Due to the cultural wave happening that’s popularizing renewable energy, solar power could become accessible in all areas. If you’re a solar professional, then you may have the opportunity to take part in this very important and necessary change within the medical field.
How Solar Professionals Can Find Opportunity in the Healthcare Industry
Brooke Faulkner
Growing fields like the solar industry will affect all areas of everyday life, should the world give them that chance. While Earth is suffering from the use of non-renewable energy and is continually running out resources humanity depends on, it’s important that we implement newer and more forward-thinking methods about energy in everything we do. Because if we don’t, we will without a doubt cause more damage to the world — eventually to the point that it will be uninhabitable for mankind.
And thus, one of the industries we most depend on — and that uses a lot of effort and energy — may be ready to take the next steps. That industry is the medical field, and it’s one of the most helpful and crucial sectors to any society. It literally keeps people living and breathing.
2019 may be the perfect time for something like this to happen. Due to the cultural wave happening that’s popularizing renewable energy, solar power could become accessible in all areas. If you’re a solar professional, then you may have the opportunity to take part in this very important and necessary change within the medical field.
The Cultural Shift
If there is a time to start implementing solar energy into places of medical practice, stop waiting — the time is now. Society is currently being primed for this kind of change, and it is embracing it at large. Even the powers that be are more open to it than they have been before.
You can see this in the amount of energy-forward practices and organizations being established right now. The social and political push toward renewable energy is creating an energy marketplace of epic proportions. Not only is it important, but it’s becoming trendy as well.
Additionally, the government is becoming more involved in this sort of thing. It is doing its part by offering businesses and citizens solar incentives like the federal solar tax credit. Implementing solar power in government operations would be a great next step, of course. But even so, these federal incentives will hopefully encourage a wider social change, and with more information in the world, they could help move us forward into a solar-based future.
Solar Professionals in the Healthcare Industry
One of the biggest benefits of healthcare going solar is the easy installation of solar technology to that which already exists. Since this can be done without completely altering operations, solar professionals can start making their entryway here. Even HVAC technicians who specialize in installing solar panels can find a lucrative niche working with healthcare facilities. Hospitals are actually becoming more open to solar energy because it could offer a huge cut to electricity costs.
Additionally though, solar companies and energy giants are moving beyond installation itself and interrupting the process, replacing old cogs in the machine if you will. For instance, digital X-rays are one of the greatest tools we have in preventative medicine. General Electrics, who provide thin film technology for X-rays used by the healthcare industry, are now investing in solar power for thin film.
Similarly, advancements in the solar industry like bifacial modules are making the energy distribution easier, and therefore more accessible for hospitals to use. The spread of this technology is important because it means it will be used more. Availability means productivity!
What the Future May Hold
To understand what may come in the future, we need to understand the past a little bit. For example, 2018 was an interesting year for solar energy, with the top 10 wind and solar states producing 20% of their energy via the wind and sun. However, Americans are also falling back on natural gases more. There will always be a balancing act of sorts, but due to the social and political shift toward renewable energies, we will probably see their relevance going upwards overall.
Now, solar energy has its complications, whether that be battery backups for rainy days or necessary power converters to go from DC to AC energy, both of which could be concerns for healthcare facilities if there’s a threat to their power. As we move forward with technologies similar to the bifacial modules, we may be able to create power converters that efficiently streamline energy conversion processes.
While this may seem like a ways off, there are organizations doing this already on a smaller scale, outside of actual hospitals. Clinic in a Can, for instance, have created health clinics run completely on solar power to help in disaster areas. This technology may have to see further development first before it plays in the big leagues, but it is definitely growing.
There is a consensus that it would eventually be better for the wellness industry and community as a whole to go solar. We’ll have to wait and see when action is taken, but this implementation seems plausible.
The cultural shift moving us toward a solar future is underway, and it’s time for medical professionals to start paying attention to what solar professionals can bring them. With new technology being developed all the time, the future is bright in regards to sustainability. However, it may take some time to implement it.
Have you used solar technology in a medical context before? We want to hear your experience — please share in the comments below!
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of AltEnergyMag
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