Did you know that there are enough solar panels in the United States to power over 18 million homes? That is 18 times the number of people (and most likely homes) in Rhode Island.

Let that sink in for a second.

With so many solar panels already up, what does the future of solar energy in America look like? Keep reading to find out!

1. More Level Energy Costs

As people continue to install solar panels, there will be a leveling out of energy costs that make it hard for fossil fuels to beat.

What does this mean for you? If you are considering installing solar panels on your home or commercial space, you should do it! As the future nears, there will be more incentives to go solar, thus reducing costs for yourself and your business.   

While going green is a large part of that pressure, pressure from the governments will also start to rise as costs for fossil fuels continues to rise.

You can check out this solar recap to learn how lower costs are already occurring.

2. Floating Panels

As solar panels become more of a fad across the country, there needs to be a way to think outside of the box for solar installation. This means that you could eventually see solar panels floating. 

That’s right. Floating solar panels could be installed on lakes and oceans.

This will also help with keeping the solar panels cooler, which makes them work better and store more energy. Not only that but hydropower could also be tied into the solar panel installation. 

The one problem with floating solar panels is figuring out how to do it properly! But once that problem is solved, this will become the wave of the future. Literally.

3. Solar Applications Will Expand

Solar energy doesn’t just need to come from solar panels that are on roofs, or potentially in the ocean in the future. They can also power more than just the electricity in a home or in a commercial space.

We are continuing to trend toward solar energy technological advances that will allow more products to come on the market to harness solar energy. For instance, solar-powered streetlights could be one of the new applications.

Cars, heating systems, AC systems, phones and cameras, electric bikes – all of that could look toward solar power to charge them up instead of using more traditional forms of electricity that are more expensive and worse for the environment.

The Future of Solar Energy 

The possibilities for how to harness solar energy are endless. We just have to find them all.

The future of solar energy is at our fingertips, and some current trends are showing us that we’ll be harnessing the power of the sun to power more things that we do at the moment as well as find more ways to install solar.

Did you enjoy reading about the future of solar energy? Check out more like this on our blog!

Read Also: Three Reasons It’s Worth Investing in Solar Energy for Businesses