Solar Solutions

Volume 3 Issue 1 of Connected.

Solar solutions and the solar panel industry experienced a significant increase in popularity over the past decade as consumers began looking for more ways to reduce their carbon footprint and focus on renewable energies.

Renewable energy is energy that is produced from sources like the sun and wind that are naturally replenished and do not run out, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Solar energy is a form of renewable energy derived from the sun's radiation. It is a clean and sustainable source of power, created by using solar panels to capture energy from sunlight. These panels then convert this energy into electricity that can be used in residential or commercial applications.

Solar energy is one of the cleanest and fastest-growing renewable resources available on the market. Solar energy solutions, such as solar panels, are considered “clean energy” because they do not emit greenhouse gases or contribute to pollution while being utilized. Other common types of renewable energy include biomass, hydropower and geothermal.

The United States still heavily relies on non-renewable energy sources such as petroleum, natural gas, coal and nuclear electric power. These non-renewable sources are limited and cannot continue to be supplied in a sustainable way. Compared to solar energy, burning traditional fossil fuels — or “dirty energy” such as natural gas and coal — produces up to 20 times more greenhouse emissions, according to Solar.com.

As of 2022, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that only 20 percent of the country’s energy consumption comes from renewable energy sources. However, the utilization of renewable energy will soon become a standard practice across every industry and is expected to grow exponentially over the next decade as products become more widely available and costs continue to decrease.

Renewable energy solutions, such as solar panels, have become easier to obtain and are more cost efficient compared to when they were first available on the market. As technology further develops and product availability continues to rise, implementation of these solutions on a corporate and residential level will continue to grow. The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions has projected that renewable energy production, with a focus on solar and wind, is expected to hit 35 percent in the U.S. by 2030.

Investment companies, such as Morningstar Investors, have researched the upward trends with renewable energy solutions and its projected impact on the economy.

“We forecast solar will be the fastest-growing clean energy technology during the next decade owing to falling costs, location flexibility and reliability,” Morningstar Investors comments. “We expect solar energy to grow from 2 percent of U.S. power generation in 2018 to 22 percent by 2032, including distributed generation."