Solar energy is currently one of the most popular renewable energy sources in the world, not only because world needs more energy sources as the demand for energy grows, but also because world wants to obtain more energy from renewable energy sources that are ecologically acceptable, and do not harm our environment like fossil fuels do. In this article I will tell you the main advantages and disadvantages of using solar cells.
Using solar cells is totally acceptable from ecological point of view, and it does not create environmental pollution in form of harmful greenhouse gases like this is the case with fossil fuels. The Sun is also abundant source of energy that should provide us with solar energy for at least the next 5 billion years, so future definitely does look bright for solar energy , and I certainly expect much bigger use of solar cells in years to come.
Unlike wind turbines that are sometimes very loud solar cells are extremely silent, in fact harnessing solar energy is done without making any noise, so there are no noise pollution issues with solar cells like this is sometimes the case with large wind turbines.
Solar cells also require very little maintenance since they have no moving parts. Also, almost all solar cells currently available at market are capable to produce electricity for at least twenty years without a significant decrease in efficiency.
Installation of solar cells is relatively easy to do, and since the solar cells market is constantly growing you can very easy find solar cell system that will suit to your specific needs.
Also, many countries are offering tax incentives for using solar cells, and in some cases installation of solar energy system will mean rebates of up to 30% of the system cost.
The main disadvantage of using solar cells is that they are still relatively expensive, for instance installing solar panel rooftop system in United States is likely to cost you more than $20,000 (2009 data). This is because manufacturing solar cells is still relatively expensive process, mostly because silver is used for interconnection of these cells in the panel. Silver is very expensive metal, but is also the best conductor of electricity which justifies its use.
