extended countermeasures.
There are plenty of other examples of nuclear meltdowns across the world. There’s the infamous Chernobyl disaster in 1986 in Ukraine and Three Mile Island accident during 1979 in Pennsylvania. Other tragic accidents have occurred in California, Idaho, Switzerland and Canada. All of which have had lasting, profound effects on the surrounding residents and ecosystem.
While nuclear energy suffers bad publicity, solar energy remains to be one of the safest ways to harness and distribute energy. Solar energy is environmentally safe, quiet, requires no fuel and does not pollute. Critics question solar power due to the fact the sun is not always shining. However, battery technology has more than made up for that flaw and energy can be stored efficiently and safely. Solar power is renewable – as long as the sun as the sun is shining, solar panels will be harnessing power and converting it into electricity. Solar panels don’t give off radiation or any harmful wastes to those around them. Prices for solar panels and other technologies have decreased exponentially and continue to decrease thanks to bay area solar companies.
Solar panels is constantly changing and evolving into more efficient and viable source for energy. Solar energy in San Francisco has led the way in not only the bay area solar companies, but also companies worldwide.