Protecting our environment with solar energy

News reports of climate-related deaths the world over is making the move to solar power a worldwide necessity. Without a doubt, changing to cleaner sources of energy is the number one way to protect our environment today. It is imperative that we take steps now to reduce our use of polluting fossil fuels. This change must be executed quickly to address the long-term impacts of climate change and to protect our waterways, air quality, and public health in the near-term.

Ignore the climate change deniers

Solar energy is ready now as a clean, safe energy choice for the entire world. Solar power comes in a variety of technologies, with reliable options for everything from powering a laptop to heating your shower to generating power on solar farms. One of the fastest ways to add more solar to our energy mix is to build utility-scale solar power plants. For a multitude of reasons, solar power plants make sense. The United States has some of the best solar resources in the world, especially in the arid Southwest. From California to Texas, there are millions of acres of sun-baked land that are ideal for generating large amounts of clean, renewable solar electricity.

The future of utility-scale solar is bright

Proposed projects in development could power 4.6 million homes. Thankfully, the solar industry is committed to solving environmental problems, not creating them. Developers work to reduce any impacts that utility-scale solar power plants may have on the land and habitat. Every solar project undergoes strict environmental impact reviews by local, state, and federal agencies before it is approved. Additionally, these projects are subject to scrutiny by the public and other stakeholders. Regulations require that solar companies conduct environmental studies, provide detailed project construction plans, and propose mitigation strategies to offset any impact created by their facility.

Large-scale solar makes us greener

Utility-scale solar power plants are only part of the solution to reducing the air pollution that is causing global warming. Distributed-generation solar will play an important role in creating more clean energy, too. Additionally, home and business owners generate their own electricity with photovoltaic panels, so they can reduce the amount of fossil fuels they use to heat water and to heat and cool their buildings with solar thermal technology. It’s all part of the diverse energy sources we need. While distributed generation solar is vitally important, deploying utility-scale solar power plants can substantially increase our clean energy portfolio. Estimates suggest 100 megawatts (MW) of new utility-scale solar power will come online in 2010, followed by several thousand megawatts in the next few years, saving us from constructing eight new coal-fired power plants and emitting 7.6 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The pipeline for utility-scale solar power keeps growing: There are 23,000 MW of proposed solar projects, enough to supply 4.6 million homes.

Clean energy more popular than ever before

Americans are becoming more educated about clean energy, Americans recognize that responsibly developing utility-scale solar power should be a priority. In fact, a recent independent poll found that three out of four Americans support the development of solar power plants on public lands. Today there are no utility-scale solar power plants generating electricity on public lands. But in the last twenty years, 74,000 permits have been approved for oil and gas drilling on public lands. The United States now consumes electricity from aging coal and nuclear plants that are due for decommissioning in the next several decades. We need to get our energy from somewhere, and solar energy is a cleaner, safer option than the status quo. The solar energy industry is ready to power America.

There has never been a better time to install a solar energy system!

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.