Most people should already know the core benefits of using solar energy. Harnessing this clean, reliable, and in all practical senses, unlimited energy resource is a fantastic alternative to damaging and polluting fossil fuels. Needless to say, choosing to go solar is also an excellent way of cutting or even entirely eliminating your reliance on grid energy and saving money too. There are also quite a number of important secondary benefits that solar energy can provide, so let’s take a look at some of the lesser-known examples.
1) Energy Production Is Highest During Peak Demand
One of the most misguided arguments against solar energy is that it is difficult or unwieldy to store. The reality is actually the opposite, but did you also know that the times of day when we use most energy directly coincide with when solar power production is at its peak? Daylight hours between 9-5 account for a significant part of our energy use, and one of the reasons you’ll see so many panels on commercial and industrial buildings is that these are also the most productive times to harness energy. This allows producers to instantly use the energy that they produce either uniquely or to supplement grid reliance.
2) Negligible Transportation Loss
Power needs to travel down lines into our homes and businesses – and as may be expected a proportion of this is lost during the process. With more properties being supported by solar panels directly feeding into their immediate supply, that loss can be considerably reduced and even eliminated in all practical terms. Very little solar power ever goes to waste and it actually helps the entire network become more efficient at the same time.
3) Solar Power Has Near-Zero Production Costs
Another popular misconception about solar energy is that the panels are somehow flimsy or unreliable. This is simply not the case! Modern solar panels are supplied with at least a 25-year manufacturer’s guarantee for a simple reason – they are durable and barely ever break down. In terms of maintenance, they rarely require much more than a straightforward clean much like how we wash down our windows (make sure you use appropriate non-scouring equipment). While installing solar panels is a significant investment once they’re in place it’s unlikely they’ll ever need more than an occasional service. Compared to the kind of heavy equipment and plants needed to process fossil fuels, solar is a much more intelligent and economic form of power generation. Electricity providers in Houston have already implemented solar energy into their plans and provide affordable rates that will help you cut your power bill while also being more ecologically friendly in the long term.
4) Secondary Environmental Benefits
Everyone should know that solar power is incredibly clean – but there are some very important other environmental benefits that are rarely mentioned. Perhaps the most important of all is that solar energy production does not produce any waste materials. Neither does it create the smoke or dust that is proven to be very bad for our health, have any negative impact upon wildlife, or add further traffic and congestion to our roads. If the world were to magically become solar powered overnight we’d no longer need to put up with open cast mining, fracking, oil wells, and so on.
5) Solar Improves Energy Security
We’ve all likely experienced a power blackout at some stage of our lives and know that it always tends to make us aware of how utterly dependent we are on the grid for our energy supply! Solar panels are essentially millions upon millions of small decentralized power stations that can generate power without relying on a primary operational structure. With electricity no longer needing to cover enormous distances in such high concentration there will be far fewer issues with power substations. Overloads and possibly even entire blackout simply need never happen again.
