What does solar energy mean?
Sun is the biggest energy source on the planet. Sun energy is a renewable energy source that has no chance of destruction. Basically, solar power is the gift of god and all the life on the planet is directly dependent on sunlight. However, the energy we get on this earth from the sun is called solar energy or solar energy. Nowadays people are using this sunlight to generate electricity to meet the daily load demand. In this case, people are using solar panels to convert sunlight into electrical energy. However, all things have merits and demerits we will let you know what is the advantage and disadvantages of solar energy.
What is the Advantage and Disadvantage of Solar Energy?
Solar energy is a renewable, clean, and sustainable energy source. Solar energy is also a cost-effective way of generating electricity. The disadvantages of solar energy are that it cannot be used when there is no sunlight and it cannot be stored for later use. However, solar energy limitation does not affect us directly based on our energy demand. We know that the entire planet directly depends on solar energy. So let’s see the advantage and disadvantages of solar energy that we need to know.
Advantages of solar energy
If you would like to know about the advantage and disadvantages of solar energy then you have to know first how we get help from solar energy. Solar energy is renewable energy and it is a clean energy source. To get sustain energy people have created solar panels. The solar panel is a device that converts heat energy that obtains from sunlight into electrical energy. This energy conversion has brought a mega change in this world. There are many advantages of solar power. However, let’s see the advantages of solar energy.
- It is a renewable energy source
- This renewable energy reduces electricity bill
- It has a low maintenance cost
- Technology development
- It works everywhere
It is a renewable energy source
Renewable energy is the energy that obtaining from a renewable energy source. There are different types of renewable energy sources in the world such as wind, wave, water energy, solar energy, and others. These are considered the primary energy source. However, world peoples acknowledge that solar energy is the biggest renewable energy source. All the planets are directly dependent on sunlight. This sunlight is used to generate electricity.
This renewable energy reduce electricity bill
Solar energy is clean energy and solar panel is used to catch the sunlight to generate electricity. This electricity is more profitable and there is no headache about the electricity bill. However, you have to install solar panels at your home or office based on your load demand. The solar panel installation process is also simple. In this case, you need solar panels, a battery, an inverter, a stand, a charge controller, and connecting wire.
It is noted that whenever you install solar panels then you have to buy those things and you should know everything before buying solar panels. In this case, you have to spend some money. However, if you once install the solar panel you don’t need to think about at least 15 years to change it. Moreover, after running solar panels you can forget about the electricity bill that you pay whenever you use government electricity. So there is no running cost and it is a long-lasting process.
It is noted that if you would like to use solar panels in your offices or industries then you should use commercial solar panels. Commercial panels become more power rated but construction is the same as other solar panels. Nowadays electricity bill is very high if you would like to completely minimize your electricity bill then you should install a solar panel.
It has a low maintenance cost
If you once install the solar panels you don’t need frequent maintenance of it. It is because the solar panel is designed as a long-lasting device. It is noted that those are the reputed and reliable solar panels manufacturer they manufacture it to work perfectly for more than 20 years (20 to 25 years). On the other hand solar inverter, battery, and charges controller is not bulky and they have also a longer life span.
However, if you require maintenance then you don’t need to pay more money. It is because those solar panel providers or the top solar energy companies provide at least three years of warranty. It means your maintenance cost can be free for three years. It is noted that you should change solar panels after 5 to 10 years. It is because the solar inverter always works to convert DC electrical energy into AC electrical energy. You should find the best solar energy companies to get better service. However, there is no comparison with solar panels to get clean energy around the world.
Technology development
Indeed first silicon solar cell was made in 1954 by Bell Laboratories. At that time PV cells have very low efficiency. Nowadays solar panel efficiency has increased due to technological expansion and it has been more popular to use in our daily life. Due to technological development, solar panel average efficiency is more than 23%.
The world of nanotechnology and quantum physics has brought innovative changes in solar panels to meet the load demand. However, solar panels can compete with some other nonrenewable energy. In some cases, the recently made solar panels are more efficient than some other electrical power plants (coal, oil, and others). This achievement has been possible due to technological development.
It works everywhere
There is a common question I install a solar panel everywhere. The answer is yes. You can install a solar panel everywhere where sunlight is available. For this reason, before installing a solar panel you should keep in mind that you have to install the solar panel under the open sky where sunlight is available.
It is because solar cell generates electricity from sunlight through the conversion process. That’s why you can install it on your home rooftop. If you would like to use commercial solar panels to meet industrial load then you can install these PV panels on your industry rooftop. On the other hand, you can choose any place where your panel gets available sunlight (at least 4 hours a day).
Disadvantages of solar energy
Indeed solar energy is clean energy that has no toxicity or chemical to destroy the environment. After also that solar energy has some disadvantages. So let’s see the drawbacks of solar energy use in our regular life.
