Can using solar power help the environment?

Solar energy has provided an affordable way for environmentally conscious homeowners to reduce their carbon footprint on the earth. By using solar power in your home, you can help the world reduce greenhouse gases, cause less pollution, use less of the world’s finite resources and leave behind a better world and legacy for future generations. 

Solar energy lowers emissions

The most obvious environmental benefit of solar energy is the reduction in harmful emissions. One of the most pressing issues of our day is the high emission of greenhouse gases. These gases have been linked to global warming and climate change. Carbon dioxide, CO2, is the most common of these gases, although they also include nitrogen oxide, NOx, and sulfur dioxide, SO2. Solar power helps you lower these emissions without any drastic change of lifestyle.

Data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency suggests that electricity-generating power plants are the largest industrial source of air emissions in the United States. This is because the power plants need to burn either natural gas or coal in order to produce electricity. Solar panels generate electricity with no emissions at all. Solar panels today are completely self-contained units that convert sunlight directly into electricity through the photovoltaic effect. There is no need for harmful outside resources. This means that for every kWh of electricity, we are releasing up to 3.6 pounds of CO2 into the air. Power plants that run on natural gas emit 0.6 to 2 pounds of CO2E/kWh. Solar power, including the manufacturing of panels and everything else, emits only 0.07 to 0.2 pounds of CO2E/kWh.

It is estimated that one solar-powered home will avoid the emission of about 170,000 to 200,000 pounds of CO2 over a 25-year lifespan. However, if the United States could get 25 percent of its electricity from solar power, we could lower CO2 emissions by 277 million metric tons annually. That is an impact that cannot be ignored.

Solar reduces pollution

Power plants pollute the Earth in other ways that can be negated by solar power. The burning of fossil fuels pollutes waterways, which carry the pollution to plants and animals. Also, many of the most devastating environmental disasters of our day have been the result of harvesting fossil fuels. There have been multiple oil spills in the world’s oceans and even coal ash spills in the mountains. The nuclear industry is not immune to toxic pollutants. The Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 was a wake-up call for those few who believed nuclear power is safe. 

Solar power utilizes an infinite resource: the sun. Power plants rely on natural gas and coal. These are resources they have to search for, drill for and use up. Once a load of coal is used, it is gone forever and it’s never clear how much is left in the earth. The sun, on the other hand, creates more sunlight than we could ever use. When using solar panels, you don’t need to worry about whether future generations will have the resources they need for electricity nor do you need to worry about how it will affect our quality of life on Earth. Thousands of homeowners around the world have stepped forward to reduce greenhouse emissions, pollution and resource consumption. They are creating a better world for the future and serving as an example to the next generation.

The solar revolution is here!

If you want to move into the future and join the solar revolution, or if you want to find out what solar panels are right for you, go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. You can see how much a system will cost, and how much you can save over the next 20 years. 

For more information relating to going solar, don't forget to visit our solar blog section for more handy guides and articles