Solar power and the earth's climate

The earth's climate has been significantly disturbed by the pollution caused by burning fossil fuels. There is a strong worldwide movement in place to introduce more sustainable forms of energy. Solar power has provided an affordable way for environmentally conscious home and business owners to reduce their carbon footprint. By installing solar power in your home, you can help reduce greenhouse gases, cause less pollution, use less of the world’s finite resources and leave behind a cleaner legacy for future generations.

Solar energy lowers carbon emissions

The most prominent environmental benefit of solar energy is the reduction in harmful emissions. One of the most important issues of our day is the huge emission of greenhouse gases. These gases have been directly 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 reduce these emissions without any significant change of lifestyle. Data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency suggests that electricity-generating power plants are the largest industrial source of air pollution in the United States. This is because the power plants burn either natural gas or coal in order to produce electricity. Solar panels generate power with no emissions at all. Solar panels today are totally self-contained units that convert sunlight directly into electricity through the photovoltaic effect. There is no need for dangerous 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.

Projections suggest 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 1/4 of its electricity from solar power, we could lower CO2 emissions by 277 million metric tons annually. That is an impact that is too important to be ignored.

Solar reduces pollution

Power plants pollute the earth in other ways that can be somewhat negated by solar power. The burning of fossil fuels pollutes waterways, which move the pollution to plants and animals. Also, many of the most devastating environmental disasters of our time have been the result of harvesting fossil fuels. There have been multiple oil spills in the world’s oceans and several coal ash spills in the mountains. The nuclear industry is not immune to toxic pollutants. The Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011 was a wake-up call for those few who believed nuclear power is safe. The meltdowns in Japan continue to spew dangerous amounts of radioactivity into the ocean and the air.

Solar uses a perpetually renewable resource

Solar power utilizes an infinite energy supply: the sun. Power plants rely on natural gas and coal to produce electricity.  Once a quantity of coal is used, it is gone forever and it’s never clear how much is left in the earth. The sun generates more sunlight than we could ever use. When using solar panels, there's no need to worry about whether future generations will have the resources they need for electricity nor do you need to be concerned about how it will affect our quality of life on Earth.

Thousands of homeowners around the world have installed a solar power system to reduce greenhouse emissions, pollution, and resource consumption. They are creating a better world for today, the future, and they serve as an example to the next generation.

The solar revolution is here!

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