What are the advantages and disadvantages of solar panels

 What are the advantages and disadvantages of solar panels?

Solar panels are becoming more and more popular as the years go by. This is partly due to their increased efficiency in converting solar energy into usable energy. In this blog post, we're going to break down the advantages and disadvantages of solar panels. In this blog post, we'll share a few reasons why you should invest in solar panels. Let's get started!

5 benefits of solar energy to the environment

You’ve heard that solar energy is good for the environment, but have you ever wondered why or how?

In this article, we’ll look at the different environmental benefits of solar energy to help you better understand the impact that renewable energy has.

1. Reduces Air Pollution

Fossil fuels create a lot of pollutants. If you’ve ever been to California, New York, China, or anyplace whose geography consists of mountains and valleys, you’ve seen what dirty air looks like.

Smog, dirty air, is bad for the environment, it’s bad for our health, and it’s bad for aesthetics. When pollutants get trapped in the air, everything just looks worse.

Solar panels help get rid of air pollution. Your solar panels create clean energy that won’t contribute to air pollution.

2. Reduce Water Usage

If your energy source doesn’t use fossil fuels to power itself, it probably uses some sort of water as its resource. Hydropower and nuclear energy both use a lot of water to produce electricity. Often a dam will need to be built to control the water flow and electricity production. With dams, there’s the problem that damming water will have a significant impact on the local ecosystem.

Solar panels create energy without water nor a negative impact on the ecosystem. In fact, the US Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy believes that solar energy systems could help drop water consumption in at least 36 states. This would help solve our water scarcity issue.

3. Reduces Dependence On Nonrenewable Energy Sources

We already mentioned how some people enjoy solar energy because they like being green and energy independent. But solar can also help reduce our dependence on nonrenewable sources of energy such as fossil fuels. This is great for so many reasons.

First and foremost, those nonrenewable energy resources create a lot of pollutants that negatively impact our air quality. Second, nonrenewable resources are nonrenewable because they will, eventually, run out. The sooner and more fully we can make the transition to renewable energy, the better for both the environment and our species.

4. Improves Humanity’s Health In The Long-run

We’ve already mentioned how the US Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy believes that a solar energy system can help us reduce water scarcity, but in that same report, the office also estimates that cleaner air could have a positive effect on mankind’s health. In fact, they estimate that we could save more than 25,000 lives.

5. Helps Fight Climate Change

Last but not least, there’s the issue of climate change. The continual dump of pollutants and additional CO2 into the air costs our planet. It makes it harder and harder for the environment to clean the air. As the carbon count continues to increase, so will our retention of heat from the sun. These changing air conditions will continue to have an effect on different climates, causing some to warm, others to cool, and causing weather patterns everywhere to become more sudden and volatile.

Scientists and climatologists have created a large body of work, which includes experiments, climate models, and research. That there is now a general consensus among these professionals that we need a renewable energy project to stem the tide of climate change.

Solar energy is one of the ways we can try to prevent the effects of climate change. By reducing our CO2 emissions, and releasing fewer pollutants into the air, we can all do our part to slow down climate change.

Disadvantages of Solar Energy

When making the decision of whether or not to add a solar energy system to your home, it is important to know about all the positives and negatives. Solar energy does not have any major negatives, but there are some small cases that you should be aware of before committing to the installation of a solar energy system.

In this article, we're going to talk about the disadvantages of solar energy and why you might want to rethink going solar.

1. Cost

The initial cost of purchasing a solar system is fairly high. This includes paying for solar panels, inverter, batteries, wiring, and installation. Nevertheless, solar technologies are constantly developing, so it is safe to assume that prices will go down in the future.

2. Weather-Dependent

Although solar energy can still be collected during cloudy and rainy days, the efficiency of the solar system drops. Solar panels are dependent on sunlight to effectively gather solar energy. Therefore, a few cloudy, rainy days can have a noticeable effect on the energy system. You should also take into account that solar energy cannot be collected during the night.

On the other hand, if you also require your water heating solution to work at night or during wintertime, thermodynamic panels are an alternative to consider.

3. Solar Energy Storage Is Expensive

Solar energy has to be used right away, or it can be stored in large batteries. These batteries, used in off-the-grid solar systems, can be charged during the day so that the energy is used at night. This is a good solution for using solar energy all day long but it is also quite expensive.

In most cases, it is smarter to just use solar energy during the day and take energy from the grid during the night (you can only do this if your system is connected to the grid). Luckily your energy demand is usually higher during the day so you can meet most of it with solar energy.

4. Uses a Lot of Space

The more electricity you want to produce, the more solar panels you will need, as you want to collect as much sunlight as possible. Solar PV panels require a lot of space and some roofs are not big enough to fit the number of solar panels that you would like to have.

An alternative is to install some of the panels in your yard but they need to have access to sunlight. If you don’t have the space for all the panels that you wanted, you can opt for installing fewer to still satisfy some of your energy needs.

5. Associated with Pollution

Although pollution related to solar energy systems is far less compared to other sources of energy, solar energy can be associated with pollution. Transportation and installation of solar systems have been associated with the emission of greenhouse gases.

There are also some toxic materials and hazardous products used during the manufacturing process of solar photovoltaic systems, which can indirectly affect the environment.

Nevertheless, solar energy pollutes far less than other alternative energy sources.

CONCLUSION

Solar panels can also help save the environment because they don't produce any air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions. Solar panels provide a clean and green solution to generating power for your home. In many states, you can even participate in a green power program that gives you a certain amount of energy that is 100% generated from renewable sources.

Solar panels have become a popular item in the average consumer's home. With their ever-increasing popularity, people are beginning to realize the benefits of solar panels.

We cover everything from roof suitability, solar panel type, cost, how to save with solar panels, and maintenance.

Follow 👉 @unrivaled solar to know more about solar panels.