Economic
This is the primary financial incentive offered by many governments, including the U.S. federal government, to encourage homeowners to install solar panels.
What is a tax credit
These subatomic particles are "knocked loose" from their atoms by photons of sunlight, creating the flow of electrical current in a solar panel.
What are electrons?
Does use of solar panels offset the production carbon
Yes
The 1973 OPEC oil embargo, a major catalyst of the crisis, was a response to Western support for this country during the Yom Kippur War.
Israel
Sourcing materials like polysilicon from certain regions raises concerns about this human rights abuse in the supply chain.
What is forced labor / slave labor?
Besides installation, these ongoing expenses for a solar panel system are very low, involving mostly occasional cleaning and inspections.
What are maintenance costs?
A single solar panel produces this type of electrical current, which then must be converted to AC power to run most home appliances.
What is direct current (DC)?
What are the three main types of clean renewable energy
Hydro, Solar, Wind
President Carter addressed the American people in a famous 1979 speech, coining this term to describe a perceived lack of national purpose during the ongoing energy crisis.
Malaise
Some solar panels contain heavy metals such as lead and cadmium, which are a potential problem when the panels reach this stage of their life.
What is the end of their life
When homeowners install solar panels, they can expect this change in their monthly electricity bills over time.
What is a decrease
The semiconductor material, the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust, that is most commonly used to make photovoltaic cells.
What is silicon?
How much carbon does a single solar panel reduce
1-4 tonnes per year
In an effort to secure oil supplies and counter Soviet influence in the Middle East, the Carter Doctrine declared that any attempt by an external force to gain control of this vital region would be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.
The Persian Gulf region
Unlike in the European Union, the U.S. currently has no federal mandate for this process, which means many panels might end up in landfills.
What is recycling?
Solar energy is considered this type of energy source because the sun's energy is naturally replenished on a human timescale and will not run out for billions of years.
What is a renewable energy source?
This component in a solar energy system is responsible for changing the electricity from the panels into the usable form for household power, preventing the need for a different electrical grid.
What is an inverter?
What is the average lifetime of a solar panel
25 years
Signed into law in 1978, this major piece of legislation aimed to promote energy conservation and develop alternative energy sources through measures like phased deregulation of natural gas.
The National Energy Act
Large solar farms can require vast amounts of space, leading to an ethical debate over the use of land, including potential disruption to local ecosystems and this economic activity.
What is farming / agriculture / habitat destruction
A home with solar panels often has a higher one of these compared to a similar non-solar home.
What is a property value
The scientific principle, first discovered by Alexandre Edmond Becquerel in 1839, that describes how solar cells convert light into electricity.
What is the photovoltaic effect?
How many trees worth of carbon will a residential solar system offset in its lifespan
Above 5,000 trees
This international organization, founded in 1974 after the oil shocks, facilitates policy dialogue and cooperation among industrialized nations to ensure reliable, affordable, and clean energy for its members.
The IEA
While clean in operation, the manufacturing process for solar panels still contributes to this, often because the factories rely on traditional energy sources.
What are greenhouse gas emissions / pollution?