The good and bad of using solar power?

Good using of solar power - 1- Solar energy is a completely renewable resource. this means that even when we cannot make use of the sun's power because of nighttime or cloudy and stormy days, we can always rely on the sun showing up the very next day as a constant and consistent power source. 2- Oil, which is what most people currently use to power their homes, is not a renewable resource. this means that as soon as the oil is gone, it is gone forever and we will no longer have power or energy. 3- solar cells make absolutely no noise at all. they do not make a single peep while extracting useful energy from the sun. 4- solar energy creates absolutelly no pollution. this perhaps the most important advantage. 5- Very little maintenance is required to keep solar cells running. 6- Solar panels and solar lighting may seem quite expensive when you first purchase it, but in the long run you will find yourself saving quite a great deal of money. 7- solar powered panels and products are typically extremely easy to install. 8- Solar power technology is improving consistently over time, as people begin to understand all of the benefits. Bad usage of solar power - 1- The solar cells and solar panels that are needed to harness solar energy tend to be very expensive when you first purchase them. 2- solar power cannot be harnessed during a storm, on cloudy day or at night. this limits how much power can be saved for future days. some days you may still need to rely on oil to power your home.

I like solar power, but where I live, it is expensive to get installed, and it isn't always reliable.

Thats an interesting topic, I can't say I have heard any negatives about solar energy, but I guess when you think about it there is probably something, I think for one thing people should cut back using electricity a bit, we are a wasteful lot, but its just not the people it is businesses, leaving all their lights on at night when there is no-one working there could be a good start..not sure there is any real good energy if solar is no good.

Hi... There are plenty of advantages of solar energy... It saves electricity, which means, it saves a lot of raw material that is used to generate the electricity... It is cheaply available and available everywhere... The cost, i have heard, is the lowest possible to generate solar energy... I have not heard of any disadvantages yet... And I don't think we will find any of those yet... The disadvantages come in picture when something is used in excess... It'll take another thousand years to over use the solar energy.. So we are at a loss,right now, to know the drawbacks...

In fact I really like the solar power since it comes from the sun. And therefore it is no pollution. And this kind of energy is unlimited. It is an environmental energy. The disadvantage is the cost of using solar energy is high. So not many people can afford it. I love China

You've heard many of the pro's already & very few of the cons, so let's look at a few more of those now. Solar cells on their own can power very little. They are a high impedance source & therfore require a high impedance load to be efficient. All our loads are low impedance these days, though some are higher (& smaller) than others. Of the small amount of sunlight that current, expensive, over-engineered, environmental unfriendly (due to their manufacturing processes, extraction, etc, etc) solar cells convert to electricity, only about 15%, for example... okay - the very best more expensive ones are about 17% efficient. A complete system needs batteries - big ones & lots of them - very expensive to replace & trickle charging them guarantees they will not last very long. You also need an inverter - a very unreliable piece of electronics that does not last very long either - to convert the DC from your batteries very inefficiently to AC to power your very inefficient appliances. You also need a mains or grid feed device that allows you to "sell" some of this surplus energy back to the electricity provider. These are also prone to go faulty just after the warranty runs out. They are expensive to insure & add to your premiums. They are prone to damage by fire, stronger than normal winds, flooding, larger than normal hail & theft/vandalism. So I hope people who invest in these systems are prepared for the coming disasters in 2012/2013, which are tipped to surpass all previous records. Their performance also degrades markedly over time.

I think people can use solar energy for the purpose of generating electricity. Not all people who has money buys solar system. In my opinion people who can afford should go for solar system so that they can save electricity and energy resource. Most probably in future more and more solar power will come and more electricity will be generated through solar system.

I think the pros about this is that it is one of the cleanest sources of energy since we won't be burning oil just to produce energy. It is simpler in technology and does not need specialized engines but just simple panel installed and some inverters and battery to store energy. The disadvantage I see in here: It requires wide open spaces that has a good light source from the sun. This means to create a power plant you would need a vast land to solely used for this to generate enough energy to power everybody. It relies solely on sun which means if there is a storm or winter where sun is less visible you could not produce enough energy in these condition. These means that for those places that have less sunlight will not be able to produce energy. Lastly, the cost, as far as I am concerned that is the reason why this technology is not so popular is the cost you need to put in is not yet practical at this time. I think the solar producers should find ways to lower the prices so that everyone can afford to have one.

There are a lot of things that apply solar power, like solar power battery, solar power fan, and solor power calculator and so on. The good sides about it is its being friendly to the environment and energy-saving while the less good part of it is on the conditions where there is no sun, it does not work as effectively.

The main thing about solar power is that the installation is so expensive. I have had a home with solar energy while we lived on the desert and it was wonderful.

Solar power has a great role in producing renewal energy and sustaining a more eco-friendly way of getting power from it's natural source. The cons though in my take is that Solar Manufacturing industries puts a more costly setup on households who does wants to shift from the traditional electricity to a new eco-living. The pros? well, definitely cutting less in terms of electricity billing consumption.