SolarEnergyProsandCons

LastupdatedMay12,2014by
MathiasAarreMaehlum

Belowyou`llfindalistoverthevariousprosandconsofsolarenergy.
Byclickingononeofthe
bluelinks,youwillbetakenfurtherdownonthepageformoreindepthinformation.Everything
youareabouttoreadisproperlyreferencedatthebottom.

Pros
1. Renewable
2. Abundant
3. Sustainable
4. EnvironmentallyFriendly
5. GoodAvailability
6. ReducesElectricityCosts
7. ManyApplications
8. SharedSolar
9. Silent
10. FinancialSupportfromGovernment/State
11. LowMaintenance
12. TechnologyisImproving
Cons
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Expensive
Intermittent
EnergyStorageisExpensive
AssociatedwithPollution
ExoticMaterials
RequiresSpace

AdvantagesofSolarEnergy
1.Renewable
Solarenergyisarenewableenergysource.
Thismeansthatwecannotrunoutofsolarenergy,
asopposedtononrenewableenergysources(e.g.fossilfuels,coalandnuclear).Wewillhave
accesstosolarenergyforaslongasthesunisaliveanother6.5billionyearsaccordingto
NASA
[1]
.Wehaveworsethingstoworryaboutinfact,scientistshaveestimatedthatthesun
itselfwillswallowEarth5billionyearsfromnow.

2.Abundant
Thepotentialofsolarenergyisbeyondimagination.
Thesurfaceoftheearthreceives120,000
terawattsofsolarradiation(sunlight)20,000timesmorepowerthanwhatisneededtosupply
theentireworld.
[2]

3.Sustainable
Anabundantandrenewableenergysourceisalsosustainable.
Sustainableenergysources
meettheneedsofthepresentwithoutcompromisingtheabilityoffuturegenerationstomeet
theirneeds.Inotherwords,solarenergyissustainablebecausethereisnowaywecan
overconsume.

4.EnvironmentallyFriendly
Harnessingsolarenergydoesgenerallynotcausepollution.
However,thereareemissions
associatedwiththemanufacturing,transportationandinstallationofsolarpowersystems
almostnothingcomparedtomostconventionalenergysources.Itisclearthatsolarenergy
reducesourdependenceonnonrenewableenergysources.Thisisanimportantstepinfighting
theclimatecrisis.

5.GoodAvailability
Solarenergyisavailableallovertheworld.
Notonlythecountriesthatareclosesttothe
EquatorcanputsolarenergytouseGermany,forexample,hasbyfarthehighestcapacityof
solarpowerintheworld.

6.ReducesElectricityCosts
Withtheintroductionofnetmeteringandfeedintariff(FIT)schemes,homeownerscannow
sellexcesselectricity,orreceivebillcredits,duringtimeswhentheyproducemoreelectricity
thanwhattheyactuallyconsume.
Thismeansthathomeownerscanreducetheiroverall
electricityexpensesbygoingsolar.
DatafromOneBlockOfftheGridrevealsthataddingsolar
panelstoyourhomecanbringinmonthlysavingsofwellabove$100inmanystates.InHawaii,
residentssaveonaverage$64,000after20years!
Nowadays,mosthomeownerschooseleasingorpowerpurchaseagreementstofinancetheir
solarpanels.Thisdrasticallyreduces,orinsomecasescompletelyeliminates,theupfrontcosts
ofasolarpanelsystem,andallowshomeownerstostartsavingmoneyfromthefirstday.

7.ManyApplications
Solarenergycanbeusedformanydifferentpurposes.
Itcanbeusedtogenerateelectricityin
placesthatlackagridconnection,fordistillingwaterinAfrica,oreventopowersatellitesin
space.SolarpowerisalsoknownasThePeople`sPower,whichreferstohoweasily
deployablesolarpanelsareattheconsumerlevel(bothphotovoltaicandsolarthermal).With
theintroductionofflexiblethinfilmsolarcells,solarpowercanevenbeseeminglyintegrated
intothematerialofbuildings(buildingintegratedphotovoltaics)Sharp,asolarpanel
manufacturerwithheadquartersinJapan,recentlyintroducedtransparentsolarpowerwindows.

8.SharedSolar

Becauseofshading,insufficientspaceandownershipissues,1/5Americanhomesaresimply
unfitforsolarpanels.
[3]
Withtheintroductionofsharedsolar,homeownerscansubscribeto
communitysolargardens,andgeneratesolarelectricitywithoutactuallyhavingsolarpanels
ontheirownrooftops.

