Monthly energy cost reduction, energy back-up/security, in-feasibility of any other type of energy, making profit on the long-run, good returns on investment, universal availability, minimum running costs, no transmission losses, state subsidies, falling prices of solar panels, great schemes/support by local vendors, reliable power source, etc. etc. etc. are all only secondary reasons why people buy solar panels.
What's the primary reason, then?
People are acutely aware that oil/natural-gas is a finite source of energy and it will get exhausted in the near future. They are aware that the squabble for the remaining oil resources will result in unnecessary conflicts and exploitation. Worse, they are aware that they are participating in/contributing to, the exploitation led by the oil-based economy.
"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed" - Mahatma Gandhi.
Contrary to the popular perception, we are not destroying nature, but nature is slowly destroying us.
From now on, in spite of governmental interventions, oil-based fuel prices are going to increase exponentially and our ruthlessness in procuring this precious asset is going to become more dramatic. God knows how many more wars we need to fight and how many terrorist attacks we need to face, while scrambling for the limited (and fast depleting) oil.
But do we have to go through all this? Is oil the only resource on the planet that can drive our economy?
What is oil? It is stored solar energy from 250 million years back. That's what it is.
While the sun has directly powered life for millions of years on this earth, suddenly we have come to think that oil is the only thing that can enable our survival. We don't have to be so narrow minded!
Fortunately for us, technology has grown to the extent that we can power boats, air-planes and race cars directly using solar panels. Powering our homes/offices may not be so difficult?
When we buy solar panels, we are not only investing in our energy security, but we also ensure that the demand on oil is reduced (a bit). When more and more people start buying solar panels, the squabble for coal/oil will come down considerably and they can be utilized where they are needed the most. The strain on governments to fight for this resource will also decrease, and the earth will become a more peaceful place.
That is/should be the primary reason why people buy solar panels.
Everything else is only secondary.
Photo/Image credit: By JuVlai (Flickr: 2011-07-22 Croatia (178)) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
