Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Energy

Solar energy can be used for electricity, central heating, heated water, cooking, and even for producing salt desalination. Solar power comes from the suns rays. Solar energy is known to be very environmentally friendly. However, when the suns rays move into the earths atmosphere it is quite dilute.Although solar energy is recognized as being very environmentally favorable it doesn't only have advantages, but some disadvantages, as well. Lets talk about some of the advantages and disadvantages of solar energy.Lets start with the all-important advantage of solar energy. Solar energy is clean. To make electricity or heat with solar energy you only need the sun rays. There's no need to use fossil fuel in conjunction with sun rays to create electricity or heating. You simply need a solar energy collector or solar power panels in order to collect the suns solar energy.Solar energy is cheaper than conventional electric . That is another featured reward of solar energy. By just utilizing solar energy you can save a lot of money on heat. In return you will have smaller electric bills and it also means that you don't have to maintain heaters or furnaces.If you live in a remote area where there are no power-lines solar energy may very well be your best solution. There are rural areas where power companies have no means to access your home. Solar energy is a great alternative because it provides you with everything from heating water, a supply of electricity, and even cooking, and that pretty well covers all of the bases.Another excellent use of solar energy is for desalination in regions where fresh, drinkable water is non-existent. Solar energy evaporates brine and leaves the salt crystals in the bottom of the basin. The water in turn condenses into another basin where it is now potable. While all of the above-mentioned is very useful, solar energy also has some disadvantages. These disadvantages also need to be hashed out to paint a complete picture. The primary disadvantage of solar energy is that its dilute. This means that you need a lot of solar collectors installed around your house. Solar energy may be really cheap but the solar collectors are relatively high-priced and call for regular maintenance in order to work properly and efficiently. If you decide to go with solar energy you want to calculate your ROI (return on investment) in order to know if the investment will be worth it.One big disadvantage is that you need the suns rays to make use of solar energy. If you are located in a part of the world where there is very little sun light then this could be a problem. In other areas, the suns rays are almost always covered in clouds making solar energy collectors less effective. You should first know if the sunshine in your area is abundant for the biggest part of the year. Of course if you live in desert areas like in Arizona or New Mexico the sun produces a lot of sunshine for the majority of the year and is perfect for solar energy collection.In Conclusion the sun only shines during the day. Therefore if you need electricity or hot water during the nighttime, like many of us do, it can be a problem. You will need a backup system like the local electric company or you will need to store the electric for later use. There are battery systems available, that can store electric for use when the sun goes down.Solar energy is very clean and an substitute to traditional heating and electrical systems.Although this is true it is also good to recognize the disadvantages of solar energy. If you are looking at using solar energy you must read this first to make a wise decision.