You may have experienced using a solar-powered calculator or other small solar-operated item in your home, and been impressed with how well it worked by utilizing the power that comes from a free source, the sun. The technologies that are used on a small scale to power small appliances and even homes are being expanded in order to bring low-cost power to entire cities.

Cities in sunny climates in the southwestern United States as well as southwestern Europe already enjoy electrical power that comes to them from the sun through solar power systems. There are many advantages of solar power for cities, for both now and into the future.

By using clean energy technology, cities can do their part to take care of the environment. Many traditional power plants wreak havoc on the land from which they extract the energy. Mountaintop removal in West Virginia, which has obliterated sections of the land in that state, is one example of how traditionally produced power can be detrimental to plants, animals and people, who rely on the environment to provide them with food, clean water and a livable home.

Clean energy systems, because they rely on the sun, have a much lower impact on fragile ecosystems than does traditional extraction of energy.

Burning oil and coal to produce energy also comes with a huge cost to the quality of the air. Renewable energy systems such as solar power actually help to eliminate a huge amount of greenhouse gases that would normally be produced by traditional means of electricity production.

While the extraction of oil and coal from the ground renders the land useless for other activities, this is not the case when renewable energy technologies are used to create power. Certain clean energy systems allow the ground to also be used simultaneously for agricultural purposes, for example.

In some instances, the solar panels can be raised high up into the air on columns, which leaves the ground around the panels free for other uses. The land can then be used to graze livestock, for example, with no harm to the animals while the energy production occurs.

Another negative impact when traditional power plants are put into place is that most require a huge amount of water each year in order to produce the electricity. This is not the case with solar power; in certain cases, no water is needed at all, bringing a major benefit to those hot areas that are low on water yet giving them the ability to produce substantial amounts of usable energy.

This is just a small sampling of the advantages of solar power that cities can enjoy right now.