As solutions to the climate crisis go, I’ve always thought it doesn’t get any cooler than solar. Harvesting the sun’s abundant energy is clean, and it doesn’t generate pollution or threaten public health the way dirty electricity from fossil fuels does.
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“Sign me up!” I thought. Quickly my enthusiasm was dampened by logistics: but how?
This was about 15 years ago. I was living in New York City in an apartment building that was not going to install rooftop solar panels. I poked around and wound up signing up for green energy through the utility company. It felt … OK. It was a mental shift to understand that I wasn’t personally getting clean energy in my apartment when I turned on my lights. I was paying for cleaner energy to be put into the grid. Where was this grid? I wondered.
Paying a little more per kilowatt hour, I could buy just solar instead of other energy sources to put into said grid. I asked a green energy company representative to walk me through the math on the phone. Numbers have never been my strong suit, but that conversation was especially confusing. The rep didn’t appear to be less confused than I was. No matter. I believe in voting with my dollars and doing my part—and it was still affordable. I signed up.
Several years later, my family moved two hours north of New York City. There were so many things we envisioned being able to do in our new country life. One of my top 10 thrills was my intention to install solar at our new home. I might have obnoxiously told anyone who would listen about my sun-powered plans.
When we arrived upstate, reality set in about a lot of stuff, including my solar dreams. It turned out the roof material of our old but new-to-us home wasn’t compatible. Besides, we didn’t have enough south-facing roof to make the considerable upfront costs make sense. I felt defeated.
Currently, people in the United States have already installed enough solar to power 36 million homes, and this number is on the rise. An estimated 15% of U.S. homes will have a solar photovoltaics (PV) system by 2030, says the Solar Energy Industries Association. Solar also boosts the economy by providing hundreds of thousands of jobs. I just wanted to be part of this revolution! Instead, I signed up for more green energy to be put into the grid.
Guess what? Soon after, a new way to get green energy without my own solar panels came across my radar. I could join a solar farm and buy energy from it to put into the grid. This felt less conceptual and more concrete than just buying green energy, especially as the solar farm was near my house. I could swing by and see the actual solar panels! Win-win. I happily joined.
Green energy just keeps evolving. A few years after I joined my solar farm, the town I live in began to offer bulk green energy through something called Community Choice Aggregation. CCA, as it’s known, allows local governments to come together and buy energy supply for customers in a community. Because the government officials are negotiating for a bunch of customers at once, the prices are often quite competitive. Some towns choose to offer 100% renewable energy sources for residents and small businesses, while others negotiate for nonrenewable sources (gas, oil, nuclear). Customers don’t have to join local CCAs. It’s not mandatory, and there are ways to opt out of the procurement.
The Department of Energy says the sunlight that shines on the earth in just one and a half hours has more power than the world consumes in an entire year. Solar is a no-brainer. And there are now more than a few ways for apartment dwellers, renters, or homeowners to tap this sunshine. My family has tried most options at this point. Yes, the most common for homes is PV, which harnesses light via panels on roofs or the ground. But it’s not the only path available.
There’s never been a better time to embrace solar—with a home system or through your utility, a solar farm, or your town. Give one of these options a try! For more inspiration on why and how to let the sunshine in, read our latest resource REASONS TO EMBRACE SOLAR ENERGY.
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Tell Congress: Commit to Climate Investments and Clean Air Progress