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Everywhere you turn, from TV or advocacy groups to the Obama administration, people are talking about solar power. Why all this interest in solar electricity? While it is the many advantages that excite so many people, there are also some disadvantages. Overcoming the disadvantages can be accomplished if you have some know-how and are willing to put in a little work yourself.
Advantages
Infinite energy source
There is a never-ending supply of solar energy because it is produced by the sun all the time. The sun produces energy all day, every day of the year. Solar power will continue to be available long after fossil fuels like oil and natural gas run out. The price of these limited fossil fuels will continue to rise as more and more are used up. The opposite is true of solar power! As technology continues to get better, the cost of producing solar power will get lower and lower.
Free energy
Assuming the sun will continue to shine, solar electricity will continue to be free. The ongoing cost of solar power is almost nothing aside from maintenance of the equipment. With enough solar panels, you can stop paying electric bills to the power company forever. This is called living off grid. Some people intentionally stay connected to the power grid, are able to generate more power than they use and actually get paid for the extra electricity by the power company!
No greenhouse gasses
For those people worried about global warming, solar energy is the solution! Solar electricity produces absolutely no greenhouse gasses, unlike fossil fuels like oil and natural gas. If you wish to reduce your carbon footprint, solar electricity is a great way to do it. There are no emissions of any kind produced by solar electricity.
Reduce dependence on foreign oil
One of the biggest threats to national security is widely considered to be dependence on foreign oil. Dependence on foreign oil is considered by many people to be one of the biggest threats to national security today. Our dependence on foreign oil can be reduced by the use of solar energy. Any domestically produced solar electricity would directly replace energy that is produced with foreign oil.
Disadvantages
Initial cost
Most people consider initial cost to the be the biggest disadvantages to solar electricity. While the ongoing costs of solar energy are almost zero, the initial cost of buying and installing solar panels can be somewhat high. If you want to see how much it would cost to install enough solar panels to power your home and get a spreadsheet to do the calculations, please check out Solar Panel Cost.
With the required know-how, the initial cost can be reduced a great deal by building solar panels yourself. If you are looking for instructions on how to build your own solar panel, check out DIY Solar Panel.
Space
Solar panels must be oriented so they point to the south and also need enough space for all the panels. Solar panels work best in areas that get a great deal of sun. The average sun in all parts of the country are shown on solar maps. A larger score means that a solar panel of the same size will produce more electricity than a solar panel in an area with a smaller score. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t use solar power if you live in an area with a low score, but you will need more solar panels to generate enough electricity to power your house.
As you can see, there are advantages and disadvantages to solar power. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, I think you’d agree. You can avoid most of the disadvantages by building your own solar panel. For the best guide to building your own solar panel, visit Review of GreenDIYEnergy.
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