Solar energy and power plants don’t emit greenhouse gasses or pollute the air. When solar energy replaces or lessens the usage of other energy sources with more significant environmental impacts, it can have an indirectly positive effect on the environment. However, the development and application of solar energy technologies are not without environmental concerns.
One of the ways we can use solar energy to reduce environmental damage is to use solar panels installation as the primary energy source. Solar energy has many benefits, which have little to no environmental impact.
Environmental Impact of Solar Energy
Solar energy generates power from the sun’s rays, which is a renewable resource. Non-renewable fossil fuels, mined from the earth and used to produce energy, have been replaced by solar energy. Coal, natural gas, and petroleum are examples of fossil fuels that will not be used again once they have been consumed. This process is rapidly depleting our natural resources. Fossil fuels harm the environment and don’t have the advantages of renewable energy.
What Are the Benefits of Using Solar Panels?
1. Reduction in Electricity Bill
One of the main benefits of using solar energy is reducing electricity bills. Generating your electricity means you will be using less of the electricity provided by the country. This will effectively reduce your electricity bill, and you can make money by selling the unused electricity you have generated back to the grid.
2. Environmental Impact
Solar energy has the most negligible negative impact on the environment compared to any other energy source. It does not produce greenhouse gasses and does not pollute the water. It does not create any noise, which is one of the benefits of using solar energy.
3. Solar Energy is Applicable Everywhere
As long as we have sunshine, solar energy can be applicable everywhere. Even in remote areas, you can use solar energy as the primary power source. It can be used to power up houses with the help of solar panels. One of the environmental impacts of solar power is using solar panels as the primary energy source.
4. Lower Carbon Emission
6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere each year, resulting from burning fossil fuels, 1.38 billion of which are produced in the United States alone.
One of the significant producers of carbon dioxide in the nation is the electric power industry. In 2020, the American electric generation industry released 1.448 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The most significant contributors to those emissions were coal and natural gas. Lower emissions are the advantages of solar energy.
A solar panels advantages are that the manufacturing process emits less carbon dioxide than 15% of what coal burning would. Solar energy doesn’t emit any carbon after construction. The quantity of carbon released into the environment would be drastically reduced if we switched to solar power for our electricity. Thus, solar panel installation is considered an advantage to the environment.
Negative Environmental Impact of Solar Panels
1. Energy Demand
To produce solar energy, a sizable amount of energy is needed upfront. Energy-intensive industries, including mining, manufacturing, and transportation, are all involved. To create a single solar module, quartz must be processed, cleaned, and made with other parts that may come from other sources (aluminium, copper, etc.). High heat is needed to heat the quartz during the processing stage. Manufacturing involves the exact blending of several materials to get high efficiency panels. All of this consists of a lot of initial effort. Traditional fuels, like gas or coal, are commonly mined, cleaned, and processed on a massive scale before being burned in a single place. It is one of the negative environmental impact of solar energy.
2. Recycling
What occurs when solar panels malfunction or are turned off? Although recycling solar panels is not presently a significant problem, it will be over the next few decades when solar panels need to be replaced. Solar panels can currently be disposed of with other types of common e-waste. Issues relating to recycling are more likely to arise in nations without reliable e-waste disposal methods.
Conclusion
Although solar energy is not ideal, it has a net positive influence on the environment and the economy. Yes, mining and manufacturing solar panels take a tremendous amount of energy, and chemicals are utilized in the production process. However, despite the statistics, these two indisputable facts do not translate into a net negative impact on solar panels. It is safe to say that using a solar panel to reduce environmental damage is a safer way to go ahead.