Solar energy is hot stuff
about their environmental impact. Design is so important. The iPod’s not the best MP3 player out there, but it’s caught people’s imagination because of the way it looks.”
Purchases inspired by design and hands-on experience have gone some way to demolishing ignorance about solar power. Contrary to popular myth, solar cells don’t need direct sunlight to produce electricity, and Britain’s actually quite well located for the sun. Sharp’s research says that if every single building in the UK was roofed with solar panels, we’d generate more than the UK’s present industrial and residential electricity consumption – there’d be no need for gas, nuclear, coal or even wind power.
Clearly, some of us are waking up to the benefits of making our own electricity at home. Solarcentury, a company promoting solar in the UK, has seen sales to its residential installers – the
