{"id":6169,"date":"2017-05-04T10:20:47","date_gmt":"2017-05-04T10:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.portal.solar.com\/learn\/how-cutting-trees-helps-the-environment-when-you-install-solar\/"},"modified":"2022-11-03T19:54:57","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T19:54:57","slug":"how-cutting-trees-helps-the-environment-when-you-install-solar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/how-cutting-trees-helps-the-environment-when-you-install-solar\/","title":{"rendered":"How Cutting Trees Helps the Environment When You Install Solar"},"content":{"rendered":"

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We\u2019re all environmentalists at Solar.com. That\u2019s why it sometimes comes as a surprise to our customers when we recommend that they trim a tree or two for their solar system. Unfortunately, sometimes two positive forces for the environment may run contradictory to one another. In this case, trimming your trees to open up your solar system to more direct sunshine is the clear eco-winner.<\/p>\n

Quite simply, if you have large trees near the roof of your house, this causes shading on your solar system that will subsequently reduce the amount of electricity it produces. Even trees relatively distant from your roof may impact your system\u2019s production in the early morning or late evening — times when you\u2019re more likely to be home and directly consuming power generated from your system.<\/p>\n

So trees can be tricky sometimes. That\u2019s why when we design your system we make sure to take shading into account to determine where to place the panels on the roof.<\/p>\n

Trimming Trees vs. Installing Solar<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it may be necessary to trim some trees around your roof to meet your energy needs. You may wonder how this will impact the\"satelite-solar-system-design.jpg\" environment. As an example, let\u2019s say that you\u2019ll need to trim three trees to optimize your solar system. We can easily compare the difference in carbon offset from a solar system and this group of trees.<\/p>\n

As we all know, trees absorb carbon dioxide molecules and convert them into sugars via photosynthesis. According to American Forests, a single tree will do this at roughly a rate of 48 pounds of CO2 per year when fully mature. So three trees would absorb 144 pounds of CO2 per year.<\/p>\n

A home solar system, on the other hand, reduces CO2 in the atmosphere by eliminating the need for your home\u2019s energy to be derived from fossil-fuel sources like coal-fired power plants. In California, the U.S. Energy Information Agency<\/a> showed that in 2015 the state\u2019s power system emitted 0.62 pounds of CO2 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity produced. An average 7-kilowatt system in California would conservatively generate 11,000 kWh in one year — thereby reducing CO2 emissions by 6,820 pounds! That\u2019s the same amount of work as 142 trees!<\/p>\n

Installing Solar is Worth Trimming Your Trees<\/strong><\/p>\n

So there you have it. When comparing the amount of CO2 that is eliminated from the atmosphere, a rooftop PV system clearly outperforms a group of trees. To clear enough room for sunlight, often times only a few branches, not the entire tree, need to be sacrificed. Of course, it\u2019s impossible to make this a true apples-to-apples comparison, for reasons such as:<\/p>\n