Because of the growing threat to humanity due to climate change and excessive carbon emissions, many nations are looking for alternatives like solar energy to replace traditional fossil fuels. Even though the prices are high for solar energy to be converted to electricity, they have been dropping in recent years.
As a result, solar energy has become the means of electricity for many families and businesses. However, considering that these prices continue to drop in the future, the future of solar energy is bright. There are many advantages of solar energy that we have to consider, along with the disadvantages of solar energy.
There are several benefits you can enjoy by using solar power. The following are six major advantages of solar energy.
Among all the advantages of solar energy, the fact that it is renewable is most important. It can be harnessed every day and in every area of the world. Unlike other energy sources like fossil fuels, we will never run out of solar energy.
As long as the sun shines, we will have sunlight every day to produce electricity.
By installing a solar panel, you will be using the electricity generated by these panels for your daily activities. As a result, your electricity bills will decline. The amount you save on your bills will depend on the size of your solar panels, along with your electricity usage every day.
If you have a business and decide to use commercial solar panels, it will drastically drop your electricity bills. This is because the huge system size can generate enough electricity from the sunlight to use.
Additional advantages of solar energy are that you will get payments for the surplus energy if you export it back to the grid. This is when you generate more electricity than you need and if your solar panel system is connected to the grid.
Solar power can serve various purposes. It can be used to generate electricity or solar heat. Ranging from producing electricity in areas where there is no access to the energy grid to distilling water in regions where clean water supply is limited, the applications are countless. Solar power is used to power space satellites too. Recently, solar energy has been integrated into materials that are used for buildings.
Solar energy systems require minimum maintenance like cleaning twice every year. Apart from that, you need to do nothing after installation. You can rely upon cleaning companies if you aren’t sure about how to clean. You will get a minimum guarantee of 20 – 25 years for every solar product from the manufacturers.
Since there are no moving parts, there is little scope for wear and tear. The only component that needs to be replaced every 5 – 10 years is the inverter. You can even try changing the cables to increase the efficiency.
We have been seeing how rapidly the solar power industry has been changing in terms of technology. In the following years, we can expect even more improvements that will increase the effectiveness of solar panels by doubling or even tripling the electrical output.
Compared to fossil fuels, solar energy has reduced the environmental impact. There is no greenhouse gas emission when the panels are working because they do not need fuels to run. With the right technology, the efficiency of the photovoltaic cells can be increased to a level where they do not need any water to produce electricity.
Have you read: What Will Be The Future Of Solar Energy In The Next 5–10 Years?
Although there are many advantages of solar energy, it has some major drawbacks too. The following are some of the limitations of solar energy.
The initial investment for solar panels is huge. You need to be ready to pay for solar panels, inverters, wiring, batteries, and the installation costs too. However, since solar technologies are rapidly developing, we can assume that these costs will go down in the future.
The efficiency of the solar system drops during cloudy and rainy days. The solar panels work efficiently on a clear sunny day. Therefore, on days when it’s gloomy, the limited sunlight will affect the system. Other disadvantages of solar energy are that you can only generate electricity during the day. The system will stay idle all night.
You can either use solar energy right away or store it in large batteries to use later. These batteries are charged during the day so that the energy can be used at night. Usually, these batteries are present in the solar grid system and are quite expensive.
It is better to use solar energy during the day and use the electricity from the grid during the night. Most of our energy needs arise during the day, and luckily we can meet these needs with solar power.
The energy produced by the solar panels is dependent on the number of panels installed. To produce more energy, you need to install panels in higher numbers which takes away most of your terrace space. Some roofs are small and cannot fit many panels; in this case, you can install some solar panels in your backyard if there is enough sunlight reaching there.
Although the pollution caused by the solar panels is significantly less compared to every other source of pollution, there are some factors like transportation and installation that emit greenhouse gases.
To manufacture the solar photovoltaic system, toxic and hazardous products are used. These materials will indirectly affect the environment.
After weighing both the advantages of solar energy and the limitations of solar energy, if you have decided to start using solar power to generate your electricity, contact us at 1800-2121-321. You can even drop a letter to us at waaree@waaree.com.
You can also read: 10 Steps Guide for Solar Panel Installation in 2023
