Health Impact of Solar Energy Use in the Environme...

Health Impact of Solar Energy Use in the Environment Among Residents of Big Qua Town, Calabar Municipality, Cross River State.

Abstract

This study investigated the health impact of solar energy use in the environment among residents of Big Qua Town, Calabar Municipality, Cross River State. One major hypothesis was formulated and literature review of relevant works were consulted while the theoretical frame work explored, considered and anchored on, was The Social Impact (SIT) theory by Bibb Latane. The descriptive research design was adopted for this study and the instrument used for data collection was a self-designed structured 10-item questionnaire with two sections titled Health Impact of Solar Energy Usage Questionnaire (HISEUQ) and administered to a total of 316 residents out of a population of 63,100 residents of Big Qua Town in which 315 were returned as valid and used for the analysis. The proportionate random sampling technique was used for this study with a purposive sample of 0.5% of estimated population which is 316. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was the statistical tool used to analyse the hypothesis and the results at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that health impact significantly influenced energy usage of residents of Big Qua Town, Calabar Municipality in Cross River State and that the potential benefits of health impact of solar energy usage far outweighs the negative health impact that may be associated with solar energy usage. Based on the findings, it was recommended that more persons should be encouraged to use solar energy as it is more health-friendly than other energy sources.

Introduction

The epileptic power supply in the country has led some residents to explore alternatives like solar energy usage with possible health concerns about its impact among residents like those of Big Qua Town in Calabar Municipality, Cross River State of Nigeria as a source of concern. Health Impact, according to the Ottawa Charter of the World Health Organisation, WHO (2021) is commonly defined through the framework of Health Impact Assessment, which evaluates the potential effects of policies, programs, or projects on the health of a population. Health impact is any change in the physical, mental or social wellbeing of a population, community or individual resulting from exposure to environmental, social or economic factors. The term health impact can have wide application but in this paper, our focus will be on the human body as related to energy usage from solar as a source