While solar farms, tax credits and fresh energy policies make their way to the solar forefront, rooftop photovoltaic systems have lagged behind. Those within the solar industry can boast of a projected annual growth rate of 50%, but until local businesses and citizens can adopt solar energy instead of fossil fuels, the prediction may be just that.
The idea of solar farms seems somewhat contradictory in terms of providing a ‘greener’ source of energy; we’re already seeing the first rush attacks to hook acres for solar power. Isn’t one of the concepts of an ecological future to reuse what you already have? To be even more picky about it, electricity generated by solar farms requires a much-improved power grid to deliver power from solar farms in rural areas to cities. And the tax credits are a step in the right direction, but they still don’t make installing solar panels affordable for the average citizen. Fortunately, there is a concept that can calm the stickler for practicality like me: leasing roofs for the use of photovoltaic systems that feed power into the grid.
There are positive effects of having power trickling into the main grid from many different sources rather than a few massive sources. A 2005 study revealed that if all commercial and residential roofs were equipped to capture solar energy, it would cover 75% of US energy consumption. But how do you make solar installation affordable for everyone who has? a rooftop? Rooftop rental.
We’re already seeing the idea in action in California, where the city of Santa Barbara leased the roofs of city-owned buildings to solar integration companies to provide enough energy to power 1,040 homes. But before you write a letter to your local statistician, let’s look at some pros and cons of a grid based solar power rooftop rental system.
advantage
- Leasing a rooftop is worthwhile for the building and home owner as they receive guaranteed electricity at a reduced cost, little or no down payment is required for installation, and land value increases.
- The number of buildings running on moonlight as power generators will increase in urban areas, potentially eliminating the need to traffic from remote areas.
- Solar systems on roofs can increase the rate at which solar energy is accepted around the world
- Panel and installation costs will drop quickly
Cons
- Solar energy still fluctuates as a boom-then-bust industry, making it difficult to take up nationwide
- Still-unreliable PV supplies and factors such as a silicon shortage could encourage installation costs to rise and inhibit the spread of solar power.
- Such domestic demand for solar power may undermine its presence in the US solar market on a global scale.
- The pool of skilled installation workers is still small in number, which could hamper the process of leasing roofs to feed power into the grid.
While the pros and cons seem to outweigh each other on paper, I still think roof rental is one of the best ideas for generating enough solar energy to power a country, while also making it affordable and maintaining the image. ecological solar energy.