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Solar Power
Solar Power

Learn English with this 'solar power' English lesson

Date: Oct 18 2017

Themes: Tech, Weather

Grammar: Comparatives and Superlatives

Intro

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It’s no secret that people have access to very different things around the world. Some countries have the money to build good roads, bring water to its cities, and give everyone an education, for example. Unfortunately, many countries do not. But one thing that everyone can get is sunshine. Solar power is available to you whether you’re rich or poor or somewhere in the middle.

Large solar panels are the most well-known and popular way to bring solar power to one’s home, but there are alternatives. With today’s technology, portable solar panels can charge equipment like your phone when you’re away from home and off the grid. With more and more people on board with the idea of using sunshine to power our lives, companies will continue generating products that cost less and less. Hopefully, one day everyone will be able to live in a home powered by sunlight.

Do Gary and Jessica use solar power at home? Read on in today’s English lesson about energy and the environment.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Gary

Gary

Jessica

Jessica

Gary:  I’m a big fan of solar power. Are you?

Jessica:  I am. I know it’s expensive, but I think it’s definitely worth the work and effort.

Gary:  But it’s actually coming down in price.

Jessica:  It’s true. Well, they’re finding new alternatives and incentives to get people to go solar.

Gary:  Well, yeah. You are generating electricity from the sun. Therefore you’ve got energy to power your house, your car… and you can have panels on your roof.

Jessica:  Exactly.

Gary:  You can have a portable panel to charge your phone.

Jessica:  I know. We sold solar panels to someone, and they put them on their boat. It was very cool. They were living off the grid

Gary:  Wow.

Jessica:  …and they were still able to power their electricity through solar power.

Gary:  I actually read just the other day that Germany is the absolute best country right now with solar power development.

Jessica:  Wow.

Gary:  That’s amazing. They got to a point recently where they were putting power back into the grid from houses during the busiest time of day.

Jessica:  Wow. That’s incredible. Well, I think we should definitely do some more research and start getting other people on board with using solar power.

Gary:  I agree.

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Gary is curious if Jessica believes in using solar power, and she definitely is. Getting solar power for one’s home, car, or phone is not as expensive as it used to be, and Jessica and Gary agree that it’s the right thing to do.

They share stories about solar power as well. Jessica tells Gary that she sold solar panels to a person who used them to get electricity for his boat. Gary tells Jessica that Germany is so skilled at getting solar power that it’s known for generating more power than it uses sometimes. The friends agree that more people should be learning about and involved in using sunshine to power our lives.

Do you or your family use solar power in your home? Is it popular in your community?

 

Comments

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Romio79

Romio79

Russian Federation

We don’t use solar electricity because it’s not a lot of sun in our region. But we use alternatives. When we backpacked last time I was amazed by a device which my friend had. It was a device that was able to charge a cell phone or any other electronic device using the power of fire.

07:02 PM Oct 18 2017 |

DanielBorges

Portugal

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I don’t use solar power in my home because i live in an old building. However electricity that arrives to my house it’s powered by natural sources at large scale (Thirty percent comes from hydric energy, twenty-five percent from wind energy – I live in Portugal). Also in recent buildings, we can see a lot of solar panels, and people also sale power to the electricity distributor, that it’s produced in-house. I love the idea of staying off the grid, maybe i buy a solar power to charge my phone one of this days. Everyone should be on board on this environmental project! It really worth it!

08:45 AM Oct 18 2017 |

1 person likes this

wiasullah

wiasullah

Afghanistan

We love to use and have Solar power seystem in our country but we are useing alternatives,

03:38 AM Nov 17 2014 |

1979ra

Egypt

we do not use solar power in my country

09:49 PM Oct 19 2014 |

vicmay_lo-flo@live.com.mx

Mexico

it’s a great way to get energy for humans, but in some countries the instalations are expensive!!!