- Higher cost
- Solar energy is weather dependent
- Requires large space
- Solar energy storage is expensive
Higher cost
The solar panel is an expensive electronic device and its cost is fairly higher than its capacity. Not only for the solar panel. If you would like to install a solar panel you have to purchase a solar inverter, battery, wire, wiring materials, and some other installation equipment. In this case, you have to count the high cost whenever you install it. Basically, the solar panel’s initial cost is high but if you install it then you don’t need the cost of the electricity bill and you will completely be able to minimize the electricity cost. It is noted that though solar panel installation cost is high it minimizes the electricity bill. On the other hand, technology is arithmetically growing and solar panel costs may go down.
Solar energy is weather dependent
Indeed solar panel is weather dependent. The most person thinks solar panel does not work off-sun period. It is not true at all. It is because solar panel works on a cloudy day and rainy day at minimum temperature but energy conversion efficiency become low. The major drawback of the solar panel is that solar panel does not work at night. That’s why the solar cell is weather dependent.
Requires large space
If you would like to install a solar panel at your home or office, then you need a large space. Basically, solar installation space depends on how much power you need. For example, suppose you have a 3 KW power demand. In this case, you need to install 10 solar panels that have a capacity of at least 300 watts. If you install 10 panels then you need large space. On the other hand, if you have 600-watt power demand then you can install 2 panels in series. In this case, you need comparatively low space. Don’t worry you can install solar panels on the rooftop to reduce waste space.
Solar energy storage is costly
Solar energy is not expensive but the electricity generation process is complex and a bit expensive. Indeed solar cell installation cost is high and PV cell installation cost is high. It is because you will require solar panels, an inverter, a battery, a stand, and other crucial apparatus that’s essential to install PV cells. However, solar energy can be stored in the batteries to use during the off-sun period (night). This storage is used whenever sunlight is not available. For this reason, high-capacity batteries are needed that’s why solar energy storage is costly.
Are there any benefits of solar energy to the environment?
Indeed all thing has merit and demerit. Solar energy has advantages and disadvantages. If we compare the advantage and disadvantages of solar energy then we will see that solar energy limitation does not harm us more. Solar power benefits to the environment have no comparison to some other energy. The environmental benefits of solar energy are not comparable with other energy sources because our environment directly depends on solar energy.
It means solar energy has no impact on the environment. We have been told before that solar energy or the sun is a gift for the entire planet around the world. The entire planet directly depends on sunlight. If we talk about the energy benefits for the environment so let’s see the benefits of solar energy to the environment. However, solar energy is a renewable energy source and it is clean energy around the world.
If we use sunlight to generate electricity then we can generate a large number of electricity by avoiding carbon dioxide and some other toxic gases that are harmful to the environment. It is noted that solar energy has a better role to reduce the greenhouse effect and mitigate climate change which is indispensable to safe entire plant life. In this case, we can use the solar panel to generate electricity. Not only solar energy but there are also some other renewable energy sources such as wind energy, water energy, etc.
These are responsible to generate clean energy like solar energy and these also have no bad impact on the environment. On the other hand, those are natural energy like coal, oil, geothermal, gas, and others. These are highly responsible to pollute weather and the planet faces danger. There are many bad signs of natural energy destroying the environment. That’s why solar energy or some other renewable energy can be the biggest energy source to generate electricity without environmental effects. So we should use renewable energy to safe our environment.
Are there any advantages of solar energy over wind energy?
If we move to clean and green energy then we get a positive sign that our environment will not face a bad impact. Green and clean energy or green energy technology gives us many things and these are also responsible to minimize greenhouse gas and some other toxic gases. However, there are many benefits of solar energy to the environment that we are looking at regularly whenever we compare it with some other natural energy. Indeed there are some renewable energy sources.
That’s why a question comes into account about which renewable energy is most efficient. This is a good question but let’s see which form of renewable energy is the most efficient. Wind energy is a renewable energy source but in some cases, wind energy is superior to solar energy. The monocrystalline solar panel is the most efficient PV panel which is able to convert 23% of energy into sunlight. It is really not bad for solar panels. On the other hand wind turbines turn 50% of wind into energy.
It means wind energy offers two times better efficiency than solar energy. But it is only the possible high-speed wind that is constant but it does not happen at all. However, let’s see the statistics about solar energy and wind energy. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the USA has predicted that wind and solar energy will be the leading renewable energy source.
Depending on the future prediction of the US government has invested more in renewable energy sources like solar energy and wind energy. If we see the previous record in the USA the renewable energy source investment was 28% in 2019 and it increased by $55.5 billion. The federal tax incentives phasing out and grid regulators predict that 330 GW of wind and solar power will come by 2029. For this reason, we can say that renewable energy sources will be the leading energy source around the world.
Conclusion
There are many advantages of solar energy and also some limitations of solar energy. Not only solar energy all energy sources have limitations. However, we have referred advantages of solar PV systems,s or benefits of solar energy, and the disadvantages of solar energy. We got to prove that solar energy is one of the most sustainable and renewable energy sources.
The entire planet is directly dependent on solar energy. We have referred above of what is the advantage and disadvantages of solar energy if you look at there, you will see the benefits of solar energy. We are human beings we acknowledge that solar is clean energy and we convert solar energy into electricity which is our great achievement. So think about this energy and try to use solar energy to meet your daily load demand.