Solar Power: Advantages and Disadvantages
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
It seems like people everywhere are talking about solar energy, from advocacy groups to the media to the Obama administration. Why all this interest in solar energy? While it is the many advantages that excite so many people, there are also a few disadvantages. If you have some knowledge and are willing to put in some work yourself, most of the disadvantages can be overcome.
Advantages
Never-ending source of energy
The sun produces solar energy so there is an infinite supply. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks of the year the sun is producing energy. While fossil fuels like natural gas and oil will eventually run out, solar energy will continue to be available until the sun disappears and at that point we’ll have a lot bigger problems to be worried about than how to power our air conditioners. The price of these limited fossil fuels will continue to rise as more and more are used up. The opposite is true of solar power! As technology continues to get better, the cost of producing solar electricity will get lower and lower.
Free energy
Assuming the sun will continue to shine, solar power will continue to be free. The ongoing cost of solar power is almost nothing aside from maintenance of the equipment. With enough solar panels, you can stop paying electric bills to the power company forever. This is called living off grid. If you can generate more electricity than you need, you can stay connected to the grid and actually sell the extra energy to the power company!
Lower greenhouse gasses
If you are one of the people worried about global warming, solar energy is the solution! Solar electricity produces absolutely no greenhouse gasses, unlike fossil fuels like oil and natural gas. If you wish to reduce your carbon footprint, solar energy is a great way to do it. Solar power produces no emissions of any type.
Reduce dependence on foreign oil
One of the biggest threats to national security is widely considered to be dependence on foreign oil. Dependence on foreign oil is considered by many people to be one of the biggest threats to national security today. Our dependence on foreign oil can be reduced by the use of solar electricity. Any domestically produced solar electricity would directly replace energy that is produced with foreign oil.
Disadvantages
Initial cost
The biggest disadvantage to solar power is generally considered to be initial cost. The ongoing cost of solar energy is very small, but the cost of buying and installing solar panels can be quite high. If you want to see how much it would cost to install enough solar panels to power your home and get a spreadsheet to do the calculations, please check out Cost of Solar Panels.
With a good set of plans, a few common tools and enough time, the initial cost can be reduced significantly by building your own solar panels. If you are looking for instructions on how to build your own solar panel, visit DIY Solar Panel.
Necessary space
Solar panels require sufficient space and also must be oriented so they point south. Solar panels work best in areas that get a great deal of sun. There are solar maps available that show the average sun in different areas. A larger score means that a solar panel of the same size will produce more electricity than a solar panel in an area with a smaller score. You will need more solar panels to generate sufficient electricity to power your house if you live in an area with a lower score.
As you can see, there are advantages and disadvantages to solar energy. The advantages of solar power, however, outweigh the disadvantages. You can avoid most of the disadvantages by building your own solar panel. For the best guide to building a diy solar panel, check out Review of GreenDIYEnergy.
Technorati Tags: No Tags
Related Tags: No Tags
Possible Related Posts
Learn About Solar Energy Advantages Disadvantages In Order To Decide Whether It Is Suited For Your NeedsDisadvantages of Solar Energy – Vital to UnderstandWhy is solar energy a renewable resource and also some advantages and disadvantages of using solar energy?
