The Environmental Benefits of Solar in Texas

Texas is a growing state, attracting new residents from across the country to enjoy a booming economy and low cost of living. This large-scale growth means the state’s energy needs have increased exponentially in the last few years.

Solar power is an obvious choice for meeting the increasing electricity demand. It’s the perfect match for Texas’s many sunny days, affordable labor costs, and abundant space.

So far, Texas has invested $22.7 billion in solar so residents can enjoy an abundant and reliable energy source.

These aren’t the only benefits of going solar in Texas. Read on to explore the environmental benefits of solar panels and how they make Texas a better place to live.

Solar Power Reduces Dependence on Nonrenewable Resources

Fossil fuels, like coal and oil, have nestled beneath the Earth’s surface for billions of years. It will take just as long to build up these resources again.

The human race doesn’t have time to wait for our planet to produce more fossil fuels to fulfill our needs once we’ve depleted the existing reserves.

The increasing scarcity of these resources, coupled with our absolute reliance on them, also leads to geopolitical tensions and ongoing price increases. Fossil fuel dependence allows developed countries to dominate the global economy.

Solar energy is freely available to anyone with the resources to harvest it. By maximizing their solar panel options, all nations can embrace energy independence and security.

Solar Energy Is Infinitely Renewable

In contrast to fossil fuels, scientists predict that the sun should last another five billion years before it starts to die. Until then, it could provide energy in such vast quantities that we could never use it all.

Solar power is a supremely reliable, natural, and infinitely renewable source of energy for our planet.

Even on the cloudiest days, the sun provides more than enough energy to power the world several times over. Without fail, the sun rises every morning, allowing homeowners to enjoy the benefits of solar panels in Texas.

Silicon, used to manufacture solar panels, comes from treated quartz sand. This material isn’t renewable, but it is a lot more abundant than fossil fuels.

Since solar panels can last for decades, our demand for these resources is bound to slow down once they are more widely adopted. The even better news is that silicone is recyclable, which only adds to the environmental benefits of solar panels.

Solar Power Doesn’t Contribute to Climate Change

The Earth’s atmosphere is perfectly designed to cope with the carbon emissions created by life on its surface. It can easily release the carbon created by life forms into the atmosphere.

Burning fossil fuels creates carbon emissions that far exceed what the ozone layer can cope with. This means these hot gases remain in the atmosphere, trapping the sun’s energy beneath a blanket of greenhouse gases.

Thanks to this phenomenon, the planet is currently warming at a phenomenal rate. This disrupts weather patterns, causing increasingly severe weather events. These include extreme temperatures, unseasonal torrential rain, and droughts.

If we continue pumping these gases into our atmosphere, things will only get worse. That means we won’t be able to grow crops reliably. No crops means no food for ourselves and our livestock.

One of the major benefits of solar energy to the environment is that it has no impact on the Earth’s atmosphere. It helps reduce global warming.

This is because homeowners who use solar power aren’t using electricity produced by greenhouse gas-emitting power plants.

Solar Panels Help Reduce Air Pollution

All power plants produce sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and carbon dioxide when they burn fossil fuels to produce electricity. These gases all have harmful effects on human life.

Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides travel on air currents and wind into the atmosphere, where they react with water to produce acid rain. While this precipitation isn’t directly harmful to humans, it has an adverse reaction on the ground it falls on.

It can kill plants, alter the natural environment, and disrupt agricultural activities.

Nitrogen oxide reacts with sunlight to cause smog that clogs our lungs, and carbon dioxide is the major player in global warming.

Solar panels produce zero emissions and no harmful gases while generating electricity.

As Texas turns to renewable energy, it’s reducing its reliance on fossil-fuel power plants. That means fewer harmful emissions are making their way into the air we breathe.

Solar Panels Conserve Water

Solar panels use no water when they produce electricity. The only time they use water is when you clean them.

Solar panel manufacturers use some water when they make solar panels, but they’re continuously refining their processes to reduce this as much as possible.

Besides, whatever solar panels take from the environment water-wise, they give back in terms of reducing carbon emissions.

Conventional coal power plants use gallons of water to produce just one kWh of electricity. Nuclear energy is the second biggest consumer of water, followed by power stations that create electricity from natural gas.

Due to their high need for water, these facilities are all located close to water sources. During construction, they disrupt natural water sources, and they pollute these resources during their operations, too.

Land clearing activities for power plant construction sometimes displace local people and often involve the eradication of forests and grasslands.

A portion of the electricity generated from fossil fuels is used to purify, pump, and deliver water to consumers. This creates an endless cycle of waste and destruction.

Water is a finite resource, and we can’t afford to waste it, especially when solar power offers a solution to the problem of water pollution.

Solar Panels Create No Noise Pollution

Noise pollution might not harm the environment directly, but it can disturb wildlife and birds, causing them to move away from their natural habitats.

There’s no doubt that a noisy environment can create stress and anxiety for many people, too. Noise can also impact concentration and increase your blood pressure.

We’re faced with so much noise in our daily lives from the city bustle, traffic noise, and hubbub of workplaces, and the last thing we want when we get home is more noise.

All types of solar panels operate silently. They create electricity using the photovoltaic effect and have no moving parts, so they’re completely silent.

Power stations generate large volumes of noise, and even the moving parts of wind turbines create some noise.

Environmental Benefits of Solar Panels for Human Health

Whenever we talk about the environment, we always look at natural aspects like wildlife, plants, and the weather. People are part of the environment, too.

Happy, healthy people place less strain on resources like hospitals and medicine manufacturers, which create pollution and carbon emissions of their own.

Thanks to its simple operations as well as more cost-effective modern solar solutions, this type of energy is also becoming more accessible. In this way, it contributes to the well-being of people in many more demographic groups.

The Earth’s ozone layer protects us from the sun’s most powerful UV rays, but there’s also another layer of ozone, called ground-level ozone. This forms when noxious gases react with sunlight and is particularly prevalent on warm days.

This type of ozone pollution is a major cause of childhood asthma and respiratory problems in people of all ages.

Overall, the many ways in which solar energy benefits the environment all contribute toward healthier, more prosperous people.

Solar Panels Maximize Land Resources

One of the lesser-known benefits of solar power is how it contributes to land conservation. Detractors often point out that huge solar farms take up land that might suit agriculture and can disrupt wildlife habitats.

The truth is that solar farms take up a lot less land than power plants, road infrastructure, and active oil and gas leases do. Many solar farms are located in areas like deserts, where they have little impact on the environment.

In many cases, farmers can plant shade-lowing plants in tandem with solar panel installations.

These vegetables and grains thrive in the shade under the solar panels. The panels also provide protection from hail and high winds that might damage these fragile specimens.

In other areas, farmers allow animals and sheep to graze the grass that grows under and around solar panels. Judicious land use goes hand in hand with solar installations, and these initiatives are also subject to strict environmental protocols.

Do Your Bit to Ensure a Brighter Future

The above 8 benefits of solar energy don’t even touch on the long-term savings associated with solar energy. When you select the best solar plan for your needs, you can say goodbye to high energy bills for good.

Chariot Energy is committed to ensuring everyone can enjoy the financial and environmental benefits of solar panels in Texas. Remember, when you switch to solar, everyone benefits from your efforts toward saving the planet.

So, if you’re committed to caring for the environment, head to our Find My Plan section to choose your ideal solar buyback plan and enjoy some of the most competitive rates in Texas.