Solar Energy – Smart Investment
Solar panels today
Spain, despite being one of the countries in Europe with the most hours of sunshine, is lagging behind in solar self-consumption, with a rate of 0.1% in household installations. Despite this, in 2020, solar energy production in Spain experienced an acceleration, increasing by 65%, according to data collected by the system operator, Red Eléctrica de España. As a result, solar energy has become the top three renewable energy source, accounting for 17.9%, behind wind (49.7%) and hydro, which accounted for 27.7%.
In the field of renewables and sustainable development, there is not one promising future, but many. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the European Commission’s strategy to achieve a climate-neutral economy by 2050 are some of the actions driven by the urgent need to curb the effects of global warming. Initiatives that will reduce the carbon footprint and that will have a highly positive impact on the employment footprint, generating job opportunities in numerous productive sectors ranging from the generation and installation itself to the development of urban sustainability projects.
What are the most in-demand profiles?
Engineering is undoubtedly one of the main beneficiaries of the boom in renewable energies, but not the only one, as this sector attracts professionals from both university and higher vocational training degrees. These also provide technical profiles that are and will be interesting in this field, such as those from the Electricity and Electronics, Energy and Maintenance and Installations branches, focused on energy efficiency and the new technologies that make it possible.
In any case, the employment footprint goes beyond these specific profiles: we are talking about an ecosystem based on engineering but which will require professionals from all areas, and which will even boost jobs that do not yet exist, such as those focused on the recycling of renewable installations.
SolarMente defines itself as a Spanish startup that takes care of the entire solar experience process: from engineering to solar panel installation, customer support, financing, paperwork and follow-up. In the next 5 years, the startup expects to realise 50,000 installations and intends to offer electric vehicle chargers and batteries (“SolarMente makes self-consumption a strictly personal affair”- article in “Energias renovables”).
As Wouter Draijer, co-founder of SolarMente mentions in the article in Renewable Energy – the clean energy journalism: “Our customer-centric approach helps homeowners make the transition to clean energy conveniently and easily with solar panels, while saving money. A startup that offers a turnkey product (self-consumption): engineering, installation, financing, processing and maintenance. Let’s go! Get involved in improving our planet and increase the value of your home.
(MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SOLAR PANELS HERE)
SOCIAL BENEFITS OF SOLAR ENERGY THAT WE CAN OBTAIN:
1.Local wealth and employment
From 2018 to 2019 there was a 7% increase in employment.
A considerable number of jobs have been created in this sector from the manufacturing phase, through the installation of solar panels, engineers to the marketing and sales team, specialised in solar photovoltaic energy.
2. Positive impact on health
We are not telling you anything new when we say that air pollution causes serious health problems.
Well, the use of solar panels drastically reduces this problem. It is a clean source, unlike the use of fossil fuels.
Therefore, those homes, buildings and even entire cities that opt for the use of solar energy can enjoy cleaner air. At the same time, by reducing the emission of harmful gases, global warming will be slowed down.
3.Solar assistance during emergencies
Natural disasters can cause a total power outage in your home. In areas with earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, this is a common occurrence.
Fortunately, the installation of solar panels with batteries in our homes can put an end to this problem. At such times, our photovoltaic installation continues to produce energy to power our home with clean electricity, which the grid-connected one would otherwise not be able to provide.
In addition, the use of solar energy will help reduce carbon emissions, climate change will not accelerate rapidly and natural disasters will be reduced.
4.Access to all geographical areas
Another social benefit of solar energy is its ability to reach remote places where access to conventional electricity is a luxury or where access to this precious commodity is not possible.
Therefore, the introduction of an inexhaustible solar system improves the well-being and standard of living in different regions.
WHERE TO START?
To find out how much you could save, you just have to go through the solar calculator for self-consumption that our friends at SOLARMENTE have and discover the change it will make to your electricity bill. They verify that your home is suitable for solar energy and will provide you with all the information about the size of the system needed.
