What Are the Pros and Cons of Solar Energy?

Solar energy is a sure way to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and move toward a more renewable resource. Solar energy can create electricity, warm water, power vehicles and even run that calculator you use on a daily basis. While solar energy has a great many advantages for those who decide to take advantage of it, there are also a few disadvantages.

Pros: Financial Savings

The monetary savings for solar energy are obvious in terms of lowering your energy costs. Solar energy can be used to power everything in your home, or just a few of the big appliances. Depending on how many panels, storage batteries and/or backup generators you have installed, you could create exactly the amount of energy your household requires and not pay a penny to your power company, or you could have enough energy leftover to feed back into the grid and create a "credit" for your power company to buy from you.

Aside from the savings in your monthly utility bills, the government offers numerous rebates and incentives to help offset the cost of installing a solar energy system. Once your system is installed, that's it. You're saving money as soon as it starts collecting sunlight.

Pros: Environmental

Since solar energy is completely renewable, there is no strain on the Earth's resources and fossil fuels to power and heat your home. Solar energy doesn't give off any air pollution or harmful by-products after the manufacturing process of the solar panels. Solar energy is quiet and unobtrusive as it powers your home.

Pros: Ease of Use

Once installed, a solar energy system is easily maintained and monitored. Since there are no moving parts to worry about, the system can last a long time. If in the future you decide to expand your system, it is easily upgradeable to include more panels and collect more energy.

Pros: Remote Locations

Solar energy only requires one thing to be productive, and that's sunlight. With this advantage, power and electricity can easily be provided to those in developing countries in the most remote locations, bringing an easier life to millions of people around the world.

Cons: Installation Cost

As with anything, there are a few cons to consider when it comes to solar energy. The first being the high cost of the initial installation. Depending on the size of your system, your cost can run into the tens of thousands of dollars.

Cons: Space Requirements

Next up, solar panels can take up a lot of space and may always be in view depending upon where they need to placed in order to collect the greatest amount of sunshine. Solar energy can only be collected during the daylight hours, and pollution or an overcast day can reduce that by even more.

Potential

The benefits of solar energy outweigh the disadvantages. Furthermore, the benefits are exponential: The more people who decide to convert to solar, the greater the impact. The world's dependency on fossil fuels will decline and all will profit from from the reduction of greenhouse gases.

References

• Facts About Solar Energy
• Clean Energy Ideas
• BioFuels Watch

Resources

• Find out the federal incentives for your area