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You are here: Solar Panel Home > SOLAR INFO CENTER > Environmental Impact

What is the environmental impact of solar panels? Solar panels have received attention from researchers, businesses and homeowners because, unlike traditional power generation sources, these technologies produce electricity using a renewable source - the sun - without creating noise, emitting pollutants that cause climate change such as greenhouse gases, smog, acid rain, or water resource pollution. Even when the emissions related to solar cell manufacturing are counted, solar panels produce less than 15% of the carbon dioxide from a conventional coal-fired power plant. As a general rule of thumb, studies indicate that the typical American home using solar panels has an environmental impact of removing two cars from the road. Over 25 years, you will have avoided producing more than 500 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Using solar electricity to power a million homes would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4.3 million tons per year, the equivalent of removing 850,000 cars from the road (Source: EPA).