Good vs. Bad – The Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Power
Nothing is perfect. No system, no person and no form of energy. However, the advantages can outweigh the disadvantages or even vice versa.
Solar energy is no different; in order to make practical choices you must weigh the advantages and disadvantages of solar energy. Then you can thoroughly and knowledgeably state your case and make your decisions.
To begin with you have to know what solar energy is: harnessing the Sun’s power and using it either directly or converting it to a direct current and inverting that to an AC current for use as a power source.
There are many advantages to using solar energy as a power source, chief among them are:
• The environmental aspects: with global warming such a growing issue, any efforts that reduce the use of fossil fuels that leave fumes in the air is a definite advantage. Solar power does not leave any fumes or by-products in our environment.
• Free Power: After installation costs it is free. Who is going to charge you for the Sun? You can even build DIY homemade power solutions at a fraction of the cost of a professional system.
• Less Expensive to Maintain: – after the initial investment, which also can be done relatively inexpensively-solar energy can go for years with practically no maintenance.
• Renewable: – The Sun is, according to scientists, going to be around for millions more years. Solar energy is renewable. There is virtually an unlimited supply of solar energy to tap into.
• Flexible: – Solar energy systems can be customized to meet your needs, if you find that you need more, it is easily adjusted.
• Silent: Solar energy creates no noise pollution.
• Remote and Isolated Locations: Supplying solar energy to remote or isolated locations is far cheaper than building electric plants or extending grids.
In order to be objective and fair, you have to play devil’s advocate and look at the disadvantages of solar energy as well.
There are a few disadvantages:
• Land Area: -The potential exists for it to take large areas of land to harness enough power for large scale projects.
• Sunlight: – Not every location has enough sunlight to be useful to solar power. For solar energy to be beneficial a fairly constant source of sunlight is necessary.
• Night time: – For projects that rely totally on the Sun, a backup system must be in place for night time, or times when there is not enough stored power.
With such a small list of disadvantages you can easily see that in a battle for solar energy the advantages would win. The disadvantages can be remedied.
The large scale disadvantages are currently being worked out now for future implementation. In looking at the advantages and disadvantages of solar energy, the disadvantages can be remedied making solar energy the optimal choice for the future.
If you are considering a DIY homemade power solution then checkout this excellent Earth4Energy review – a complete guide to building solar and wind power systems for under $200.
