Bright Lights, Big City: Solar Power in the Urban Sprawl

big city solar lights

Ultimately the point of green technology is to help us coexist with Mother Nature instead of intruding all over her backyard, flattening it, and putting down some pavement. Humans aren’t known for being kind to the environment, but in recent years, there’s a bit of darkness on the horizon – meaning that all is not well with our relationship with Mother Nature. Change needs to happen for us to still be welcome (or even able) to live on earth.

Cities are well known for being intruders to Mother Nature. With lots of buildings, the green space around the city decreases. Parks are intruded on by paved paths. From solar lamplights to panels, there are so many things developers aren’t doing that would help lessen our carbon footprint while allowing us to live comfortably and more aligned with a healthy planet.

Why don’t we harness solar power more often? It’s a clean source of energy, captured fairly easily, and it saves people incredible amounts of money on their monthly utilities. Because cities are major population centers, with populations ranging from 5.8 million in New York City to Providence, Rhode Island with 179,219 residents. In such densely populated areas like cities, there are a lot of opportunities to capitalize on the efficiency of solar power – given the millions of rooftops and bunches of buildings. And with everything located so close together, it’s far easier to ditch the car for more environmentally friendly transportation methods like walking.

Cities could be doing much more to implement laws in kind with California’s new law which requires builders of new construction to include solar power features. If solar power features were included in all new construction buildings, including schools, office buildings, or even apartment buildings, there would be many more opportunities to use green energy instead of energy that harms our planet.

Choosing to live in a city surely has its pros and cons, especially in comparison to living in a suburb, or a sparsely populated rural area. Suburban areas stand to reap a good deal of the benefits of adding solar-powered features to every home. According to a new study recently finished by Greenshine Solar, the average home could fit up to 18 solar panels on its roof.

When the benefits outweigh the cons for you of living in a city versus living in a suburb or somewhere more rural, there are a handful of other factors that can contribute to the city you end up living in.

 

Consider your utility bills – solar will help bring those costs down.

Consider your commute – solar will help bring down the cost of gas because things are much closer together.

Consider your carbon footprint – solar will help decrease your negative impact

 

If you’re ready to consider moving to a city, check out this list of solar power stars in across the U.S.

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