Why Should We Use Solar Power ?

There is little doubt that more people are getting interested in renewable energy sources to provide the energy needs both in their homes and portably. One such system that fits into this category is solar power. This article will cover the advantages and disadvantages of using solar power and answer why we should use solar power.

The Sun's energy can provide our homes with power. Sunlight can also be used as an energy source for many of our increasingly ubiquitous personal devices, like laptops, mobile phones and personal entertainment systems. The first advantage of solar power is that it is a clean way to generate energy. Although there are carbon footprints created by the production of solar panels, once the solar panels are creating power it is clean power.

Using a solar power system reduces pollution. It does not create any greenhouse gas emissions. It does not create any damage to the immediate location in which it is used.

Solar power systems are built to last. This is more important for home solar power systems where there is quite a large initial investment. However, even on portable devices like watches or calculators, the solar recharging will last the lifetime of the device.

The costs for maintaining a solar power system are very low.  Some components of the system may last decades without any maintenance at all.  Solar panels are often warranted to maintain 80% of their efficiency for up to 25 years.  Other parts will need to be replaced sooner, but if all goes well there should be no maintenance costs at all for the first five years.

Home solar power systems are not complicated or dangerous to run for the average person. In fact, if they are part of a net metering scheme with a utility company, most of the complexity is worn by the utility company.

There are certainly a few negative aspects of using solar power.  Before consumers can have any solar power, they have to make a large investment on the equipment and installation. They will make up this investment over the life of the solar power system but this large up front sum can deter many people. There are more grants and incentives being introduced to minimize this deterrent to getting solar energy.

However the biggest issue with solar power is it's reliability. Ideally you need a location that gets plenty of sun throughout the year. If you get plenty of cloudy days then your supply may be interrupted or decreased. And it doesn't work at night. There are ways round this, like storing power in batteries or having a back up system however reliability will always be an issue until solar cells can be made more efficient.

To this extent, many governments are not keen on large scale solar energy plants to power towns and cities and see nuclear power as a better option because it is viewed as more reliable (which many people may dispute).

However, for many homes, installing some kind of solar system is making practical and economic sense. In terms of solar panels the best way to mitigate against any of the inherent disadvantages of solar power is to tie it to the grid. all this means is that the home is still connected to the grid so that if the weather is not good for creating solar power the grid can be used.

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