Solar energy is important in many different ways on our planet, both in the sense of commercial power production as well as the energy it provides both us and other living organisms to survive daily and go about our lives.

In plant life, solar energy is necessary for photosynthesis, the process in which plants generate energy and process nutrients for their growth by converting solar light for their own use by utilizing chloroplasts within their leaves and bodies. This process is necessary for not only producing food for other herbivores but also for producing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, allowing creatures such as ourselves to survive while maintaining a balanced world temperature. Solar energy is also responsible for generating wind currents, allowing for the spreading of spores and gametes in plants and fungi to allow their propagation over a wide area.

Once plant matter is consumed by herbivores or omnivores the creatures then require solar energy to provide their own bodies with energy as well, producing various B vitamins such as B-12 to energize and stimulate creature processes. Solar energy even plays a more subtle role in regulating our moods as well, with our bodies adapting and adjusting throughout the different seasons as sunlight is more or less plentiful. In the winter or during rainy seasons, for instance, many people feel more depressed and less energetic than usual, while the summer tends to see more positive feelings and productive work styles. This trend is commonly referred to as “Seasonal Affective Disorder” and is common among not only people but many animals as well.

Solar energy is even responsible in part for the generation of oceanic waves and currents as well as regulating the salt/fresh water mix through the melting and re-freezing of the polar ice caps. This provides both a living environment for many creatures living in the ocean as well as energy via nutrient transfers in the water across vast areas as the oceanic currents circle and deposit shared nutrients across the globe. Further, through the melting of the ice via solar energy new fresh water is made available for countless ecosystems around the world that are dependent upon this cycle for survival. This can become so important that should the amount of solar energy in a particular region fluctuate it could mean substantial damage to an existing ecosystem and may cause some systems to collapse entirely.

Finally, in a commercial sense solar energy has helped provide an alternative power source for many individuals, both through the usage of photovoltaic energy cells for harvesting direct energy from the sun’s rays as well as through harvesting wind and hydro power, both byproducts generated from solar energy. This has allowed many people to utilize effective renewable energy in a number of different ways and has helped reduce energy consumption in many countries, thus providing a cleaner, safer environment for people to live in. This is especially important now as our oil reserves are depleted more and more each year and other traditional fuels are becoming less readily available, paving the way for alternative energy.