What are the Real Environmental Benefits of Solar Panels?

January 31st, 2012 |

With so many people with so many different agendas it’s sometimes hard to find the truth about environmental issues, especially when it comes to green energy. Solar power should be a great flag ship of green energy in the UK, with its high efficiency, relatively low start-up costs, and confirmed ‘green’ status. But with the recent government step back from the feed-in tariff, is there anything we’re not being told about solar, and is it really as good as it’s made out to be?

But that doesn’t mean that people don’t have doubts about green energy. Before we go into any detail about the possible areas of controversy, it makes sense to have a refresher on just how good solar power is on a simple level. It generates power from the sun using photovoltaic cells, and doesn’t create any harmful bi-products. As such you can power a whole house with a few panels on the roof, and vastly reduce your carbon footprint. The figures are quite staggering. For every kilowatt of energy generated in this way, you’ve offset a massive hundred thousand kilograms of carbon dioxide, which is really good news for the environment.

But on the other hand there are aspects of production that do contribute to global warming, and cynics sometimes point to this as a way to deride the benefits of green energy. A fairly compelling detail, on the surface at least, is that the production of most modern PV cells involves the very harmful chemical of nitrogen trifluride. This is three times as harmful to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, and it’s used in large volumes during construction.

However, there are ways of making this greener, and some plants in Germany are already using alternative chemicals which have no effect on the green house problem. Also, even with the power and chemicals used in production, the emission offset by the use of the cells far outweighs this sacrifice. It would be 90% cleaner that fossil fuels all things considered, so it’s hardly a reason to be cynical.

All in all, with solar increasing in popularity, the results for the environment can only be good. So they’re still a good choice for anyone concerned about their carbon footprint.

You could save money on fuel by installing solar panels in your home. Find out more here.