As more and more homeowners make the switch to both solar panels and electric vehicles in the US, the clean energy transition is now about more than just increasing clean energy. Increasingly, an important piece of the clean energy transition is electrification. Electrification is a vital piece of any carbon reduction plan, and could have some big implications for the appliances in your home–and your garage!
Continue readingTag Archives: environmental impact of solar energy
What you can do to fight climate change?
Climate change is no longer something in the distant future: from severe storms to wildfires to rising sea levels, we’re already experiencing the deadly side effects of a warming planet. While there’s nothing we can do to stop climate change in its tracks immediately, there are actions we can take to mitigate.
So, as an individual, what can you do? Here are five ways that you can help fight climate change:
Continue readingAdvantages and disadvantages of renewable energy
Wind, geothermal, solar, hydro, tidal, hydrogen, and other renewable technologies are a widely popular source of energy throughout the world today. Countries, corporations, and individuals are adopting renewables for a number of great benefits. In this article, we’ll dive into some of the advantages and disadvantages of renewable energy.
Continue readingHow long do solar panels last? Solar panel lifespan explained
The industry standard for a solar panel’s productive lifetime is 25-30 years. However, a solar panel won’t die after 25-30 years, rather, their output will decrease a significant amount below what the manufacturer projected. It’s hard to understand the upfront cost of going solar without knowing how long you can expect your rooftop panels to produce ample energy. Your solar panels will be able to offset your electricity use for decades, but it is also important to understand industry projections and degradation rates.
Continue readingHow much do solar panels save?
Solar panels aren’t just good for the environment – you can benefit from serious savings over the lifetime of your solar panel system.
Continue readingSolar panel recycling: what you need to know
Solar panels have a lifetime of about 30 years. With the increasing number of solar panels being sold and installed in the U.S. each year, it’s only a matter of time before high volumes of panels are at the end of their useful life and have to be disposed. Solar panel recycling is still at an early stage, but as the solar market continues to expand, recycling processes will have an increasingly important role to play.
Continue reading5 solar shopping tips for environmentalists
Generating electricity with your own rooftop solar panel system is one of the most effective ways to reduce your personal carbon footprint. In fact, the average solar panel system can help offset three to four tons of carbon emissions annually–for perspective, the impact of those carbon reductions is similar to planting more than 100 trees each year!
Continue readingShould you cut down trees to go solar?
When we talk about the environmental benefits of solar power, we often compare the overall carbon offset of a solar panel system to the environmental impact of planting trees. Ironically, maximizing the benefits of solar power may mean cutting down a tree or two prior to installation. It’s a difficult truth, but unfortunately, solar power and trees don’t really get along. Branches and leaves can block sunlight from hitting your roof, which means your solar panels aren’t generating as much clean electricity as they could otherwise be in a sunny area.
Continue readingThinking of investing your stimulus check? Consider solar.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began sending out stimulus checks earlier this month, providing much-needed cash to a country hit hard by both the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. If you’re fortunate enough to not need the cash right away, and are weighing your various options for what to do with the check, you may have encountered other articles telling you how you should spend this cash. We’re not going to do that: whether you use the money to buy something special, put it away for a rainy day, donate it to a worthy cause, or convert the check into twelve-hundred dollar bills to turn your room into a snow globe, we won’t judge!
Continue readingThe best EnergySage videos of 2019
Finding the right solar solution can be difficult, and there are a lot of questions to address before putting panels on your roof. To help you save time in your solar research, EnergySage created quick videos to answer the most important solar questions in under three minutes.
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