Solar Impact on Climate Change

Climate change is a present reality. Its effects are driven primarily by human activities such as greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation, escalating into a global crisis with far-reaching consequences. Among its many impacts, one of the most apparent is its direct influence on residential areas. This effect on our homes and communities has us looking for opportunities to slow the changes.

One of these opportunities for sustainability lies in the installation and use of residential solar power. Unlike the burning of fossil fuels, which emit greenhouse gases and increase the effects of climate change, solar power offers a clean alternative. By harnessing the sun’s energy, households can reduce their carbon emissions, decreasing reliance on traditional energy sources and directly increasing the solar impact on climate change.

What is Climate Change?

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in global or regional climate patterns, primarily attributed to human activities which alter the atmosphere’s composition. This alteration leads to changes in the earth’s climate system, including variations in temperature, precipitation patterns, rise in sea level, and the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

Impacts of Climate Change

The impacts of climate change affect the environment, society, and economy in various ways:

• Rising Temperatures: Higher temperatures lead to an increase in extreme weather, such as hurricanes, wildfires, droughts, and heat waves. Rising temperatures and extreme weather conditions can take a toll on housing and other community infrastructures, which increases the cost of owning a home, insurance coverage, and utility bills.
• Changes in Precipitation Patterns: Changes in rainfall can lead to droughts and flooding, disrupting ecosystems, reducing crop growth and output, increasing food prices, and creating water scarcity, particularly in vulnerable and underserved populations and communities throughout the United States of America.
• Dangers to Human Health: Lives are endangered by higher mortality rates and the greater spread of infectious diseases created by changes in temperature and weather patterns, the occurrence of extreme weather events, and changes in diseases and their carriers (like mosquitoes and ticks).
• Damage to Economic Infrastructure: Extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and floods, can cause significant damage to infrastructure, including buildings, roads, and utilities, leading to costly repairs and disruptions to economic activity.

Climate change poses significant challenges to environmental sustainability, human well-being, and economic prosperity, highlighting the need for changes at local, national, and global levels. Individuals can help by reducing their reliance on energy created by burning fossil fuels.

Fossil Fuels and Climate Change

Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, contain carbon-based compounds formed from organic matter buried deep within the earth’s crust. The extraction, processing, transportation, and burning of fossil fuels for energy production release carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), into the atmosphere, which have adverse effects on air quality, human health, and ecosystems.

In contrast, solar panels help reduce the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) released into the air by decreasing the use of fossil fuels. The carbon footprint of rooftop solar panels is roughly 12 times less than natural gas and 20 times less than coal, in terms of CO2 emissions per kWh of electricity generated. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, “Solar produces less life-cycle GHG emissions than conventional fossil fuel energy sources.”

Solar Impact on Climate Change

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy emphasizes the solar impact on mitigating climate change. As we look deeper into the transformative impact of solar energy, let’s explore how solar power addresses a few critical environmental challenges:

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction

• Solar energy production generates electricity without emitting greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), which are major contributors to global warming and climate change.
• By replacing fossil fuel-based electricity with solar power, we can substantially reduce emissions of CO2 and other pollutants which contribute to climate change.

Air Pollution Mitigation

• When burned for electricity generation, traditional energy sources release pollutants like sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
• Solar energy produces electricity without combustion, meaning it does not emit harmful air pollutants contributing to respiratory illnesses, smog formation, acid rain, and other environmental problems.
• By reducing reliance on fossil fuels, solar energy helps improve air quality, particularly in urban areas where air pollution is a significant health concern.

Protection of Natural Resources

• Solar energy relies on sunlight, a virtually unlimited and renewable resource, unlike fossil fuels, which are measurable and require extraction from the earth.
• Harnessing solar power reduces the need for environmentally damaging practices such as coal mining, oil drilling, and hydraulic fracturing (fracking), which mitigates the risks of habitat destruction, water pollution, and ecosystem degradation.

Why Install Rooftop Solar?

The transition to solar energy underscores the power of individual actions in driving meaningful environmental change. 

A single homeowner embracing solar power through rooftop installation can make a difference in reducing their carbon emissions and inspiring others to follow. The cumulative effect of countless households adopting solar energy can impact a broader shift toward renewable energy, amplifying the environmental benefits across communities and regions.

Residential solar energy offers many benefits for homeowners, ranging from environmental sustainability to energy independence, cost savings, and increased property value.

• Environmental Benefits: Solar impacts the environment by producing little to no greenhouse gas emissions, which can help mitigate climate change and improve air quality.
• Cost Savings: Installing solar panels can offer long-term cost savings on electricity bills, while also providing a consistently reliable monthly payment, increasing home value, and offering opportunities to earn energy credits or cash through net metering programs.
• Energy Independence: By generating your own electricity with rooftop solar panels, households become less reliant on traditional utility companies and volatile energy markets. Solar energy systems can provide a reliable power source during utility grid outages or emergencies with a battery storage system.

As solar technology costs continue to decline and policies supporting the shift to renewable energy expand, the widespread adoption of residential solar will play a bigger role in mitigating climate change and building a sustainable energy future.

Partner with Blue Raven Solar and Make a Difference Today

Blue Raven Solar is dedicated to improving homeowners’ lives by helping them have a positive impact on the environment. We strive to educate consumers on solar’s impact and provide support to solar adopters who want to do their part.

Over the 10 years we’ve been in business, we’ve conducted more than 40,000 rooftop installations to offset over 5,000 metric tons of carbon emissions. Each of those installations represents a single homeowner who decided to make a change for the better, and together it all adds up to something incredible.

Our solar experts will guide you through every step—from system design to energization—to make the process of installing solar smooth and hassle-free. 

Schedule a free quote from one of our solar experts today!