Solar panel installations have been booming over recent years with the World Economic Forum estimating that almost 100,000 solar panels are installed worldwide every hour, which equals to 1000 football fields worth of solar panels every day.
It can be agreed that solar is an affordable, reliable, sustainable and renewable source of energy for homes and businesses but, there are a few reasons that solar is the way the world is going and reasons why it should that maybe you didn’t know. We’ve taken a look at six little known reasons why solar is the way the world is going:
Solar panels are virtually pollution free
Although there is some environmental pollution when the solar PV is being manufactured, once it is installed, it there is basically zero impact on the environment because it has no moving parts, no noise, no emissions and no need for fuel besides the rays of the sun.
Contaminated or unsafe water can be converted to drinking water with solar power
For water that is infected with bacteria or viruses (not pollutants or chemicals) there is a solar power system called Solar Water Disinfection (SoDis) which can decontaminate water without polluting the environment. This gives way for the potential of clean water in rural areas.
There is enough solar to power the entire earth
With an area the size of Spain which, although it is quite a large country, makes up less than 1% of the earth’s land mass, we would be able to generate enough power to satisfy the world’s energy needs. This would completely remove the need for all other forms of renewable and more importantly non-renewable energy sources, completely.
Solar is officially the most affordable energy source
According to the IEA (International Energy Agency) in a 2020 article, it is believed that solar energy is the cheapest source of energy in history. As of 2019 it is cheaper even than fossil fuels with a cost of between 20 – 50% cheaper than other sources of energy.
Solar power creates jobs and economic growth
The more people who opt for solar, the more there will be need for solar installations which will create the need for additional jobs for skilled workers which will consequently keep the economy growing. An example of this is in the UK, where in 2015, it became the second-largest solar employer by employing 35 000 people.
We may not be ready to go entirely solar yet, but the world is slowly going the solar route and it is expected that by 2050 solar power will be the main power source for more than 10% of the world. Currently, solar is generating a bit more than 2% of the world’s electricity.