Scientists around the world overwhelmingly agree that fossil fuels can't power our world forever. Not only are greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants changing the world in ways we don't want, but traditional energy sources are also finite resources in an age where demand is ever-growing. Thanks to the tireless work of scientists and engineers, there is a cornucopia of renewable energy technologies available to us now. One form of green energy, solar power, shows perhaps the greatest promise of all. Here are the biggest reasons why: 

1. It Works (Efficiently)

Solar panels have been around for decades, but until recently they were an afterthought in regards to their potential for solving our energy issues. The efficiency simply wasn't great enough to make solar energy price-competitive with oil on the global market. The turning point arguably came in 2017, when utility-scale production hit its goal of $0.06 per kilowatt-hour three years ahead of schedule. According to industry insiders, these prices are expected to drop by another 34% by the year 2030. It's not just the price itself that's attractive to consumers, but rather the price stability compared to oil, which tends to be more volatile over the short term. Because of this, a snowball effect is taking place, in which consumer confidence and innovation fuel each other. This combination is clearly getting results since solar made up 43% of new energy generation capacity in the US in 2020 and shows no signs of stopping. 

2. It Has Broad Support

Forget the media noise about environmentalism being controversial. There is actually a groundswell of popular support for renewable energy as a concept. According to a Pew Research poll in 2019, climate change was seen as a grave threat by the citizens of many nations...including the US, in which 59% of people rated it as one of their top concerns.

It's not just popular appeal driving the solar revolution, though. Governments worldwide have begun to use a carrot-and-stick method of getting people on board with renewable energy, combining mandates with incentives. In fact, local, state and national governments have begun teaming up to offer lucrative rewards specifically for solar panel installation, such as the federal investment tax credit (ITC) in the US. Some may feel that subsidizing energy production is an example of government overreach into the private sector, but others counter that the agriculture and petroleum sectors avail themselves of a similar set of publicly-funded incentives, and so the cost must be viewed in the context of the many benefits that result from paying it. 

It's very telling that private corporations have largely been fighting for these initiatives instead of against them. Part of that trend is the desire to be seen as caring entities, but a lot of it is also the result of sheer pragmatism. Companies are beginning to see the logic in using solar energy to cut overhead costs. Since renewables can either be purchased from a provider or installed directly, that gives businesses greater flexibility in the application of this technology which leads to the third major reason why solar is gaining traction. 

3. It's Versatile

Renewable energy can take many forms. That's always been one of its greatest selling points. That being said, you can't install a fusion generator in your house. Solar energy is unique in its sheer versatility. Everyone remembers solar-powered calculators. Nowadays there's such a diversity of photovoltaic technologies available on the market that panels can be used to power a wide range of devices, including automobiles. Here's something to consider: According to EPA estimates, transportation accounts for about 29% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the US. Solar energy systems can attack this problem simultaneously on two fronts, both by becoming the source of power used by electric cars and by powering some automobiles directly. Granted, not every home can take advantage of solar energy directly, but centralized production will certainly be able to make up for this. 

4. It's Safe

A beach has never been closed due to a solar energy spill. Nobody working in the photovoltaics industry has ever died early from black lung. One of the greatest advantages of solar energy is that it's not a danger to the people creating it. At worst, you get an overcast day and it doesn't produce at optimum. The only real public concern ever raised by solar power systems is the size of the panels used for utility-scale production. The residential panels actually raise property values to the tune of $20 for every $1 saved on your energy bill from installation according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Some might argue that the materials used to make solar panels can be toxic in their own right, thereby mitigating some of their benefits, but that's not an inevitability at all. In fact, there's a whole complementary renewables industry centered around green engineering and materials science that's changing the way we manufacture our electronics to make them both safer and cleaner. 

5. It Grows With Us

Fossil fuels are called that for a reason. Nature makes them too slowly for the pace of human progress. Solar power, however, scales up very well. As the technologies that govern the efficiency of photovoltaic cells advance, so will the amount of energy generated by the panels. The technology can also be used in space and is already powering many of our satellites. In fact, multiple companies are floating the idea of generating solar power in space and beaming it back to receiver stations on Earth. Solar power can also be used to power the expansion of humanity into the solar system and beyond, where there are more resources than we could ever need. 

Solar power isn't just here to stay. It's helping to pave the way for a brighter and more ethical tomorrow. As our knowledge of our place in the global ecosystem evolves and our sense of responsibility grows stronger, solar energy is going to continue to emerge as a game-changer in the fight for a cleaner future.