District 4: Solar
The Energy Games
District 4: Solar Advertisement
Benefits
Society/ Political/ Economy
Independence
- Self-reliant societies
- Once solar panels are installed, you have an essentially independent source of electricity that's your own
Political
- Solar energy can avoid price volatility, unlike fossil fuel markets
- Sun is an unlimited commodity that can be sourced from many locations, meaning it is less vulnerable to price manipulations and politics
- Energy security: no one can buy sun and turn it into a monopoly
Reliability
- Rising and setting of sun is constant and predictable
Economy
- Ongoing free energy that will last for a long time
- Beyond initial installation of solar panels and maintenance, solar energy is free
- Doesn't require expensive, ongoing raw materials and there is significantly less human labour involved
- Life expectancy of solar panels is up to 40 years
- Cheaper than increasing price of fossil fuels
- Little to no transportation costs involved
- Creates jobs in many different forms such as:
Manufacturing, installing, monitoring and maintaining solar panels, to research and design, development, cultural integration, and policy jobs.
Society
Everyone benefits from using solar energy.
Political
Solar energy is less vulnerable to price inflation, volatility and politics
Economy
Solar energy creates many jobs in many different sectors
Benefits
Environment
- Does not produce green house gases
- Pollution and noise free, silent energy
- Solar energy doesn't rely on constantly mining raw materials, doesn't result in the destruction of forests and ecosystems
Job Opportunities in the Solar Energy sector
The solar industry stimulates the economy by creating job opportunities in the workforce. In 2012 , the solar power industry added 14, 000 jobs in the US alone, and the industry is predicted to add another 20,000 jobs this year. During their recent solar boom, Germany doubled their solar workforce to over 400,000.
Solar jobs can come in many forms, including but not limited to manufacturing, installing, monitoring and maintaining solar panels, to research, design and development jobs.
Below is an image showing how many jobs solar power creates compared to other energy industries.
By: Tina Chen, Priscilla Ip, Mina Hwang, Judy Gong