Solar power’s role in climate change

Mankind has a decision to make regarding energy generation. Despite a few climate change deniers, the overwhelming majority of climate scientists believe that we are in a global energy crisis. High prices for gasoline and home heating oil are here to stay. Countries like China and India are rapidly increasing their demand for fossil fuels. Fortunately, those two countries are also two of the most invested in solar power. In the meantime, power plants that burn coal, oil and natural gas are still spewing prodigious amounts of harmful substances into the atmosphere every day. That’s to say nothing of vehicle emissions all over the planet. 

Researchers have no doubt that solar is the ultimate solution

Scientists, engineers, economists, and politicians have proposed various steps that could slightly reduce fossil-fuel use and emissions. These steps are not sufficient... The U.S. needs a bold energy plan to free itself from fossil fuels. The current solar expansion is a step in the right direction. Solar energy's potential is off the chart. The energy in sunlight striking the earth for 40 minutes is equivalent to global energy production for a year. The U.S. is fortunate to be endowed with a vast resource; at least 250,000 square miles of land in the Southwest alone are suitable for constructing solar power plants, and that land receives more than 4,500 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) of solar energy a year. Converting only 2.5 percent of that radiation into electricity would match the nation's total energy consumption in 2006. To convert the country to solar energy, huge tracts of land would have to be covered with photovoltaic panels and solar heating troughs. A direct-current (DC) transmission infrastructure would also have to be erected to transmit that energy efficiently across the nation.

Solar technology is expanding

The technology is ready. We project that solar energy could be sold to consumers at rates equivalent to today's rates for conventional power sources, about five cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). If wind, biomass, and geothermal sources were also utilized, renewable energy could provide all of the nation's electricity and 90 percent of its energy by 2100. The federal government would have to invest more than $400 billion over the next 40 years to complete the 2050 plan. Solar plants consume little or no fuel, saving billions of dollars every year. The infrastructure would displace 300 large coal-fired power plants and 300 more natural gas plants and all the fuels they consume. The plan would effectively eliminate all imported oil, cutting U.S. trade deficits and easing political tension in the Middle East and other volatile places. Because solar technologies are almost pollution-free, the plan would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by 1.7 billion tons a year, and another 1.9 billion tons from gasoline vehicles would be displaced by plug-in hybrids refueled by the solar grid. In 2050 U.S. carbon dioxide emissions would be 62 percent below 2005 levels, putting a major slowdown on global warming.

You can do your part by installing a solar energy system!

Solar power is here to stay, and the sooner you explore how much you can save, the sooner you can enjoy the benefits of residential solar power. Go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. It tells you how much solar power you need, and how much you can save.

Please visit our solar blog to find out more about the benefits of going solar.