Solar and carbon emissions

The news is dominated by climate events that are increasingly more worrisome. This summer, heat records are being broken all over the world and hundreds of deaths have resulted. For those who refuse to believe in climate change, the evidence has never been more obvious. How can we reduce our carbon emissions for a cleaner future for our planet? Solar energy is the only answer that currently exists for mankind to begin to reverse the trend toward global warming.

Solar panel construction

Considerable energy goes into manufacturing a single solar panel. Quartz and copper must be mined. The raw materials must be converted into wafers, then encased in protective material. After panels leave the factory, they must be shipped to locations all over the world. Now imagine these consequences spread over four decades—the environmental cost of the solar industry. Considering all the research, development, and production that goes into making any one panel, a wise solar-buyer might wonder: Has the solar industry really saved any energy at all? The answer is clearly yes.

The solar industry has already paid its climate “debts”

The solar industry paid off its long-term energy and climate “debts” in 2011, a study published this week in Nature Communications finds. Since its beginning in 1975, the solar-panel industry has prevented more greenhouse-gas emissions than it emitted. It has also produced more energy than it initially required. Consequently, the solar industry is now historically carbon-neutral, if not carbon-negative. The news comes at a strange time for the solar industry worldwide. The cost of solar-panel installation continues to drop. In many sunny parts of the world, solar energy is cheaper than fossil fuels, even without subsidies. Moreover, the American renewable-energy industry faces a hostile new presidential administration, which is already staffed with fossil-fuel executives who have signaled they may pull government loans and tax credits for the technology.

The solar industry is now carbon-negative

When the solar industry becomes net carbon-negative, it will stay that way, as solar panel manufacturing has become gradually cheaper, cleaner, and more energy-efficient over time. As expected, the carbon footprint of the solar industry is much, much smaller than that of the oil or gas business. For consumers, the researchers’ most general finding might be the most important. The solar industry is currently preventing more carbon emissions than it has caused. 

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.