Use Sun Power

Let the sun do its thing.

Use solar to power your home or heat your water. Take this step and decide a level of commitment that works for you. Give yourself a month and see how you do.

Try it

Use Sun Power

How many people are in your household?

Use Sun Power

Energy from the sun is free for everyone and there is lots of it. In fact, over 70 percent of us live in countries with the right natural conditions for solar power - even if it doesn’t always seem like it. Even on a cloudy day, solar panels can still generate electricity and power your home with cleaner energy. And since most homes that use solar remain connected to the local energy grid, you’ll still enjoy reliable electric power at night.

New technologies and government subsidies have dramatically reduced the cost of installing solar and more people are choosing solar.

Installing solar panels or a solar hot water system in your home will save you money and cut your carbon emissions.

Tips

You’ll need a rooftop or plot of land near your home with good exposure to the sun. To get an idea of your home’s solar potential, use the PVWatts Calculator or the Photovoltaic Geographical Information System - you might be surprised by how much energy you could make.

If you’re not ready to install solar panels, you could install a solar hot water system instead. It’s a simpler system that runs water through tubes that transfer the sun’s energy to heat the water in your home.

Find an accredited installer in your region by searching for “solar comparison” in your browser. Contact your local authorities about any government grants or payment schemes available.

Search out an online newsletter, like the Carbon Brief, to stay informed and how others are taking action on climate.

Benefits

The price of solar panels has dropped substantially, so the energy savings you’ll enjoy will outweigh the cost of installing them. You’ll be less exposed to energy shortages and price increases. And you’ll help us move away from dirty fossil fuels, cutting your carbon emissions.

Research shows that when you instal solar panels, your friends and neighbors are more likely to do the same. Together we’ll drive change in our communities and send a message to leaders that the energy system must be cleaner.

A quarter of the energy we use in our homes is used to heat water for showers, laundry, and washing dishes. A solar hot water system can save up to 70 percent of that energy.

REFERENCES

Countries in the favorable middle range of average daily PV potential between 3.5 and 4.5 kWh/kWp account for 71% of the global population.

ESMAP GLobal Photovoltaic Power Potential by Country

More people are choosing solar. Residential solar matched commercial solar for the share of solar PV net capacity installations in 2020.

IEA

PVWatts Calculator

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Research shows that when you instal solar panels, your friends and neighbors are more likely to do the same.

Norms, Norm Sets, and Reference Groups: Implications for Household Interest in Energy Technologies, Horne & Familia (2021)

The typical solar fraction for residential solar heating systems is between 50% and 70% in the EU and US.

NREL and Vienna University of Technology

Rooftop solar is spreading as the cost of panels falls, driven by incentives to accelerate growth, economies of scale in manufacturing, and advances in PV technology.

Project Drawdown Solutions, Distributed Solar Photovoltaics

Hot water for showers, laundry, and washing dishes consumes a quarter of residential energy use worldwide. Solar water heating—exposing water to the sun to warm it—can reduce that fuel consumption by 50 to 70 percent.

Project Drawdown Solutions, Solar Hot Water

Globally, the levelized cost of energy for residential solar photovoltaics (PV) fell between 2010 and 2019, with markets showing a 42% to 79% cost decline.

Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2019, IRENA

Photovoltaic Geographical Information System

The European Commission's Science and Knowledge Service
Impact metric calculations

To determine the carbon emission reduction estimates related to switching to using solar power, the following calculation was performed:

Solar Panels: (# of people in the household) x (total electric energy in kWh) x (county-specific kg CO2e/kWh for electricity) = kg CO2e / month

Solar Water Heating: (# of people in the household) x (water heating non-electric energy in kWh) x (fuel and country-specific kg CO2e/kWh) x (60% reduction in fuel use) = kg CO2e / month

Total: Solar Panels + Solar Water Heating = kg CO2e / month

For detailed calculations, references and assumptions, please see our Methodology.