1. Solar is the Most Abundant Energy Source on Earth
Solar energy refers to light and heat radiation from the sun that is harnessed to generate electricity. While we scale up technologies across the globe to capture and convert solar energy, the Earth already receives it in spades. An hour and half’s worth of solar energy that reaches to the surface of the planet has enough power to meet all of humanity’s energy consumption for an entire year. Since the sun is not going away anytime soon, we have the ability and technology to depend on solar energy entirely and end the global use and consumption of fossil fuels.
2. Solar is the Fastest and Most Popular Form of New Electricity Generation
In 2010, solar energy represented only 0.06% of the global energy mix. Within nine years, solar rose up to 1.11%. Solar also makes up the largest proportion of growth in the renewable energy mix, where it grew from 0.8% in 2010 to 10.3% in 2019. Solar power capacity is rapidly growing at the same time, meaning the amount of electricity it can generate from energy it captures. Global solar power rose by 22% in 2020 as installations have experienced a boom. Together with wind power, renewable output has more than doubled since 2015.
3. Minimal Greenhouse Gas Emissions are Generated in a Solar Life Cycle
While the process of solar power generation does not emit any greenhouse gases, other stages of the life cycle do produce some, but minimal, emissions. This include the manufacture of solar cell and panel materials – primarily made of monocrystalline, polycrystalline, or thin film (“amorphous”) silicon – transportation, installation, maintenance, and decommissioning and dismantlement. Most estimates of life-cycle emissions for photovoltaic (PV) solar cell systems are between 0.07 and 0.18 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour.
4. Solar PV Accounts for 3% of Global Electricity Generation
Power generation from solar PV in 2020 grew by a record 156 TWh to reach 921 TWh, marking 23% growth from 2019, and accounts for 3.1% of global electricity generation. China, one of the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters, alone was responsible for 75% of the increase in annual solar PV installations from 2019 to 2020.
5. Solar Power Plants Can Last 40 Years or More
Aside from solar PV cell systems, energy can be generated with solar power plants where panels within an infrastructure can last at least 40 years. Panels can be easily replaced and updated with new and more efficient modules at relatively low costs, ensuring a long lifespan of these power plants.