Here’s a headline we love:
“Crazy As It Sounds, Solar Could Be The World’s Most Important Energy Source By 2050”
Recently, Fast Company published this story citing that solar energy is in position to “meet an ever-increasing share of energy demand.”
And here’s why: The International Energy Agency (IEA) claims that solar energy in the form of photovoltaics (PV) and solar thermal have the potential to generate 27 percent of all electricity by 2050 (with PV accounting for 16 percent and solar thermal accounting for 11 percent).
These may actually be conservative estimates, however, because of solar’s exponential growth and rise to mainstream status in recent years. From 2010 – 2014, solar energy capacity in the U.S. grew an astounding 418 percent. Over 4.75 gigawatts of photovoltaics were installed in 2013 alone — enough to power 3.5 million homes!
All of the aforementioned statistics are fantastic for numerous reasons, but the IEA is mostly interested in one major benefit – solar’s potential to significantly slow the pace of global warming.
According to scientists, if we continue down the path we’re currently on – burning tons of fossil fuels that emit harmful pollutants into our environment – our global temperature is predicted to rise 6 degrees Celsius this century. This would cause major detriment to many species. The adoption of solar and other renewable energy sources, however, has the potential to slow this increase to 2 degrees Celsius – a much safer number for all of us.
Even better, slowing the pace of global warming through solar energy is cost effective. According to the IEA’s Energy Technology Perspectives report, it would require an additional $44 trillion in investment to secure a clean-energy future by 2050, but this would be offset by over $115 trillion in fuel savings.
The more we at LifeStyle Homes dive into solar and its enormous benefits, the more we understand it is not only the right thing to do, but the necessary thing to do. That’s why we are immensely proud of the 30+ solar-powered homes we have built for homeowners in Brevard County and other parts of Central Florida.
But we understand that all of our homebuyers may not be ready to invest in solar just yet. That’s why we build all of our homes to be “solar ready.” Each and every new LifeStyle home is constructed to be highly energy-efficient using our LifeStyle SunSmart building package. Each one cuts down on a family’s typical energy consumption by at least 40 percent.
That means that by simply choosing LifeStyle to build your new home versus buying a used home or a non energy-efficient home, you’re already helping to reduce your impact on the rate of global warming.
