Climate change and solar energy

Solar power now has a momentum that has become globally significant. In 2011, solar power reached a tipping point. For the first time, the solar industry had saved more greenhouse gases than it emitted. This is the fundamental estimate of a  paper published in the journal Nature Communications, which addressed questions around the sustainability of solar panels by comparing the amount of CO2 emitted during production to the amount saved once in use.

The capacity of solar power has grown steadily

Solar power capacity has grown rapidly globally over the past four decades. Cumulative capacity grew from less than one megawatt (MW) in 1975 to around 180 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2014, the study says. That is an increase of around nearly half year-on-year.
This growth rate is seen as a sign of a thriving industry and as a great advantage in the fight against climate change. This is because solar panels generate carbon-free, renewable power.
However, producing the panels requires energy. Since this energy largely comes from fossil fuels, greenhouse gases are emitted during panel production.

Solar gradually replacing fossil fuels

Solar panels displace more polluting energy over their lifetime than was consumed during their production. But for the solar industry as a whole, rapid growth means initial production emissions have outweighed the savings from using solar instead of coal or gas. It is only when these savings start to outweigh carbon released during production, that solar power generation contributes to reducing climate change. The study looked at some elements of the solar industry over a period of 40 years, from 1975 to 2015, including its growth, improvements in efficiency, and cumulative energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. Measuring cumulative installed energy capacity meant creating a dataset that is an “aggregate of more and less accurate data” from various suppliers, the study says.

Greenhouse gas emissions

Greenhouse gas emissions produced by the solar industry depend on where the solar panels are made and used — some countries have more polluting power grids than others, depending on the source of electricity. Countries that derive a larger proportion of their power from coal will have a more carbon-intensive grid. Accordingly, the researchers used the average carbon intensity of the grid in producing countries to measure emissions, and the average of all grids to measure the emissions displaced. Solar capacity is more likely to replace older, fossil fuel plants as they are decommissioned, which would mainly use coal or natural gas.

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.