Advantages & Disadvantages of Solar Energy.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Solar Energy. 

With the growing threat of climate change due to the excessive release of carbon emissions, many nations are looking to clean energy alternatives to replace traditional fossil fuels. Of all the clean energy alternatives, solar has arguably been the most expensive. However, after considering the pros and cons along with the 80% drop in solar panel prices over the last five years, the future of solar energy is looking rather bright.

The Pros

Sustainable

The advantage of solar energy is that it is a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. While fossil fuels have an expiration date that may be fast approaching, the sun is likely to be around for at least a few billion years. Additionally, 73,000 terawatts of solar energy shine down on the Earth’s surface every day, which is 10,000 times the daily global energy use. That’s an enormous supply just waiting for the technology that can harness it.

Low Environmental Impact

Solar energy has a substantially reduced impact on the environment compared to fossil fuels. Its greenhouse gas emissions are inconsequential as the technology does not require any fuel combustion. Also, although concentrating solar thermal plants (CSP) are comparatively inefficient in their water usage depending on the type of technology being used, the right technology significantly increases efficiency while photovoltaic (PV) solar cells do not require any water when generating electricity.

The one environmental downside to solar technology is that it contains many of the same hazardous materials as electronics. As solar becomes a more popular energy, the problem of disposing the hazardous waste becomes an additional challenge. However, assuming the challenge of proper disposal is met, the reduced greenhouse gas emissions that solar energy offers makes it an attractive alternative to fossil fuels.

Energy Independence

Since the sun shines across the globe, it makes every country a potential energy producer, thus allowing for greater energy independence and security. Solar energy doesn’t only promise to bring security and independence at the national level; solar panels can be installed on individual homes, providing power that does not depend on being connected to a larger electrical grid.

The Cons

Intermittency

One of the biggest problems that solar energy technology poses is that energy is only generated while the sun is shining. That means nighttime and overcast days can interrupt the supply. The shortage created by this interruption would not be a problem if there were low-cost ways of storing energy as extremely sunny periods can actually generate excess capacity. In fact, Germany – a leader in solar energy technology – is now focusing on developing adequate energy storage to deal with this issue.

Land Use

Another concern is that solar energy may take up a significant amount of land and cause land degradation or habitat loss for wildlife. While solar PV systems can be fixed to already existing structures, larger utility-scale PV systems may require up to 3.5 to 10 acres per megawatt and CSP facilities require anywhere from 4 to 16.5 acres per megawatt. However, the impact can be reduced by placing facilities in low-quality areas or along existing transportation and transmission corridors.

Scarcity of Materials

Certain solar technologies require rare materials in their production. This, however, is primarily a problem for PV technology rather than CSP technology. Also, it is not so much a lack of known reserves as much as it is the inability of current production to meet future demand: many of the rare materials are byproducts of other processes rather than the focus of targeted mining efforts.


Recycling PV material and advances in nanotechnology that increase solar cell efficiency could both help boost supply, but perhaps finding material substitutes that exist in greater abundance could play a role.

The Bottom Line

While solar energy technology has some disadvantages that make it somewhat expensive in certain markets, it is becoming an increasingly cost-competitive alternative to fossil fuels. The cons that add to the cost of solar energy could be rendered negligible by further technological advances that increase efficiency and storage capacity.


Considering the enormous potential gains of harnessing the sun’s light and heat, it may be worth increasing the incentives for furthering the development of solar energy.

How solar energy is collected from Sun

The way toward creating sunlight based vitality can be a somewhat strange subject to a few. I am here here to make it simple for you to figure out how sun oriented boards create power.

The essential sun based parts 

The initial phase in knowing how sun powered boards function is to see how they're made. A significant number of them utilize silicon as a go-to material, a standout amongst the most widely recognized components found on our planet. Since making silicon precious stones of appropriate quality is a troublesome and costly process, home-sun powered electric frameworks are generally worked from comparable, yet more affordable materials. Like copper, indium, gallium, and selenide (CIGS); which aren't as proficient as top notch silicon, yet still, give sufficient measures of energy – at a sensible cost – for most private needs. It's an esteem win!

Amid assembling, little measures of different components are acquainted with modify the electrical charges of the silicon particles. This outcomes in portions of negative (n-type) silicon, which has an additional electron; and positive (p-type) silicon, which is missing one electron. Try not to feel awful for this last person, however. At the point when sandwiched together, these two sorts of silicon shape a photovoltaic cell – and when numerous photovoltaic cells are put under glass at the same time, they give us the cool sun based boards we see on structures today. That is the thing that we call great cooperation.

