Benefit your community by going solar!
So how did you get here? Why are you thinking about getting solar panels?
The two most common ways you stumble upon solar are because:
You see it as an economic benefit like saving on your electricity bill or making sure your electricity rates do not go up in the future.
Or
You see it as an environmental benefit and you like the idea of being part of creating a sustainable and green future.
For most people, it is a little of column A and a little of column B. It is easy to understand the economic benefits. You save money every year! But often the environmental and social benefits are a little harder to digest.
Environmental Benefits
I mean, what does “reducing 17,000lbs of Carbon dioxide per year”, or how about “the equivalent to planting 88 trees a year,” even mean? By the way, both of those numbers are just one average home’s impact on the environment if they go solar.
Let’s start off with that first number - Reducing 17,000lbs of Carbon Dioxide
Carbon Dioxide is produced from burning fossil fuels(coal, natural gas, oil) for energy. PEI is a net importer of electricity from New Brunswick which uses a combination of fossil fuels, nuclear, and hydroelectric methods to create electricity.
Going solar means you won’t be asking your electricity provider to produce 17,000lbs of Carbon dioxide waste per year.
Why is this important? Carbon dioxide leads to heat being trapped in our atmosphere instead of going out to space. More Carbon dioxide = global warming. Going solar=less Carbon dioxide=you are helping prevent global warming.
But this article is about community so let’s skip the worldly impact. From a community perspective the more carbon dioxide you produce in your area the harder it gets to breathe. You know all of those major industrial centers on TV with smoggy looking conditions and poor air quality? The more carbon dioxide produced in your area, the more that happens!
By reducing your carbon dioxide production by going solar, you are allowing your community to breathe fresher air! This may not be too noticeable to everyone, but for those with respiratory issues like asthma, we thank you!
So what does “Equivalent of planting 88 trees” mean?
Tree’s are like air cleaning factories! They love carbon dioxide. They use it during photosynthesis with the sun’s help to produce oxygen that we then use. But like any factory, it only has so much capacity at any one given time. So by saying “equivalent to planting 88 trees”, we are really saying that by reducing the carbon emissions of 17,000lbs you are giving 88 trees the chance to work on someone else’s carbon dioxide waste!
So by going solar, you have now improved your community's air tremendously by not adding extra carbon dioxide and by also allowing the trees to take what others are producing and make that into better air for everyone!
Social Benefits
LOCAL JOB CREATION!!!
Green energy is supported by many federal, provincial and local governments. There is a growing demand to shift energy production to more sustainable practices that the governments aid with rebate programs like the one from Efficiency PEI. Here at Sunly we like to keep things local and are always looking to use every local resource available to us.
For any home installation you see happening in PEI, you will have had at least 6 PEI residents working on your project. We have someone devoted to following up with each and every person interested in solar in a timely manner. Then we have another individual meet with you in person to discuss the more detailed aspects before making a decision. And once you have actually signed up for solar, we have a site assessor come out to get all the details to plan out the project and an installation crew of 3-4 residents.
By going solar you have helped support 6+ local jobs! Check out some of the awesome jobs our teams are doing daily here: Solar Installations.
To recap:
By going solar you have
Saved money
Made it easier for everyone to breathe
Helped combat global warming
Created jobs in your local community
Thank you!