Everywhere you turn, from TV or advocacy groups to the Obama administration, people are talking about solar power. What causes all of this interest in solar energy? There are a number of disadvantages, but where are also quite a few advantages that have so many people excited. If you have some knowledge and are willing to put in some work yourself, most of the disadvantages can be overcome.

Advantages

Infinite energy source

There is a never-ending supply of solar energy because it is produced by the sun all the time. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks of the year the sun is producing energy. While fossil fuels like natural gas and oil will eventually run out, solar power will continue to be available until the sun disappears and at that point we’ll have a lot bigger problems to be worried about than how to power our air conditioners. As fossil fuels become more and more scarce, the cost will continue to go up. The opposite is true of solar energy! It will never run out and the cost will continue to go down as technology gets better and better.

Free energy

Electricity from the sun will continue to be free as long as the sun is shining. The ongoing cost of solar electricity 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 off grid living. If you can generate more power than you need, you can stay connected to the grid and actually sell the extra power to the power company!

No greenhouse gasses

If you are one of the people worried about global warming, solar energy is the solution! While fossil fuels produce greenhouse gasses, solar electricity produces none whatsoever. If you wish to lower your carbon footprint, solar electricity is a great way to do it. Solar power doesn’t generate any CO2 of emissions of any type.

Lower dependence on foreign oil

Dependence on foreign oil is widely considered one of the biggest security threats today. Our dependence on foreign oil can be reduced by the use of solar power. Any domestically produced solar electricity would directly replace energy that is produced with foreign oil.

Disadvantages

Initial cost

The biggest disadvantage to solar power is generally considered to be initial cost. The ongoing cost of solar power is very small, but the cost of buying and installing solar panels can be quite high. You can figure out how much it would cost to install enough solar panels to power your home and download a spreadsheet to do the calculations by visiting Cost of Solar Panels.

If you have a good set of plans, a few common tools and enough time, you can build your own solar panels and reduce the initial cost significantly. If would like instructions for how to build your own solar panel, visit DIY Solar Panel.

Space

Solar panels must have a clear view of the southern sky and need sufficient space. Solar panels produce the most electricity in parts of the world that a lot of sun. Areas that get a lot of sun are ideal for solar panels. There are solar maps available that show the average sun in different areas. A solar panel of the same size in an area with a larger score will produce more electricity. 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. Builiding your own solar panel is one way to avoid many of the disadvantages. For the best guide to building a diy solar panel, check out GreenDIYEnergy Review.

Popularity: unranked [?]