Inside each sun powered board, there's a conductive metal plate associated with wires that prompt an intertwined exhibit combiner. A gadget is utilized to gather vitality through an inverter, where the vitality's normal direct electrical current is changed to the rotating electrical current required to control human-made structures. That is correct, much the same as your beautiful home.

Changing sunlight based power into power 

Daylight is a type of vitality comprising of undetectable particles called photons, that have vitality, yet zero rest mass. Perhaps laying off the espresso for a couple of days would help. At the point when photons interact with different particles, vitality extends in a few courses relying upon the sort of molecules they touch. Most circumstances, warm is created when this happens. Like Paris would state, "That is hot!"

Then again, power is created when electrons circle atoms, the thinking behind why photovoltaic cells contain materials with various electrical charges. It couldn't be any more obvious, when the Sun hits a silicon precious stone, the electrons within it start to bounce around. Furthermore, in the long run, some of them turn out to be so energized, they break free and move all the more uninhibitedly. The n-type silicon electrons search out the ones in p-type silicon to supplant the missing electrons inside their molecules — creating an electrical ebb and flow from the movement of these electrons.

The astonishing semiconductor characteristics of silicon (and practically identical materials) make it conceivable to support steady electron irregular characteristics. Meaning, an unfaltering supply of sunlight based power will be within reach each time the photons hit the sun powered boards — a current gathered by wires and conveyed all through the framework. That wasn't excessively convoluted, correct?

4 factors that disturb sun oriented power generation 

You've unraveled the sun oriented vitality generation perplex. Yahoo! Presently, it's essential to know about the components that must be precisely considered previously, amid and after the plan and establishment of any nearby planetary group. Here are the scandalous four:

1. Shade: You may definitely know this, yet shaded sun powered panels won't create an indistinguishable measure of vitality from those in coordinate daylight. In this way, if your rooftop is sun-denied by un-trimmable trees or non-removable components; sunlight based may not be the best answer for you. At Sunrun, we offer viable answers for help forestall unreasonable execution misfortune. We can leave the shady characters for another Netflix arrangement. Don't you concur?

2. Regularity: Like the climate, sunlight based vitality creation changes step by step and month-to-month. An overcast, winter day won't be as beneficial as a radiant, summer one; the critical thing here is to center around the year-round bright picture. For instance, snow can some of the time reflect light and enhance PV execution. So truly, an icy month will just turn into a sun oriented foe if the boards are secured with slush. In the event that Frosty the Snowman comes, he will be requested to take off. Apologies, not too bad.

3. Tilt: Unlike a pinball machine, sun oriented boards can profit by a decent tilting. The area, the course your house is facing, and even your rooftop's pitch, deeply affect how a framework works. In a perfect world, sunlight based boards ought to be at an indistinguishable point from the scope where they're mounted — and pitches between 30-45 degrees for the most part function admirably in many situations. Satisfaction involves viewpoint, in reality.

4. Azimuth: The azimuth angle is the compass heading from where the daylight is coming. At sun powered twelve, the Sun's light originates from the south in the Northern Hemisphere and from the north in the Southern Hemisphere. A wrong azimuth point could diminish the vitality yield of a sun powered PV up to 35%. A considerable amount! Fortunately, our framework creators tend to utilize an azimuth of either zero or confronting the Equator to stay away from any issues. We're pleased to have geeks on our group.

How Solar Energy Works

How Solar Energy Works

Sun based power age speaks to a spotless contrasting option to power from non-renewable energy sources, with no air and water contamination, no worldwide temperature alteration & contamination, no dangers of power value spikes, and no dangers to our general wellbeing.

The sun based asset is huge. Only 18 days of daylight on Earth contains an indistinguishable measure of vitality from is put away in the majority of the planet's stores of coal, oil, and flammable gas.

Sun powered power age speaks to a perfect other option to power from petroleum products, with no air and water contamination, no a dangerous atmospheric devation contamination, no dangers of power value spikes, and no dangers to our general wellbeing.

Sun based vitality can likewise warm water, cool and warmth homes, and give free, common lighting. What's more, once a framework is set up to change over the sun based asset into helpful vitality, the fuel is free.

Outside the air, the sun's vitality contains around 1,300 watts for each square meter. When it achieves the climate, around 33% of this light is reflected once again into space, while the rest proceeds toward Earth's surface.

Arrived at the midpoint of over the whole surface of the planet, a square meter gathers 4.2 kilowatt-hours of vitality consistently, or the estimated vitality likeness almost a barrel of oil for each year.

