Does Going Solar Help the Environment?

A solar panel does more than provide homeowners with an uninterrupted power supply and significant energy cost savings. There is a clear relationship between solar power and the environment to make the planet a better place to live in – with great benefits to the current and future generations.

The environmental impact of solar panels enhances our planet’s sustainability. The U.S. Department of Energy supports this technology with their Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), reducing the cost of solar panel installation for homeowners year after year.

Take a closer look at how using solar panels to power homes can help the environment.

Solar Power and the Environment: The Benefits of Solar

There is no denying that solar panels offer enormous financial advantages – allowing homeowners to save hundreds of dollars each year. However, the best benefit it brings is the way it affects the environment.

Here are five of the positive environmental effects of renewable solar energy:

1. Significantly Lowers Air Pollution

Conventional energy sources make use of fossil fuels to supply power to consumers. Using either natural gas, oil, or coal to break down fossil fuels produces greenhouse gas emissions. Harmful gases like methane and nitrous oxide pollute the air and negatively impact human health.

Installing solar panels at home helps reduce dependency on these power plants. These panels make use of solar energy instead of burning fossil fuels. With more homes using solar panels for their energy source, the reduction in air pollution becomes even more significant.

2. Conserves Water Consumption

Aside from power plants that burn fossil fuels, hydropower and nuclear energy sources are also harmful to the environment. These plants use a massive amount of water to produce electricity, significantly aggravating the drought problem.

Solar panels are not dependent on water to create energy. If more homeowners switch to solar energy, there will be less need for water to supply electricity.

3. Eliminates Reliance on Nonrenewable Resources

Not only are there limited nonrenewable sources of energy, but they can also create a tremendous amount of pollutants. On the contrary, solar energy is abundant and can last for millions of years. Capturing all the sun’s energy for one hour can provide power for the entire world for the whole year.

States abundant in sunshine most of the year, like Arizona, have more accessible and consistent ways of collecting the sun’s energy with solar panels. The sooner residents transition to solar power, the better we can cut down the damages caused by power plants to the environment.

4. Helps Mitigate Climate Change

Harmful gases in the atmosphere not only create air pollution but also intensify the greenhouse effect. While greenhouse gases warm the planet to make it livable, too much of these can be dangerous. The rising greenhouse effect is the reason behind the catastrophic weather system the world is experiencing today.

Using solar panels can help bring back the Earth’s climate to normalcy since they can produce electricity without emitting greenhouse gases. This is why solar panels and the environment are a good mix.

5. Reduces Toxic Waste

Apart from releasing air pollutants, power plants that burn coals and fossils also produce tons of toxic waste. Disposal of these wastes is usually in locations uninhabited by humans, such as landfills and abandoned mines. However, it is still dangerous for the environment and negatively impacts human lives through adverse climate change.

With people becoming less reliant on conventional power plants, their production will decrease – resulting in lesser pollutant and toxic waste emissions. Solar panels offer an excellent opportunity to help the environment get back on its track.