Environmental Benefits of Solar Energy
WE HAVE REACHED A SURPRISING POINT IN THE HOME SOLAR BOOM
The economic advantages have surpassed the environmental benefits of solar energy
In our 2012 survey, we learned that 74% of solar homeowners did it just for the economic savings, and the environmental benefits? Just a pleasant bonus.
STILL, THE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS ARE CONSIDERABLE. HERE’S A SHORT LIST:
1. THE SUN IS EVERYWHERE.
The sun delivers more energy to Earth each hour than the entire human population uses in a year. Check it out in a 2006 paper from Sandia National Laboratory. And while some of the top solar states are also the sunniest – California, Arizona, North Carolina – almost every region of North America receives enough sunlight to make home solar worthwhile. For instance, Alaska receives the same amount of sun as Germany – and Germany is the poster child for solar adoption. Recent research has shown that not only is there plenty of solar potential in snowy climates, but that cold-weather states like New Jersey and Massachusetts are among the leaders in home solar installations.
2. SOLAR ENERGY IS LOW-IMPACT.
True, photovoltaic panels, as well as the other hardware needed to install your home solar system, are high-tech. Their production involves labor- and resource-intensive materials. But! Compare the process to mining coal, fracturing the earth to release oil and gas, or drilling for oil, and there’s no question. Solar power is far cleaner. According to the International Panel on Climate Change, as described by scientific advocacy group the Union of Concerned Scientists, coal and natural gas generate between 8-51 times as many greenhouse gas emissions as home solar.
3. SOLAR ENERGY IS SAFE.
Fossil fuels have been regularly implicated in devastating natural disasters, like the oil spills of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, or the Exxon Valdez (from which it took sea otters 25 years to recover to pre-1989 levels). No less horrific were the more recent Lac-Mégantic oil train derailment, or the devastating coal ash spills in Tennessee and North Carolina’s Dan River.
