Have you ever thought about installing the Solar panels to your house? Common guys, we are in the 21st century and things going smarter and smarter every day. Getting the power from a solar panel is a good move, but you should have to understand the demerits as well. Through this post, I’m going to talk about the solar energy advantages and disadvantages.
Solar power energy is an energy obtained from direct sunlight. It is one of the many renewable sources of energy which you can convert into usable energy for various purposes. A solar panel is responsible for the entrapment and conversion of solar energy into usable energy. Solar power energy is mainly produced through solar photovoltaic panels for usable energy and through concentrating solar power panels for solar thermal electricity.
The use of solar power energy has been gradually improving, and as much as many have been adopting it, there are a few challenges they face. Here is an outline of the possible benefits and demerits of solar power energy.
For your easy read, I am going to line-up these solar energy advantages and disadvantages in points. These points are good for any essays about solar energy advantages and disadvantages.
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Solar Energy Advantages And Disadvantages
Advantages Of Solar Energy
1. Clean And Renewable
One of the main advantages of using solar power energy is that it is clean and renewable. Therefore, you can be guaranteed that it will not damage in any way and on top of that, it is available on a daily basis. The rising and the setting of the sun is something given and consistent which means makes solar energy reliable. It is predicted that solar energy will last forever, even during the cloudy days, solar power will always be there.
2. It Does Not Cause Pollution
Since solar power energy is clean, it does not eliminate any harmful substances even with the greenhouses. This means it is environment-friendly and will not contaminate it in any way possible. Compared to other renewable sources of energies like fossils and fuel, sunlight releases low levels of carbon emissions which is a huge difference and very beneficial to the environment. The sun supplies an enormous resource for generating sustainable electricity without toxic pollution or global warming emissions.
3. Low Maintenance Costs
The panel systems used in converting sunlight into solar power energy does not require a lot of maintenance. The much you are required to do is keep them clean and dust-free so that they can function better. In fact, the producers of the solar panels often give 5-10 years of warranty, an indication that they don’t get spoilt easily. The only thing you’d have to take extra care for is the inverter, of which it requires replacement after five or ten years.
4. Reduced Cost Of Paying Electricity Bills
Solar power energy is adequate to power most homes in terms of lighting. In addition to that, it can be used for other household purposes such as cooking and heating up your home. This helps reduce greatly the cost of paying utility bills that are quite expensive. With solar panels, you have control over your own electricity as well as power usage. Nevertheless, sunlight is a free source of natural energy, and hence solar power energy is free. The solar panels and installation fees are little expensive. But after the installation, you may have to pay very little money for clean the panels. You don’t need to worry about anything else. But if you are using normal electricity, you have to worry about some extra bucks for paying electricity bills every month.
5. Many Possible Applications
Apart from lighting homes and being used for other household purposes, solar power energy is relevant in other fields. As a matter of fact, it can power communities, villages and even small towns. However, the potential ways of usage do not end there; it can be used in powering vehicles and even airplanes. Additionally, it can be used in areas where there is no access to an energy grid. For example, distilling the water in Africa and powering the satellites in space.
6. Solar Panels Can Increase Your House Value
It is very confident to say that you can sell or rent your house for a higher rate if you installed the solar panels to your house. As long as I know, you can add at least the installation cost with your actual house cost value. Which simply means you can regain the installation cost of solar panels when you are ready to sell the house. This is one of the main reasons why people don’t think about the installation cost of solar panels.
7. Best Solution for Remote Locations
Solar energy is one of the great sources in areas which have no access to power cables or running power lines would be costly. There are many districts in the world doesn’t have power at all. Some districts would get electricity in time basis. It’s like you will get electricity 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening. Some of you may laugh, but this is the bitter truth in some countries. Solar energy would be the better replacement/solution to such districts.
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Disadvantages Of Solar Energy
1. It Is Expensive At The Beginning
Setting up a solar power plant is expensive because of expensive systems. In addition to that, buying the required materials i.e. batteries and wiring for installation are also expensive. To get a good solar panel, it does not come in cheap. The more solar panels you want, the more you have to spend. This is mainly because of the supply-demand curve whereby as the demand for solar power energy rises, the cost decreases with time. But once you finished the installation, it becomes very less expensive since maintenance costs are low and the energy produced is free.
2. Dependent On Weather
Solar panels rely on the only source of solar power that is sunlight and its rays to produce energy. So, during the night, there is no production of solar power energy. In addition to that, the amount of energy produced is dependent on the intensity of sunlight. That means when the sunlight energy is low during the cloudy days and some seasons, solar power energy produced will be little and insufficient. So, you may need to install more solar panels which cost little more extra bucks.
3. Low-Efficiency Rate Of Solar Panels
As much as solar power energy can be used for a wide range of purposes, it requires a lot more production for it to be enough. Solar panel systems used to convert solar power into energy are not 100% efficient. Nevertheless, most of the energy generated ends up wasted, which only makes this kind of energy unreliable.
4. Solar Energy Storage Is Expensive
Solar energy is restricted to production during the day when sunlight or sunrays are available. That means, if you want to use solar power at night, you have to store it in large batteries. As good as the solution sounds for night time usage of solar energy, it is quite expensive. This is because the batteries cost quite a lot and they need good maintenance to keep them working properly.
5. Consumes A Lot Of Space Depending On What Scale You Want To Produce Energy
Installing solar power energy requires a large empty land to place the solar panel systems. If you are looking to provide on a small-scale, the land used may be smaller. However, for large-scale production, land needed is a lot bigger. Since some people don’t have enough land space, not many have installed the solar systems. But solar panels to house mostly installed on top of the roofs. So you may not need to find a separate place for installation. It is going to be hard only if you are going to install in a large-scale.
6. Not All Building Roofs Are Ideal For Solar Panels
If you want to install a solar panel in your home, you need to make sure your roof is suitable in terms of space, roofing materials and access to sunlight. For some types of roofing materials such as brick, it can be difficult to work with during installation. As for access to sunlight, if your roof does not get enough sunlight, then solar energy produced will be low and inefficient.
7. Associated With Pollution
Regardless of the fact that solar power energy (sunlight) is clean, it still emits certain levels of carbon. The pollution bit comes in with the solar systems which are said to increase emission of harmful greenhouse gases. This is often during installation or when they are being transported for installation. Nonetheless, some of the material used in the manufacture of the systems can be hazardous to the environment.
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Solar power energy is advantageous in many ways, but at the same time, it is bound to some disadvantages. The main aim is to harness solar power energy and replace other sources of power that are dangerous to the environment.
These are the solar energy advantages and disadvantages in points. I hope you have learned something about pros and cons of solar power energy. If you know any other points based on this post, you can share with us in the comment box below. Also, you can share this post with your friends and family by clicking one of the social share buttons below.