At this point in history, the entire world as we know it is firmly established in terms of energy consumption and distribution. Worldwide, there are hundreds of millions of people who are dependent on energy every day for business, living, and everything in-between. The gears were set in motion long ago for companies and infrastructures based around providing energy for everyone; traditional methods such as fossil fuels are so deeply embedded in society that it is easy to see them as a necessary evil.
This does not, however, change the fact that enacting very deliberate damage upon the environment for the sake of allowing the world to go about business as usual is a course of action that must be departed from sooner rather than later. Alternative energy sources must be further investigated and refined; one such renewable source that is proving more and more vital is solar energy. Sanjeev Mansotra has some detailed points regarding the importance of solar energy.
First and foremost, solar energy is proving to be more flexible than its predecessors. Bypassing the need to search in specific parts of the world for resources such as oil and fossil fuels, solar energy is readily available quite literally anywhere in the world. This fact already distinguishes its importance as a potential new primary source of energy down the road.
In addition, solar energy comes with the benefit of being applicable to production on a small or large scale, another favorable comparison to oil and gas requiring mass production. Finally, Sanjeev Mansotra explains that this decentralization paves the way for self-sustaining structures and facilities that can be built anywhere, not necessarily needing to be connected to a power grid.
Utilizing the sun’s light for energy is proving to be a cheaper method; there are no costs associated with finding it or refining it before it can be used. Additionally, whereas oil and fossil fuels are projected to run out soon, sunlight is essentially unlimited by comparison, as the sun isn’t going to burn out until billions of years from now.
Hearkening back to the aforementioned advantage in flexibility it possesses, Sanjeev Mansotra highlights that solar energy can also be cost-effective by converting land that would be considered of low value or even completely unviable by traditional methods of energy into profitable land, thanks to the simple fact that the sun is available anywhere in the world.
Finally, the solar industry is relatively young in the grand scheme of things, and it is only growing more and more each year. It represents a booming industry with new jobs every year, as we continue to find out more about sunlight as an energy source through research.
Another advantage of solar energy is the fact that it is low maintenance. Compared to the procedures of procuring traditional energy resources, refining them and painstakingly converting them so that they can be used, solar farms can be set up and left to run with little maintenance, only requiring cleaning semi-annually. There are no actual moving parts associated with a solar power system, and there is an increase to durability, resulting in a system that frees up a lot of time and work for other tasks.
What is arguably the most important fact about solar energy is that it is significantly more environmentally friendly compared to oil and gas. It does not result in harmful greenhouse gas emissions, and thusly will not contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer. Another benefit of this reduction is the omission of air pollutants, which can affect respiratory health. Finally, solar energy is beneficial to water quality, both by reducing water pollutants as well as requiring less water for production.
Second, solar energy does not require the same level of environmental disruption normally associated with searching for fossil fuels or oil and will therefore better preserve animal habitats. Sanjeev Mansotra states that solar farms can be built in more favorable locales, such as abandoned industrial facilities that would otherwise be wasted land.
Overall, the solar industry represents a viable, flexible and environmentally friendly alternative, and it is still developing with each passing year. Sanjeev Mansotra concludes that the importance of solar power stems from the clear benefits and advantages that will be beneficial in the long run, not just to the environment but also to the overall quality of life.