If you’re like us and are currently at the mercy of Gainesville’s weathermen, then we’re sure you were as excited as we were to hear that today’s temperature is reaching a blistering high of 97 by mid-afternoon. These scorching temperatures mean pumping more and more AC into your homes and paying higher and higher electric bills to keep the heat at bay.

But some places are using the heat to fight the heat, in every sense of the word. A trend in solar panels, specifically in residential homes, has been growing at an average rate of 51% annually for the last 5 years, according to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.

We’ve all heard about it and how using renewable energy can save the ice caps and our polar bear friends that dwell there, but few of us know how it actually works or why it’s so much better. Most of us live “on the grid,” which is just a scary-sounding term simply meaning we run off the power lines and energy source serving most of the country. But this energy comes from burning coal and oil, which is polluting the air by releasing harmful gases. Not to mention, once we use up all these resources, they’re gone forever. Then what?

Solar panels absorb sunlight and convert those energy particles into a direct current. Through an inverter, this current can be changed into alternating current, which is how we power our homes. This energy is clean, renewable, and best of all, can reverse how much electricity we use, taking your bills farther and farther down to nothing. (For a more technical explanation, check this out!)

There are a ton of other perks to having solar energy. Though it can be pricey to install, the New York Times recently reported that homeowners who install solar power have an increased premium on their homes, which just about equals the original expense. Nowadays, you can even build your own solar panels (check out this great video on how to make it yourself!).

Even we here at Emmer have begun harnessing the sun. In 2009, EDC had solar panels installed on 28 buildings in our Stoneridge Apartment complex, making it the first existing student apartment in Gainesville to convert to solar energy, and the total wattage amounts to 750kW (see photo above)! It’s the largest solar panel complex in the city, and one of the largest in the state. This cuts down on our electric usage in the club house, the fitness room, the staff offices, and even the laundry facilities.

So next time you get sweated out of your own home, maybe it’s time to consider a “sunnier” alternative.

Have you ever considered installing solar panels or using solar energy? Let us know in the comments below!