When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, governments have imposed their set of guidelines to avoid further spread of the virus. One of these guidelines was the implementation of lockdowns.
Indeed, it is a very controversial aspect of the pandemic as it undoubtedly saved lives, but they also cause major ongoing economic issues such as disrupting industries, job losses and financial pain.
But lockdowns have also brought positive effects on the environment as countries all over the world report a reduction of air pollution.
Countries such as China, Italy, and India have reported dramatic changes in levels of air pollution that can be seen in space and has allowed never before seen places in their country to be seen again as the atmosphere clears of air pollution.
Now, another research shows the flow-on effect of lockdowns on the environment.
Lockdowns Made Solar Panels More Efficient
Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world as the air quality index (AQI) in India's capital is at 450, which is considered to be dangerous. This is where the researchers focused their study.
They looked at the solar panel at Delhi and found that the reduction in air pollution has allowed significantly more sunlight to get through the solar panels in the capital, therefore making them more efficient.
First author Ian Marius Peters of Helmholtz-Institut Erlangen- Nürnberg for Renewable Energies in Germany, said that the increase in the solar panels' output is "equivalent to the difference between what a photovoltaic (PV) installation in Houston would produce compared with one in Toronto."
The researchers were expecting to see any difference, but the effect was surprisingly visible.
On March 24, 2020, Delhi went into lockdown. The researchers looked at the PM2.5 particle concentration in the air at the US embassy in Delhi before and after the lockdown, and also to the last few years at the same time of the year. The particle concentration is a measure of fine particles present in the air that is less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter.
Furthermore, they also looked at the clear sky irradiance or how much sunlight reaches the surface of the Earth without being scattered or absorbed by particles and gases in the atmosphere.
The team discovered that in general, there is an increase of eight percent in late March 2020 of the sunlight that reaches the Earth's surface. Then on April, there is another increase of six percent compared to similar dates in earlier years.
In their paper, the researchers wrote: "PV installations in March and April received more than 6 percent more light in total than in previous years and will continue to generate record amounts of electricity as long as air pollution levels stay low."
They also expect to see the same for other big cities such as cities of Kolkata, Wuhan, Mumbai, Dhaka, Los Angeles or London.
Humans Can Change the World and Save It
The research that was published in Joule is a great reminder that humans can do something to change the world, and pollution does not need to be a permanent part of the world.
The drastic changes in the levels of pollution the world has seen in the last few months are unlikely to stay low and clean, but as the world slowly reopen, this is now the opportunity to rebuild a more sustainable future, with cleaner air, healthier kids, and a livable planet.
The world has gotten a glimpse of what it would be like to have better air and see that there may be an opportunity to 'flatten the climate curve' and solar panel can play an important role on that, Peters says.
