Key Highlights
- In times of high electricity prices, solar executives believe home solar energy's price invariability could entice users.
- Ember's fourth annual Global Electricity Review predicts a decline in fossil-fuel generation and power sector emissions by 2023.
- For the eighteenth year in a row, solar was the fastest-growing electricity source.
- It was found that more American homes are utilising solar power to cut energy costs.
Solar executives believe that the price consistency of home solar energy could attract customers in this time of high electricity prices.
The Rise of Solar Energy
Ember's fourth annual Global Electricity Review covers 78 countries, or 93% of global electricity use, and includes electricity data from 2022. According to the analysis, the world will enter a new age of declining fossil-fuel generation and, as a result, a decrease in power sector emissions as soon as 2023.
For the eighteenth year in a row, solar was the fastest-growing electricity source, increasing by 24% year-on-year (or +245 TWh) and providing enough new electricity to power the entire country of South Africa.
According to Ember Senior Electricity Analyst Małgorzata Wiatros-Motyka:
“In this decisive decade for the climate, it is the beginning of the end of the fossil age. We are entering the clean power era. The stage is set for wind and solar to achieve a meteoric rise to the top. Clean electricity will reshape the global economy, from transport to industry and beyond. A new era of falling fossil emissions means the coal power phasedown will happen, and the end of gas power growth is now within sight. Change is coming fast. However, it all depends on the actions taken now by governments, businesses and citizens to put the world on a pathway to clean power by 2040.”
This change in the resources being used for energy sheds light on the impending shift to residential solar. This alternative is becoming more appealing for customers as a means of mitigating the effects of rising utility costs.
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The Shift to Solar Energy
When compared to other ways to make electricity, the costs of using solar panels are very low once they are set up. Solar power doesn't need fuel, so it can make a lot of electricity without the hassle and cost of securing a fuel source.
Over the last two years, the price of solar cells has gone up because of problems with the supply chain. But nowadays, solar electricity has become much more affordable.
Aside from the lack of a supply chain, Empower Energy Solution Asim Hafeez said that rising interest rates also made the original high cost of solar installation more of a problem. But Hafeez also claimed that solar is often cheaper in the long run.
Senior Vice President for Communications at the American Council on Renewable Energy, Alex Hobson, said that more American families are using solar power to save money on their energy bills. It was also found that in the third quarter of 2022, 1.57 GW of residential solar was installed, which is a 43% rise from the same time last year.
Solar Energy for the Future of Energy Security and Net Zero
Having residential solar power will be less expensive than power from traditional utilities. People can use the electricity that the panels make, which will lower their electric costs. Savings depend on the size of the system, how much electricity it uses, and whether or not someone is home during the day to use the energy it makes.
Aside from that, it doesn’t emit harmful substances and pollutants like fossil fuels do. Thus, it makes solar energy a versatile renewable energy source that can also pave the way for Net Zero and Energy Security in the future.