The initial cost of purchasing a solar system is quite high. Although solar energy can still be harvested during cloudy and rainy days, the efficiency of the solar system decreases. Since the cost of electricity increases by 3-5% each year, you may be considering alternative energy sources, such as solar energy. But before you install a solar system in your house, you need to consider some significant disadvantages.
If you're in a prime location, you'll be lucky to get a conversion rate of over 22%, with the best and most expensive technology available. This means that residents in places like Canada and Russia are at a solar disadvantage. However, in places like Hawaii, where they have an average of 277 days a year of rain and clouds, their location on the equator is irrelevant because they simply don't have enough clear sunlight reaching the ground. For homeowners who want to install solar panels, the installation area is not going to be so important, especially when most of the time they are installed on the roof.
However, large companies that want to produce a lot of energy will need a very large installation area to provide electricity consistently. The largest solar field is in Spain, occupying about 173 acres and providing power to nearly 12,000 homes. There are 173 acres of land that cannot be used for anything else, such as grazing animals. According to Northwestern University's Qualitative Reasoning Group, most solar panels in people's homes convert only 14% of their available energy into energy.
Even today's most efficient solar panels convert only 22% of their available energy into energy. According to the second law of thermodynamics, solar cells will never reach 100% efficiency. The highest theoretical maximum efficiency is 85%, and that is with mirrors and motors to follow the sun. For a system that does not track the sun, the highest theoretical maximum efficiency is only 55%.
The same applies to systems that track the sun on cloudy days. Thinking about the installation area, land use by solar fields can be massive, and unlike wind energy, sharing land for agricultural uses is not an option. Solar energy also affects land use when it comes to mining and producing the materials needed to produce photovoltaic energy. Among the compounds found in solar panels are cadmium and lead, extremely toxic metals.
There are a number of other toxic and hazardous materials used in the production of solar panels, including gallium arsenide, copper-indium-gallium diselenide, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrogen fluoride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane and acetone. The energy produced by solar panels is clean, renewable and has zero emissions. Solar energy does not contribute to greenhouse gases or fossil fuels, unlike other oils and coals. The 2 main disadvantages of solar energy are dependence on weather conditions and the inability to store electricity.
The production of solar energy depends mainly on direct sunlight. A cloudy day can reduce electricity generation by more than 80%. Solar panels do not generate energy at night, so batteries are needed for 24-hour supply. In addition, it may take 10 to 15 years before you can break even with your initial investment.
It's not about how much the payback period is, it's worth trying anything that can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Much has been documented about the inefficiency of solar energy. Most people don't understand what efficiency means. People see 15% efficiency and think it's not good enough.
They think that the ideal efficiency should be 100%. Efficiency has to do with the amount of space needed to generate energy. You'd be surprised to know that a 250 watt solar panel with 15% efficiency produces the same energy as a 250 watt solar panel with 20% efficiency. The disparity is shown in size.
Smaller panels tend to be more efficient than larger panels. This shows that the dream of 2050 will come true. Solar electricity has also provided excellent backup to conventional electricity, which is prone to frequent outages. One of the disadvantages of installing solar panels in your home is that it can be expensive to move them, in case you decide to move.
The net metering agreement with your utility company is fixed to the property. In addition, finding someone to remove and reinstall your solar panels can be costly. The only environmental disadvantage of solar technology is that it contains many of the same hazardous materials as electronics. As solar energy becomes a more popular source of energy, the problem of hazardous waste disposal becomes an additional challenge.
However, assuming that the challenge of proper elimination is met, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions offered by solar energy makes it an attractive alternative to fossil fuels. I've been following a post on Wiki Answers about the advantages and disadvantages of solar energy for a while and I wanted to share the results. The discussion started a while ago and has received a lot of feedback. The third disadvantage of solar energy is very important and should not be minimized: although its operation is very clean, solar panels are potential pollutants.
The first initial investment for the installation of solar panels is quite high and not everyone will be able to afford them. Australia is using solar energy for transport, solar farms and now homeowners are taking advantage to reduce their energy bills. Unfortunately, this is a disadvantage for solar panels, however, the future is bright, as prices are falling. Turbines are also quite noisy and, like solar panels, require a lot of ground space, so it doesn't make sense for densely populated areas.
Environmental impacts associated with solar energy are land and water use and pollution, habitat loss, and the use of highly hazardous materials in the manufacturing process. It's safe to say that solar panels have a very bright future ahead of them, being the cheapest form of energy in the world right now. In addition, the cost of solar energy has fallen by more than 70 percent in the last decade, the cost of electricity has increased by about five percent, and that trend in rising electricity costs is expected to continue. Impressively, you can set up this setting that will maximize your profits from your solar system and your electric car.
The performance of your solar panel will be adversely affected if there is not enough sunlight on the panels on rainy days. . .
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