The Advantages of Solar Power

Find out the major benefits of solar energy,
along with some disadvantages.

The advantages of solar energy use in your home.The advantages of solar power are many. On this page we will explain some of the biggest benefits of solar energy and how you can save money over other forms of energy such as oil, coal, natural gas and more, as well as help the environment.

Compare The Benefits of Solar Energy

You can compare the following solar power advantages with the disadvantages listed thereafter to help you weigh out the pros and cons of solar energy use in your home.

Advantages of Solar Energy

  • Solar energy is a renewable form of energy and thus is sustainable energy. This means that the sun will come up pretty consistently forever, so you can rely on this power always being there. Sure there will be nights and cloudy days, but sooner or later, the sun will shine again and this "free form of renewable energy" will be back for us to use. Oil is not a renewable energy source, which means that once it's used, it's gone forever (it's in limited supply).

  • Solar power is produced during daytime (peak) periods of energy demand. This can be one of the biggest advantages of solar power because this is the same time period your power company charges you the most money to use energy. So not only are you getting free energy, your getting it when it would normally be most expensive. You can learn more about saving energy by making your home more energy efficient by clicking here to go to the Make Your Home Energy Efficient section of our website. 

  • Burning oil for energy releases harmful greenhouse gases.More benefits of solar energy include the fact that solar energy creates no immediate pollution. While burning oil releases harmful greenhouses gases, carcinogens and carbon dioxide into the air, solar runs clean converting sun light to usable energy minus the combustion and minus the smoke.

  • Another of the advantages of solar energy is that solar power is pretty much a quiet process. You can harness as much solar energy from the sun as you want and there is no resulting noise pollution. This is pretty rare in the world of "energy making" power sources like noisy gas powered generators. If you appreciate peace and quiet you'll definitely agree that this is one of the best solar power advantages.

  • Very little maintenance is needed with solar panels. Usually an occasional cleaning is all you'll have to do, with a more in-depth inspection every once a year. This is because solar panels don't really have any moving parts and therefore there is less friction, wear out or breakage to worry about. One of the nicer benefits of solar energy.

  • Energy from the sun costs nothing. This is definitely one of the advantages of solar power because, once you purchase and set up the solar equipment to collect and convert energy from the sun, it will run everyday and you won't have to pay over and over for your power. Although there is an initial investment involved, the payoff can be very worth it, when you eliminate your monthly utility bills long term.

  • Solar power is also very flexible. You can have different solar arrays in different areas without having to run wiring from one to the other. For example: You can put one solar array on your roof to generate power for your home, and also have another smaller one near your garden to power backyard lights or anything else outside that typically needs less electricity.

  • The advantages of solar power over fossil fuels are many, including the fact that the technology of solar power generation is only advancing with time. Odds are, solar power will become even more affordable and practical in the future, while oil and gas burning remains rather ecologically primitive and clearly limited in supply.

  • The advantages of solar energy use in remote areas are also big. Unlike fossil fuel sources, solar power is very practical for remote areas. The cost to install solar power in areas such as this would be far less than the cost to run power lines.
  • Another one of the benefits of solar energy is that many regions are now offering rebates for installing solar power in residential homes. This helps bring the cost of solar power down, while encouraging more families to make the move toward sustainable energy.

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The main disadvantages of solar power use in your home.Dis-advantages of Solar Power

While there are obviously many advantages to solar power, there are also some disadvantages of solar energy that you should know about.

By weighing out the pros and cons of solar energy you can better decide if solar power is right for you.

  • One solar power dis-advantage is that although it's sustainable once set up, getting started with solar power can be confusing and expensive. Solar panels can cost a lot of money and solar installation isn't cheap. Fortunately, websites like ours exist to make this whole process much more affordable and easy to understand.

  • Also in most parts of the world, there will be those periods of cloudy whether and rain, so you will still have some limitations in regards to making the energy and you will most likely have to rely on gas and oil again at some point. However using a battery bank to store power so you can use it later greatly reduces and can even completely eliminate this drawback.

  • While one of the advantages of solar energy is that it helps reduce overall pollution, it also creates some in the process, mainly due to the production of the cell, the transportation of solar panels until they reach your home, the use of electricity to power the tools needed while your system is installed / maintained and the disposal of lead acid batteries.

  • A solar energy installation usually requires some space in order for the solar system to be efficient in producing electricity. This can be a disadvantage in areas where space is short or expensive such as inner cities. However if you have a large roof, you can make more power and this isn't an issue.

  • Another one of the major disadvantages of solar energy is that you are sometimes limited by your surroundings. Tall houses, trees and buildings can really put a damper on your solar system's performance and potential by blocking sunlight from getting to your panels.

Solar Energy Advantages Summary

The benefits of solar energy outweigh the disadvantages.

In the end, the disadvantages to setting up and maintaining a solar power system are far less than the advantages of solar energy and the overall benefits gained by both people and the environment.

Now that you are more familiar with some of the major solar power advantages and disadvantages, you can better weigh out the pros and cons of solar energy and make a more informed decision based on what's right for your specific needs.

Click here to go back to the How Solar Power Works section in the exact spot you left off (or just click your browsers back button). 

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