When people try to find the answer to why solar energy is good, they will start to realize the significance of solar power. Solar technology has introduced greater possibilities in harnessing the most abundant resource of renewable energy, the Sun.
Now, solar power has become a popular trend for people to reap the advantages of sustainable energy resources. More homeowners and property developers around the world have started to install solar panels on their own homes, farms, and even on their commercial buildings.
How do you convince more people to give solar power a go? Listed below are fifteen compelling reasons why you should consider going solar.
Solar Power Provides Emergency Electricity During Calamities
Solar Power Improves Grid Stability
Now, let us elaborate on each of these reasons. By the end of this article, you should at least be able to know the benefits of solar energy. Or, you might be convinced to install solar panels in your homes!
1. Solar Energy is a FREE Energy Resource
Most conventional energy sources require coal, fuel, or petroleum to produce electricity. These energy sources cost more and more as time passes. It is because these power plants use depleting natural resources.
On the other hand, solar power gets its energy from photons that the Sun emits day by day. Its cost is absolutely 0$ only. Sunlight is free ever since. Now that we have discovered a way to harness its power, solar technology will have a long way to go.
2. Solar Power is Environmentally-Friendly
When we speak about reducing the carbon footprint and being friendly to the environment, solar power can easily help with that. By harnessing solar energy, you are reducing the demand for coal and fossil fuels knowing that they contribute to the high CO2 emissions.
Solar energy is a clean source of energy, and it makes your household more sustainable and efficient. The solar modules that you install on your roofs will not release harmful gases and chemicals to the environment while producing electrical energy. Unlike traditional powerplants, a solar power system will only require sunlight to bring electricity to your home.
3. Solar Power Utilizes Unused Roofs
The beauty of solar energy is that it can turn your unused roof space into a free power source. This means, your roof will collect sunlight by installing solar panels on them and then power your home appliances.
Can a solar roof power a house?
Yes, indeed! Installing solar panels on unused roof space may entirely power a house. An average household in the United States will use approximately 9,850 kWh in a year. You will need to install around 20 to 28 solar panels (about 300 Watts or higher capacity) to cover the home’s energy consumption.
Many residential and commercial property owners have realized they can take advantage of their underutilized roofs. By installing a solar power system ranging from 5kW to 20kW, they will be able to see a big difference in their electricity bills each month.
Instead of having your roofs unused and just collecting bags of dust, start using them to collect solar energy. This is one of the smartest ways to take advantage of solar technology today.
4. Solar Power Reduces Electricity Bills
When you are connected to the local utility grid, you will need to pay the electricity company depending on how much energy you use. Plus, you also need to pay surcharges and other fees.
What if you generate your own electricity using solar panels? Will it reduce your monthly electricity bill? The answer is, of course, YES.
How does solar energy reduce electricity bills?
Most utility companies allow grid-connected solar power systems for residential, commercial, or industrial usage. This lets the homeowners benefit from solar power directly. By installing solar panels, they generate their own electricity. This eliminates or significantly reduces their need to purchase electric power from utilities. As a result, their bills will be significantly lower compared to when they did not install the solar power system yet.
5. Solar Panel Cost Is Reducing
The growing developments of more affordable and efficient solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies play a significant role in making solar cost-competitive with other energy sources. Today, most large-scale solar PV plants generate a Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of around $0.063/kWh. If we compare this to $0.378/kWh a decade ago, we can say that solar energy is becoming one of the cheapest energy sources available.
Between 2018 and 2019 alone, the price fell 13% according to the data given by IRENA or the International Renewable Energy Agency.
6. Solar Power Creates Jobs
According to the figures released by IRENA, the total renewable energy jobs continue to grow to 11.5 million globally, and the big chunk of it comes from solar.
How does solar energy create jobs?
The data released by The Solar Foundation in 2019 shows that the solar energy industry employment has seen 167% growth since 2010. It nearly reached 250,000 jobs in 2019, and that is in the United States alone. This is primarily due to the growing interest of different companies and individuals to produce renewable energy.
As the price of solar panels drops dramatically, the demand for solar PV system installation rises. This has prompted a lot of individuals to step in to start up the solar installation business. Additionally, more construction companies have also rode along by creating their own solar installation departments or divisions.
Moreover, more companies started building factories for manufacturing and recycling solar panels, solar mounting structures, and solar inverters. It has even revolutionized the cabling industries as they were able to manufacture DC solar cables. Just make sure to know about the concept of voltage drop calculation when choosing the cable sizes. These opened doors to many people who are not able to find jobs before.
The demand brought about by the interest in going solar has developed a new set of job skills. This has paved the way for solar panel installers, solar design engineers, solar field supervisors, and solar panel factory workers to find new jobs. Because of this, the solar energy industry has brought more jobs to people than ever before.
7. Solar Power Utilizes Unused Desert Lands
The landmass of the Earth covers approximately 29 percent of its surface and an estimated 33 percent of that landmass constitutes all types of desert lands.
There are so many underutilized desert lands that can be used for constructing solar PV plants. That will definitely put good use to it, especially for places where there is a scarcity of reliable electricity sources. Desert lands are ideal for ground-mounted bifacial solar panel systems along with dual-axis trackers.
Can you install solar panels in the desert?
The answer for this is definitely a big YES! In fact, A 550 megawatt (MWac) solar PV power station was just constructed in the middle of Californian desert land, which is the Mojave Desert. It uses thin-film technology for its solar panels that are produced by a US-based solar module manufacturer.