05:09 PM Oct 17 2014 |

ghost.w0506

Germany

I use solar energy too


it s the best investment ever


better than car, clothes or other no need things


when prices increase, you shouldn t pay attention to that, you are producing your own enery. that s good, at least, you prevent our earth from pollution

vik32

vik32

India

its not very popular down here as of now. however, where i am staying got solar panels at the top. Having solar panels at the top we dont require geysers. 


i am completely in favor of solar panels to generate electricity through natural sunshine and we all should make an effort to get more and more people on board in this process.

05:53 AM Oct 16 2014 |

1 person likes this

S&W

S&W

China

In my hometown where is rich in wind resource.The government build lots of windmills in the mountain.hope more and more new energy replace the old ones.

11:58 PM Oct 15 2014 |

shahriarheydari

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Renewable Energy or Green Energy … that’s what we need to use more and more,We have to avoid fossil fuel cuz of our children … cuz of next generation … cuz of save the Earth !

06:23 PM Oct 15 2014 |

judinasve

judinasve

Russian Federation

I saw solar panels are used for road signs in my town and I was wonder. We have the polar day at summer when light is all time and road signs doesn’t need to be shiny. And we have the polar night in winter when no sun light at all and solar panels can’t charge. And only few months when we have normal days with sunlight and short dark nights.

05:09 PM Oct 15 2014 |

kenlin16

kenlin16

Taiwan

It’s getting popular and popular using solar power in my country. Taiwan has tropical climate,having rich sunlight and monsoon,which making it an ideal place for developing natural energy ,for example  solar and wind power. 


  People put the solar panels and small windmill generator on the roof to generate the electricity. Part of these power is used for powering household  electric equipments such as electric water heater and air conditioner. The rest of them is redirected back to the grid for sale to an electricity company. People making use of the natural resource to generate electricity can not only save money but also make money. It really can be said to serve several purposes.

04:31 PM Oct 15 2014 |

fcf515

fcf515

Taiwan

In my community solar power is not very  prevalent. I think it is only applied to a few areas and households and should be popularized so that we can save more on electricity.

09:44 AM Oct 15 2014 |

meysam66

meysam66

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

I worked for more than 2 years in a Solar Power industry. In my country (Iran) we have the technology of manufacturing Solar Panels, but unfortunetly it is not very common for using at homes or industries. In my opinion it is a good idea to use solar panels for pumping water from underground in the farms.

paloma233333

China

no.for china,solar power is  still a sort of  new thing.and most of people don’t get to know it very well.but it’s not long for us to use it entensively.personally,i really think solar power is a present god has bestowed.i love sunshine.

07:24 AM Oct 15 2014 |

buttafly

buttafly

Germany

I am still fascinated about the fact, that we – a country with so little sun – are still the world leader in solar energy. We’ve been receiving subsidies to go solar for more than two decades now. That really lit a fire under the market and was, what I think, a really clever thing to do by the German government. My home uses solar power, yes. Would you believe me if I said that one of the most often used phrases in our house is “Here comes the sun” :D

hermitlady

China

Yes, it is  more popular ueing solar power. In my city there many familives use solar on bathe and cook. But my family dont. In addition, the lamps of road are powered by solar panels.

03:50 AM Oct 15 2014 |

Michele1

Michele1

Italy

The solar panels,or in this case might be better to say ” photovoltaic panels” are one of the best alternative to generate electricty without pollution of our environment. With the “solar” panels is it possible, instead, to warm up the wather with the solar heat. It is still a little expensive to buy and to install those kind of panels,but it is a good way to reduce the electricity bill. The German people have most of their houses with slope roofs for the low temperature and the snow on the winter and ,installing photovoltaic panels on the roofs is a good way to respect environment also. In south east Italy,where we have a lot of sunny days , the companies installed  a huge amount of photovoltaic panels, but disfiguring the rural view,like the high wind generators.At the end, we should find the right solution between the two things: generate electricy at low cost and without pollution and to respect the environment.

08:25 AM Oct 14 2014 |

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