Solar renewable energy benefits you and the environment

Is solar energy renewable or nonrenewable?

The use of other energy sources, such as fossil fuels, is problematic because they're nonrenewable. Once they're gone, they're gone forever. The sun, however, is the largest of all renewable energy sources, not a surprise perhaps, but the amount of power it generates is.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, 18 days' worth of sunlight on Earth produces the same amount of energy as the amount stored in all of the coal, oil and natural gas reserves on the planet. It’s easy to see, then, that rounding up the sun’s power and making it accessible to homeowners in a form of energy that is affordable and efficient is a prime goal for future quality of life on our planet.

Environmental and health benefits

Unlike nonrenewable energy sources, solar energy does not emit any air pollutants, which means many of the health issues you and your family face because of air contamination, such as breathing problems, allergies, neurological disorders, heart attack and cancer, may be reduced. Solar energy goes easy on the earth’s water supply, as well, because solar power production requires no water, compared to natural gas extraction, which uses hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and requires significant amounts of water.

Thermal power plants, whether they use gas, coal or oil as a power source, all need water for cooling purposes. Solar energy provides power even if water isn't readily available, and it does not create pollutants in an area’s water supply, while both coal mining and natural gas drilling often do, with devastating consequences to the population of people, animals and plants.