Deserts, with extremely dry air and little overcast cover, get the most sun—in excess of 6 kilowatt-hours every day per square meter by and large finished the course of the year.

Natural Impacts of Solar Power

Impacts of Solar Power

The sun gives a huge asset to creating perfect and practical power without dangerous contamination or an Earth-wide temperature boost outflows.

The potential natural effects related with sun powered power — arrive utilize and environment misfortune, water utilize, and the utilization of dangerous materials in assembling — can fluctuate significantly relying upon the innovation, which incorporates two general classifications: Photovoltaic (PV) sunlight based cells or concentrating sun based warm plants (CSP).

The size of the framework — running from little, dispersed housetop PV exhibits to expansive utility-scale PV and CSP ventures — additionally assumes a critical part in the level of ecological effect.

Land Use 

Contingent upon their area, bigger utility-scale sun oriented offices can raise worries about land corruption and territory misfortune. Add up to arrive zone prerequisites shifts relying upon the innovation, the geography of the site, and the force of the sun powered asset. Appraisals for utility-scale PV frameworks extend from 3.5 to 10 sections of land for each megawatt, while gauges for CSP offices are in the vicinity of 4 and 16.5 sections of land for every megawatt.

Dissimilar to twist offices, there is less open door for sunlight based undertakings to impart land to horticultural employments. Notwithstanding, arrive impacts from utility-scale heavenly bodies can be limited by siting them at bring down quality areas, for example, brownfields, deserted mining land, or existing transportation and transmission passageways. Littler scale sunlight based PV clusters, which can be based on homes or business structures, likewise have insignificant land utilize affect.

Water Use:

Sun oriented PV cells don't utilize water for producing power. Be that as it may, as in all assembling forms, some water is utilized to make sun oriented PV segments.

Concentrating sun oriented warm plants (CSP), like all warm electric plants, require water for cooling. Water utilize relies upon the plant configuration, plant area, and the kind of cooling framework.

CSP plants that utilization wet-recycling innovation with cooling towers pull back in the vicinity of 600 and 650 gallons of water for each megawatt-hour of power created. CSP plants with once-through cooling innovation have larger amounts of water withdrawal, however bring down aggregate water utilization (since water isn't lost as steam). Dry-cooling innovation can lessen water use at CSP plants by roughly 90 percent. Be that as it may, the tradeoffs to these water reserve funds are higher expenses and lower efficiencies. Moreover, dry-cooling innovation is essentially less successful at temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

A significant number of the locales in the United States that have the most astounding potential for sun powered vitality additionally have a tendency to be those with the driest atmospheres, so cautious thought of these water tradeoffs is basic


Risky Materials 

The PV cell producing process incorporates various dangerous materials, a large portion of which are utilized to clean and sanitize the semiconductor surface. These chemicals, like those utilized as a part of the general semiconductor industry, incorporate hydrochloric corrosive, sulfuric corrosive, nitric corrosive, hydrogen fluoride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and CH3)2CO. The sum and sort of chemicals utilized relies upon the kind of cell, the measure of cleaning that is required, and the span of silicon wafer. Laborers likewise confront dangers related with breathing in silicon clean. Along these lines, PV fabricates must take after U.S. laws to guarantee that specialists are not hurt by introduction to these chemicals and that assembling waste items are discarded appropriately.

Thin-film PV cells contain various more poisonous materials than those utilized as a part of customary silicon photovoltaic cells, including gallium arsenide, copper-indium-gallium-diselenide, and cadmium-telluride. If not took care of and discarded appropriately, these materials could posture genuine ecological or general wellbeing dangers. Nonetheless, makers have a solid money related motivating force to guarantee that these exceedingly profitable and frequently uncommon materials are reused instead of discarded.


Global Warming Emissions 

While there are no an unnatural weather change outflows related with creating power from sun oriented vitality, there are discharges related with different phases of the sunlight based life-cycle, including producing, materials transportation, establishment, upkeep, and decommissioning and disassembly. Most gauges of life-cycle discharges for photovoltaic frameworks are in the vicinity of 0.07 and 0.18 pounds of carbon dioxide comparable per kilowatt-hour.

Most gauges for concentrating sun oriented power go from 0.08 to 0.2 pounds of carbon dioxide comparable per kilowatt-hour. In the two cases, this is far not exactly the lifecycle emanation rates for flammable gas (0.6-2 lbs of CO2E/kWh) and coal (1.4-3.6 lbs of CO2E/kWh)


References: 

1) https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/re-futures.html

2) http://www.ipcc-wg3.de/srren-report/

3) https://www.unenvironment.org/explore-topics/energy

4) https://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy-reports