The Disruptive Power of Energy Independence
Whether you’ve been refreshing news on the war in Ukraine every hour or just passively hearing updates, you’ve probably felt the impact in some way. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused political, economic, and humanitarian crises across the globe. Policymakers worldwide have intensified sanctions on Russian energy exports and have started looking for ways to wean off these sources completely.
As a result of the war, there’s been a spike in searches for energy independence in America, both on a national and an individual level. Some are calling on the government to lessen the market impact that foreign wars have created, while others are wondering how they can become less dependent on government-controlled resources for their household energy needs.
Before we continue to discuss ways to achieve energy independence, I want to say this: It can feel low to complain about the pain in your wallet while many people are fighting for their lives. But in times of war – with country leaders you may or may not agree with making big trade decisions that disrupt the economy – it’s OK to want to make changes to do what’s best for you and your family.
The Global Energy Landscape and the Rise of Solar
Russia is the world’s largest exporter of oil, the second-largest exporter of crude oil, and ranks third for both oil and natural gas production. So it’s a really big deal that countries around the globe are cutting off imports from Russia when many of them rely on Russia to power their electric grids. For reference, Russia currently supplies 40% of the European Union’s gas needs.
For Americans, the good news – and I put “good news” in quotes because of course the burning of fossil fuels is horrible for the environment – is that the US has been leading the globe in many aspects of energy production over the past decade, relying on Russia for only 8% of crude oil imports. The US is currently a net exporter, meaning it produces more energy than it consumes. However, the US still gets about half of its oil supply from foreign sources, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Perhaps the Russian-Ukrainian war and subsequent global market disruption will serve as a reminder that we – as a nation and as individuals – are still relying on foreign, unstable resources in a volatile market for our most basic needs. There has to be a better way. And there is – energy independence.
Defining Energy Independence and the Role of Solar
In simple terms, being energy independent means not relying on anyone else for energy. On a technical level, the US is currently energy independent because, as we discussed, it exports more energy than it imports. But it hasn’t always been, and with an ever-changing global market, there’s no telling if it will stay this way.
While you can’t really control what goes on in the White House, you can take better control of what goes on at your house. If you create your own clean electricity through renewable sources – like solar, hydro, or wind power – you’ll depend less or not at all on your local energy company.
Numerous studies have shown that transitioning to renewable energy alternatives is the best way to achieve energy independence. For example, every electric vehicle that takes the place of a gasoline car on the road saves around six barrels of oil every year, and using heat pumps reduces the need for natural gas.
When it comes to producing electricity, hydro, wind, and solar power are the most practical solutions for the average homeowner. While Congress is discussing clean energy and climate provisions to reduce the demand for natural gas and oil, it’s looking at long-term solutions. In the meantime, the government is trying to incentivize Americans to make the switch to clean energy on their own.
The Solar Advantage: Achieving True Energy Independence
Unless you install an off-grid solar panel system, which is common in rural areas, you won’t be able to completely unplug from your utility company. Many local governments require solar systems to connect to the grid, mainly because most solar panel systems produce more energy than your home needs.
Energy is fluid, which means it needs somewhere to go when it’s not directly being used to power your home. If your utility company has a net metering program, you’ll get paid or earn credits for the energy you provide, helping you save money on your utility bills or offset the cost of solar panels.
While producing your own clean energy and capitalizing on solar incentives sounds nice, it’s not exactly energy independence. When your solar panels are not producing energy at night or during bad storms, you’ll still be relying on electricity from the power grid, albeit much less than you do without solar panels.
To be closer to true energy independence, you’ll need a way to store the excess energy your solar power system produces. Enter energy storage. Having an energy storage system, such as a solar battery, allows you to store all the excess power your panels produce. You can then use the energy in the battery when your panels aren’t producing, so you won’t be relying on the grid to power your home.
It’s widely understood how having a solar energy storage system would be helpful during poor weather conditions or at night when solar panels aren’t harnessing the power of the sun. But what many people don’t realize is that having a solar battery is important even when the weather is ideal for solar panel power production.
If your local electric grid is down, your solar system will shut down too because it has nowhere to send its excess energy, and it can be hazardous for the technicians working to restore the power. In simpler terms, having both a solar panel system and a solar battery is the closest you’ll get to being energy independent without being fully off-grid.
The Practical Considerations of Going Solar
Not only will having a solar panel system and a solar battery prevent you from having to rely on a finite energy supply and a volatile energy market, but it also allows you to have better control over how much you’re spending every month. As your neighbors’ energy rates rise and fall with the market, your electricity costs will stay mainly the same.
After all that talk about the advantages of solar, you may be surprised to hear me say that solar still has a long way to go before being the answer to America’s energy independence. It’s never going to be the sole source of energy for the country, and it presents other supply issues when you factor in the materials made to create solar panels. But solar, combined with wind and hydropower, could bring America to energy independence.
On an individual level, solar is a much more practical solution, but unfortunately, it’s not going to be the answer for every homeowner. To support an effective solar system, roofs have to be a certain size, in a certain condition, and facing a certain way. If not, there’s the possibility of installing a ground-mounted solar array, but again, it depends on yard size and the amount of direct sunlight the panels could receive.
Solar is also very location-dependent, and not just because of weather. If your state or city doesn’t have solar-friendly policies, you may have high feed-in tariffs or low buyback rates for your energy, making it less worth it to go solar. That said, you won’t know unless you try.
Creating and storing your own energy is the only way you’d truly be able to achieve energy independence for your home. If that’s your ultimate goal, I recommend you talk with a local solar company to find out if installing solar panels is right for you.
The Future of Energy Independence: Solar and Beyond
According to the Pew Research Center, only 6% of homeowners already have solar panels on their homes. So while the residential solar market in North America is at its early stages, it is quickly growing. Wood Mackenzie data put the residential solar market in 2013 at only 799 megawatts (MW), but by the end of 2018, it was already reaching 2,422 MW, showing more than 200% growth.
The solar battery market seems to be following the same path as the solar PV market, but it’s in its early stages. According to Wood Mackenzie, in 2015, there was less than 10 MW of solar storage deployed in the US residential market, and by mid-2019, this ballooned to nearly 70 MW. In fact, the increased demand in the second quarter of 2019, which was 35 MW of new residential storage, represented a new benchmark in terms of quantity and was nearly a 33% increase over the previous record.
Also predicted by Wood Mackenzie is that 20% of residential solar installed in 2020 will be paired with storage. A main driver of the demand for solar-plus-storage installations is the power shutoffs. Power shutoffs are power outages, but unlike all power outages, power shutoffs are intentional. Some power outages can be unintentional, i.e., caused by a storm, that have occurred during the past few months in California.
There are two major trends driving the sale of solar energy and battery systems: grid parity and grid independence. Grid parity means that the cost of producing solar energy is lower than the cost of buying energy from the grid. There are many states in the US that have already reached grid parity, so financially, it makes sense for people to generate and consume their own solar energy.
Grid independence is when consumers want to use the energy that they themselves produced. This can happen in areas where the grid is unstable and suffers from frequent blackouts. I believe this is the future for homes around the world because of the consequences we are seeing from global warming.
So, whether you’re looking to reduce your carbon footprint, protect yourself from rising energy costs, or simply achieve a greater sense of control over your energy sources, going solar and incorporating energy storage could be the path to true energy independence for your household.
