1. Home
  2. Solar

The Combined Environmental Impact of Going Solar with Palmetto

A toy coal train demonstrating the environmental impact of going solar.
PublishedFebruary 8, 2021
UpdatedMay 17, 2024
AuthorCory O'Brien HeadshotCory O'BrienSenior Director - Growth MarketingEditorRyan Barnett HeadshotRyan BarnettSVP, Policy & New Market Development

It's exciting to help homeowners make their own environmental impact on the planet by committing to cleaner, greener energy, but it's also encouraging to look at the combined environmental impact of going solar with all of our customers put together, and see the scale of change that we're able to accomplish as a group.

To have some fun with anecdotal math, we looked at the energy that will be generated in 2021 by all of the solar power systems that we installed in 2020, and came up with combined environmental impact stats that use some very unique units of measurement:

  • If you think of time in units of one-hour episodes of The Mandalorian, we installed enough solar to offset 178,886,400 hours of combined TV viewing, so feel free to binge on your favorite Star Wars series - we've got your back!
  • If you wanted to focus your attention on a smaller screen, we installed enough solar to keep 11,180,400 iPhones charged for an entire year, so swipe away!
  • If you added up all of the coal that doesn't have to get burned to produce the energy saved by our solar power customers over a year, it would fill 1,799 train cars. To put that in perspective, if you were sitting at a railroad crossing and a train that was 1,799 cars long came rolling past, you could watch the entire The Wizard of OZ movie on your iPhone before the train passed by and you could drive again.
  • We're removing the same amount of carbon from the atmosphere as 5,444,468 trees do over the course of a year, which is enough to cover 11,992 acres, or an area that is 80% the size of Manhattan!
  • We'll remove the same amount of carbon that gets produced by 804,571,440 miles driven in cars, which means that we're offsetting the carbon pollution created by the yearly total of 60,000 people driving. How far is 804,571,440 miles? You could drive your car to Saturn, and still drive another 58 million miles around Saturn when you got there! (Don't try this at home... Saturn is very cold, and the roads there aren't well maintained.)

We love to talk about joules and watts and kilowatt-hours, but sometimes it's fun to just think of these numbers in other real-world values, even if those values are a little silly. We're proud of the environmental impact of going solar that our customers contributed to in 2020, and we're looking forward to helping even more people make an even bigger environmental impact in 2021!

See what solar can do for you:

My electric bill is $290/mo
About the AuthorCory O'Brien HeadshotCory O'BrienSenior Director - Growth Marketing

Cory brings over 8 years of solar expertise to Palmetto, and enjoys sharing that knowledge with others looking to improve their carbon footprint. A dog lover residing in Asheville, NC with his wife, Cory graduated from UCSB. If you run into him, ask him about the company he founded to rate and review beer!

Read More From The Clean Energy Learning Center

Palmetto is your go-to resource for news, updates, and questions. Knowledge is power. Invest with confidence.

Long Beach, CA Solar Guide with an outline of of California and an image of Long Beach in the background.

Long Beach Solar Guide: How You Can Save With Solar

If you’re looking for rooftop solar panels in Long Beach, understanding your potential to save is a key step.
San Diego, CA Solar Guide with an outline of California on an image of a San Diego beach.

Homeowner’s Guide to Rooftop Solar Panels: Incentives, Costs, and Solar Savings

Getting solar panels in San Diego could reduce your energy bill. Here’s what you need to know before installing solar and how you can find the best solar company in San Diego.
The words Chicago Solar Guide and an outline of Illinois with Chicago marked with the Chicago skyline in the background.

Chicago Solar Guide: Cost, Savings, and Finding the Best Solar Company

Thinking of going solar in Chicagoland? Here’s what you need to know about solar costs, solar savings, incentives, and maintenance before deciding.

See how much

you can benefit

by
going solar with Palmetto

$290
What's your monthly electric bill amount?