9.Silent
Therearenomovingpartsinvolvedinmostapplicationsofsolarpower.Thereisnonoise
associatedwithphotovoltaics.Thiscomparesfavorabletocertainothergreentechssuchas
windturbines.

10.FinancialSupportfromGovernment/State
Governmentandstaterebateshavebecomeavailablebothonutilityscaleandforthemajority
ofhomeowners.
Thismeansthattheeffectivecostsofsolarpanelsaremuchlessthanwhat
theyusedtobe.Insomecases,thepriceofaresidentialphotovoltaicsystemcanbecutmore
than50%.Asof12/31/2008,theU.S.governmentoffersa30%taxcreditwithnoupperlimit.
Chancesareyourhomeisalsoeligibleforothergrantsandrebates.

11.LowMaintenance
Themajorityoftoday`ssolarpowersystemsdonotrequiredalotofmaintenance.
Residential
solarpanelsusuallyonlyrequirecleaningacoupleoftimesayear.Serioussolarmanufacturers
ship20or25yearwarrantieswiththeirsolarpanels.

12.TechnologyisImproving
Technologicaladvancementsareconstantlybeingmadeinthesolarpowerindustry.Innovation
innanotechnologyandquantumphysicshasthepotentialtotripletheelectricaloutputofsolar
panels.

DisadvantagesofSolarEnergy
1.Expensive
Issolarpowerreallyexpensive?Thisisprobablythemostdebatableaspectontheentiresolar
energyprosandconslist.Thedrivingforcesbehindthedevelopmentofsolarenergyarerooted
inpolitics.Solarpowerisincentivizedtocompeteagainstotherenergysourcesonthemarket.
Ontheotherhand,theU.S.government,similarlytotherestoftheworld,providesincentivesto
everymajorenergyproductionmarketnotjustsolar.
In2010,coalreceived$1,189billioninfederalsubsidiesandsupportforelectricityproduction
whilesolarisnotfarbehindat$968billion.
[4]
Nowadays,the
bestsolarpanels
caninmanysituationsbecheaperthanbuyingelectricityfrom
theutility.Thiswouldn`thavebeenpossiblewithoutincentives.

2.Intermittent
Solarenergyisanintermittentenergysource.
Accesstosunlightislimitedatcertaintimes(e.g.
morningandnight).Predictingovercastdayscanbedifficult.Thisiswhysolarpowerisnotour
firstchoicewhenitcomestomeetingthebaseloadenergydemand.However,solarpowerhas
fewerproblemsthanwindpowerwhenitcomestointermittence.

3.EnergyStorageisExpensive
Energystoragesystemssuchasbatterieswillhelpsmoothenoutdemandandload,making
solarpowermorestable,butthesetechnologiesarealsoexpensive.
Luckily,there`sagoodcorrespondencebetweenouraccesstosolarenergyandhumanenergy
demand.Ourelectricitydemandpeaksinthemiddleoftheday,whichalsohappenstobethe
sametimethere`salotofsunlight!

4.AssociatedwithPollution

Whilesolarpowercertainlyislesspollutingthanfossilfuels,someproblemsdoexist.Some
manufacturingprocessesareassociatedwithgreenhousegasemissions.Nitrogentrifluroide
andsulfurhexafluoridehasbeentracedbacktotheproductionofsolarpanels.Thesearesome
ofthemostpotentgreenhousegasesandhavemanythousandtimestheimpactonglobal
warmingcomparedtocarbondioxide.Transportationandinstallationofsolarpowersystems
canalsoindirectlycausepollution.
Thebottomlineisthis:
Theresnothingthatscompletelyriskfreeintheenergyworld,butsolar
powercomparesveryfavorablywithallothertechnologies.

5.ExoticMaterials
Certainsolarcellsrequirematerialsthatareexpensiveandrareinnature.Thisisespeciallytrue
forthinfilmsolarcellsthatarebasedoneithercadmiumtelluride(CdTe)orcopperindium
galliumselenide(CIGS).

6.RequiresSpace
Powerdensity,orwattpersquaremeter(W/m),isessentialwhenlookingathowmuchpower
canbederivedfromacertainareaofrealestateofanenergysource.Lowpowerdensity
indicatesthattoomuchrealestateisrequiredtoprovidethepowerwedemandatreasonably
prices.Theglobalmeanpowerdensityforsolarradiationis170W/m.
[5]
Thisismorethanany
otherrenewableenergysource,butnotcomparabletooil,gasandnuclearpower.