this is for a school project that i am workin on….any information/helpful websites will be appriciated…..
ty

10 Responses to “What Are The Advantages And Dis Advantages Of Solar Power?”

1. Nitu says:

   September 30, 2009 at 5:35 pm

   Advantages:
   The 89 petawatts of sunlight reaching the earth’s surface is plentiful compared to the 15 terawatts of average power consumed by humans. Additionally, solar electric generation has the highest power density (global mean of 170 W/m2) among renewable energies.
   Solar power is pollution free during use. Production end wastes and emissions are manageable using existing pollution controls. End-of-use recycling technologies are under development.
   Facilities can operate with little maintenance or intervention after initial setup.
   Solar electric generation is economically competitive where grid connection or fuel transport is difficult, costly or impossible. Examples include satellites, island communities, remote locations and ocean vessels.
   When grid connected, solar electric generation can displace the highest cost electricity during times of peak demand (in most climatic regions), can reduce grid loading, and can eliminate the need for local battery power for use in times of darkness and high local demand; such application is encouraged by net metering. Time-of-use net metering can be highly favorable to small photovoltaic systems.
   Grid connected solar electricity can be used locally thus minimizing transmission/distribution losses (approximately 7.2%).
   Once the initial capital cost of building a solar power plant has been spent, operating costs are low compared to existing power technologies
   Disadvantages:
   Solar electricity is expensive compared to grid electricity.
   Limited power density: Average daily insolation in the contiguous U.S. is 3-9 kW·h/m2 usable by 7-19.7% efficient solar panels.
   Like electricity from nuclear or fossil fuel plants, it can only realistically be used to power transport vehicles by converting light energy into another form of stored energy (e.g. battery stored electricity or by electrolysing water to produce hydrogen) suitable for transport.
   Solar cells produce DC which must be converted to AC when used in currently existing distribution grids. This incurs an energy loss of 4-12%.
2. Ktn says:

   September 30, 2009 at 5:44 pm

   adv:
   pollution free, efficient, renewable
   disadv:
   expensive, dependent on the availability of sun, apparatus takes much space
3. isis says:

   September 30, 2009 at 6:27 pm

   Advantages: (short-term)
   (but is it even possible,?)
   Free energy source, once you buy the equipment the energy itself doesn’t cost anything. No digging in the ground for fuel necessary. No extra work as in shoveling coal into a burner etc
   Disadvantages:
   No one owns the sun. Are there moral implications if some have access to solar power and others do not?
   What if the sun is too tied into our spiritual natures to be a healthy energy source, your panels might not channel the right piece of the sun for you, stealing it from someone else who needs it possibly causing them to become ill or die, etc.
4. joe n says:

   September 30, 2009 at 7:14 pm

   Because its free you IDIOT
5. Pennypit says:

   September 30, 2009 at 7:38 pm

   Solar generated power is essentially a very clean option and therefore relatively environmentally friendly, however I have heard that the amount of embodied energy in a residential solar panel set up is enormous and the energy benefits of using the system would not recoup that energy “cost” for more than 100 years usage. Embodied energy is the amount of energy, (and therefore, pollution etc create), it takes to create a product. These are some sites below- remember a lot of sites are biased in favour of promoting solar power.
6. savashvi says:

   September 30, 2009 at 7:41 pm

   The main disadvantage is not the availability of the sun (we do have batteries, see) but the fact that it’s hideously inefficient. Not just in surface area needed, but in manufacturing costs.
7. george_g says:

   September 30, 2009 at 8:08 pm

   free energy
   no harm to planet
   inefficient and semi expensive to collect
   (depending how, water pre heating is cheap and silicon is cheaper nowdays)
8. Guana says:

   September 30, 2009 at 9:01 pm

   Solar power seems to be the only small scale renewable power generation that costs virtually nothing to run and produces worthwhile energy at a low cost. I have looked into wind, water power, and other forms of kinetic to potential transformations and whilst there is some merit for their use when the sun is not shining (eg at night), there does not appear to be anywhere to purchase the apparatus at a reasonable or worthwhile scale.
   Please send me an email if you find out that I am incorrect.
9. bluedog1 says:

   September 30, 2009 at 9:32 pm

   http://www.ases.org/ Will help alot. Solar power has alot of adv but one main disadv…… Cost. It cost’s alot. Once you have it though you make more than enough power for your house and can usually sell some to the power company! But the most important thing is that you are contributing less to global warming since the power company has to burn less fossil fuels!
10. Answerni says:

    September 30, 2009 at 9:54 pm

    Advantages:environment friendly,zero maintainance.
    Disadvantages:unreliable in cloudy areas
    Try this link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power