The tenth most effective way to draw carbon back to the earth is ROOFTOP SOLAR in the book “Drawdown” by Paul Hawken.

Ranking and Results by 2050

• 24.6 gigatons of reduced CO2
• $453.1 billion net cost
• $3.46 trillion net savings

The first solar array appeared on a rooftop in New York City in 1884! It was installed by Charles Fritz, who believed “photoelectric” modules would wind up competing with coal-fired power plants. The first plant based on these “photoelectric” modules was brought online by Thomas Edison in 1882, also in New York City.

Today, solar is replacing electricity generated by coal, natural gas, and kerosene and diesel generators. The sun’s light continually strikes the surface of the earth with an energy more than 10,000 times the world’s total use. Small scale photovoltaic systems, typically sited on rooftops, are playing a significant role in harnessing that light, the most abundant resource on earth. When photons strike the thin wafers of silicon crystal within a vacuum sealed solar panel, they knock electrons loose and produce an electrical circuit. These subatomic particles are the only moving parts in a solar panel, which requires no fuel.

While solar photovoltaics provide less than 2% of the world’s electricity at present, PV has seen exponential growth over the past decade. Rooftop modules are spreading around the world because of their affordability. Falling costs and government incentives has helped accelerate it’s development, as well as financing.

The advantages of solar far exceed the price. Producing solar panels has some emissions , but in operation solar panels do not emit any air pollution or greenhouse gases. Grid-tied systems avoid grid transmission losses, and benefit the customer with “net-metering” arrangements where the grid acts as the battery and any excess is paid back to the customer. By having solar energy part of their energy-generation portfolio, utilities can avoid capital costs of additional coal or gas plants, and customers can avoid paying these fees.

Jobs created by the solar industry benefit all countries, as in Bangaladesh alone, solar has created 115,000 direct jobs on 3.6 million home solar systems.

With producer and user under one roof, energy gets democratized. As soon as a homeowner flips the switch on their roof-top solar system, it is 10 years for cash paid in full customers and 12 years for most financed customers that the system has paid for itself and electricity is then virtually free.

— from Paul Hawkens book “Drawdown”