The Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Energy – Energy Saving
One of the main advantages and disadvantages of solar energy is saving on fossil fuel energy. The sun is here for the next 5 billion years. The electricity, as we know it today, will be produced this way only for the next several years. So what should we do in this situation? Obviously, use the energy of the sun to generate cheap, green electricity.
Advantages of solar energy for energy saving
Solar panels are also known as solar photovoltaic cells that capture the sun’s energy and transform it into electricity. The good thing about these cells is that they don’t need direct sunlight to work. You most likely know those toys that run on solar energy, toys that you have spread in your house if you have kids. Even though they don’t see direct sunlight, they still work.
Inside a house, solar panels can be connected to your appliances and thus save some energy, if not make those appliances run only on the energy provided by the sun. Obviously, this means a reduction of the electricity bills. In time, you will forget about your electricity provider and use only the advantages offered by the renewable energy sources.
Disadvantages of solar energy for energy saving
Solar panels produce direct power, which has to be converted to alternative power to function properly with your appliances. Luckily, there are DC-AC inverters that can be used.
Solar energy is not a cheap green energy, but no green energy source is cheap today. In fact, when compared to other sources of renewable energy, solar energy is the cheapest. We are all capable of enjoying the sun’s benefits, as we all have access to it. We cannot say the same thing about the green energy provided by oceans or seas, for example; not everyone lives in a city near a water source.
Another disadvantage could be that, at the beginning, you will have to do quite some work in order to install those solar panels and this is translated into a higher consumption of energy. But this is just temporary; soon, you will use only the energy provided by the brightest star of them all, the sun – and for free.
In the United Kingdom, a solar energy system uses 3 kWp and costs around 10,000 GBP. A system like this generates more than 2500 KW/h of electricity every year. This is about the exact amount of electricity needed by a household. For those 2500 KW/h the system generates, it also saves more than one tone of carbon dioxide every year.
Considering all the advantages, the minor initial drawbacks are quite insignificant, aren’t they?