8. Solar Electricity Allows You to Go Off-the-Grid
Going off-grid means you will not be connecting your home to a local electric company, instead, you produce your own electricity. By installing a solar power system, you will be able to generate your own electrical energy. You may want to check our DIY off-grid solar system article.
Can you use solar energy during the night?
With the aid of energy storage systems, you will be able to use solar energy for your home appliances during the day and store the excess energy in the batteries. During the night or when cloudy days come, the stored energy from the battery will supply your power needs.
9. Solar Power Has a Low Maintenance Cost
Once the installation of solar modules is done, it has very minimal maintenance. Solar PV systems are known to have no moving parts, except when they are installed with mechanical sun trackers. That is the reason why its maintenance cost is very low.
How often do I need to clean my solar panels?
Solar panels will only need cleaning at least once every two months or depending on how specks of dust or dirt accumulate on them. They last for more than two decades usually. The cleaning of solar panels can be done manually with a soft, non-abrasive cloth to wipe off the dirt and dust particles.
Usually, the only main concern with solar PV plants is the inverter which might need to be replaced after 15 years. But in most cases, the inverters can also last longer as long as you maintain them properly. As solar cells require these inverters, properly taking care of them should always be practiced.
10. Solar Energy Is Abundant
Now, let us discuss the abundance of solar energy. There are many widely-known truths about this type of energy, but let’s check the details on why it is so exuberant!
Why is solar energy the most abundant form of energy?
It is an undeniable fact that solar energy is abundant. This is the most profusely available form of energy on earth. That is because its source is the fiery ball of flame in the center of the solar system itself, the Sun.
Every single day, the Sun radiates 170,000 terawatts of solar energy on the Earth’s surface continuously. Solar energy is the most abundantly supplied energy resource on our planet. It is so abundant that one day of the Sun’s solar energy supply can satisfy the world’s total yearly energy usage of 10,000 times. Just imagine that!
11. Solar Energy Can Be Stored In Batteries
During nighttime or cloudy days, solar panels may not be able to fully power your home. Fortunately, solar energy can also be stored in batteries and used to supply your electricity needs whenever necessary.
How much solar energy can be stored in a battery?
Let’s say for example, in the United States the consumption of a household will be 38 kilowatt-hours (kWh) on average of electrical energy daily. Let us also consider the typical solar battery that could provide roughly 10 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of capacity. By using simple math, we can conclude that the homeowner will need to buy at least 4 solar batteries to power the house using batteries alone.
When the sun is up, solar energy will power your home appliances and the excess electricity will be stored inside the solar batteries. Given that there’s no sunlight during the night, your stored solar energy from the batteries will come to play in powering your home. That is the simple approach to explaining how solar energy and solar batteries work.
12. Solar Energy is Renewable
Solar energy comes from the Sun, thus, it is never running out. It is a perpetual energy resource that can be converted into useable electricity.
When we say solar energy is renewable, it means it is totally sustainable and inexhaustible, unlike coal and fossil fuels. Our Sun, just like any other star, has about 9 or 10 billion years of life span. Scientists estimate that it has been burning for half its lifetime already. It still has five billion (5,000,000,000) more years to stay. So, there’s no need to worry about it.
13. Solar Electricity Can Charge Electric Vehicles
Electric vehicles, like Tesla, can enjoy free charging of their batteries using solar electricity. In fact, one of the biggest selling points for EVs is that they are environment-friendly. Thanks to the possibility of collecting solar energy and using it to charge their vehicles.
The combination of solar panels and electric vehicles is not only green but also a good investment in the long run. If you have installed a solar power system big enough for your electricity needs and EV charging, it can give you financial benefits.
It will not only reduce the monthly electric bill but also eliminate your car fuel costs.
14. Solar Power Provides Emergency Electricity
The force of nature can cause severe calamities in some places. Power lines can be cut-off when strong storms and heavy rains happen to pass by. This may leave many individuals and families helpless. Fortunately, solar panels can help provide emergency electricity in many cases after a severe calamity hits.
Last October 2020, a category-5 Super Typhoon Rolly made landfall in the Philippines. It has affected a lot of people in the Luzon and Visayas islands. In good faith, a group of people who have installed solar panels on their roofs offered free cellphone charging for people who were devastated by the storm. With the use of solar panels and solar batteries, they were able to charge their phones and make a call to their relatives and government officials for badly needed help.
A report from SolarPower Europe shows that “solar is not only the lowest cost power source in many regions and crucial to meet EU climate targets, but also a reliable partner that helps to keep the grid stable and supports Europe’s security of supply.“
Solar PV Plant to Grid Schematic Diagram
“This report points to the fact that utility-scale solar PV provides grid reliability and flexibility services that are even more effective than conventional power plants in some cases if the project is designed inclusive of advanced plant controls. With utility-scale solar PV now cheaper than conventional fossil-fueled energy and electricity generation assets, it is now simply irresponsible for decision-makers to opt for carbon-emitting ‘old energy sources like coal or gas“, according to Stefan Degener, Managing Director at First Solar and Board member of SolarPower Europe.
You may find the Fact vs. Myth: Solar and grid power stability presentation here.
Final Thoughts
There are a lot more reasons why we should install solar panels and start using renewable solar energy. In this blog post, we just gave you fifteen of them and we know there are a lot more compelling reasons for going solar.
Aren’t you convinced yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Article Name
15 Reasons Why We Should Use Solar Energy
Description
How do you convince more people to give solar power a go? Listed below are fifteen compelling reasons why you should consider going solar.
He loves to read news and articles about renewable energy and technology. He is experienced in the solar energy industry. He loves to write articles, guides, and tutorials about solar PV technology.
