This is wonderful news for the planet.
The IEA predicts in a report that, over the next five years, the world will increase its renewable power capacity by 75% — an amount equivalent to the entire installed power capacity of China today. By 2027, the biggest source of the world's electricity will be solar power, followed by coal, natural gas and wind, the group said.
We installed 18 solar panels on our south-facing roof in March of 2020. Since then, we've managed to generate roughly 16.4MWh of electricity, shown in the yearly energy produced graph below.
We were the first house in our neighborhood to install solar panels. Now there are three others. We're fortunate to live in an area that's free from the dreaded Homeowners Association, which would - no doubt - put a stop to the "ugly panels" going up on roofs in cookie-cutter neighborhoods.
But it's not just residential that needs to be generating energy – businesses also need to start thinking about maximizing the space on their flat roofs. Imagine what outfitting every strip-mall, retail + grocery stores, and parking facilities with PV panels would do to help utilities diversify their energy mix. Even if the energy generated isn't used to feed back to the grid, but to store and offset use, it's still worth the investment!
