There is an energy crisis in the world, even if energy production has increased in many countries in recent years. But the energy crisis has increased in recent months. To meet the rising energy needs, many initiatives including hydraulic energy, coal-powered based energy and solar power plant based initiatives have been taken in many countries. But efforts to increase energy production needed for meeting the energy crisis are not enough globally. Solar power-based initiatives are one of the notable initiatives that have some prospects of meeting the rising energy needs in many areas of the world. No doubt, many developed, developing and less developed countries including China, Japan, the United States, India and Germany are increasingly investing in solar energy as a viable energy source.
Solar energy, which is obtained from electromagnetic radiation from the sun, has turned out to be enormously beneficial on economic, environmental and other grounds. It is renewable energy, reduces reliance on fossil fuel and does not emit greenhouse gas. Moreover, solar power requires low maintenance costs, reduces electricity bills and has many other advantages. The government and private homes can produce solar energy. Along with increased government investment in solar power investment, there is an increased initiative at the home level in many countries. Notably, the technology has been drastically improved recently and has been complemented by solar battery storage systems, making solar a significantly more efficient source of clean energy. Its increased use can help to reduce the global energy crisis and achieve carbon net-zero by 2050.
But there are notable economic, social, land-based, environmental and other concerns with solar energy. One of the main concerns is that solar energy may take up a significant amount of land. The largest solar energy plant in the world is named the Bhadla Solar Park located in Rajasthan of India that occupies 10,000 acres of land. Solar energy also affects land use and causes land degradation and habitat loss for wildlife when large-scale solar energy farms are used without any environmentally sound plan. Notably, solar power systems affect the land use especially when it comes to mining, which creates land, air and water pollution (though such sort of pollution is significantly lower in solar energy). Moreover, solar technology contains many of the same hazardous materials as electronics. While solar is becoming a more popular energy source globally, the problem of disposing of the hazardous waste, according to available sources, is becoming an additional challenge.
Moreover, there are some flaws in solar power based initiatives in many countries. Solar technology is not yet widely available (though it has become more available in recent years) making it a bit difficult to its widespread use. Moreover, there is lack of a plan for solar power initiatives. Currently, many solar energy projects including large scale projects are being implemented in different countries without any environmentally sound plan risking more harmful effects. There is an absence or inadequacy in government scheme for supporting the installation of home solar panels especially for lower income households in many countries. Moreover, land owners do not receive monetary compensation in many countries always, even if they are supposed to get it. Sometimes, they receive an amount lower than they deserve. This is especially the case in some developing and less developed countries.
To increase the production of solar energy and meet the energy crisis, concerns with solar power need to be well-addressed. Of course, cost effective and planned measures are needed to implement solar power projects. Along with government initiatives, the promotion of home solar panel based energy and providing government support can be helpful for increasing solar energy production. But different causes of concerns with solar power based government initiatives including deprivation regarding the price of the land value and other resources value, environmental costs and other negative effects need to be addressed so that solar energy can meet the energy crisis in the world with reduced negative effects.
