What are the disadvantages of solar energy?
It takes a brave person to post about disadvantages of solar energy on a solar power blog! But I am a realist. I know that there is no perfect energy solution when all the variables are taken into consideration. Issues related to materials cost and composition, reliability, efficiency, and even pollution all come into play.
My hope is that by reviewing the disadvantages of solar energy, we’ll see that there are actually more advantages to it than other traditional sources of power. Are you ready to shed some… “light” on solar energy?
In no particular order, here’s a list of some of the stumbling blocks for solar energy:
1. Cost. Despite the fact that there are generous tax incentives and rebates available, the upfront cost of purchasing and installing solar panels may be prohibitive for some people. Some people may think, why change from cheap fossil-fuels that are already at the front door on transmission lines?
2. Need for Sunlight. Whether your house is shaded by trees or other buildings, or if its just plain not very sunny in your hometown, your solar panels will need some sunlight (filtered or direct) each day. Add to this requirement the need for adequate space for a solar panel installation.
3. Pollution. Oh, my gosh! Could it be that this clean renewable energy source has a dirty little secret? Most PV solar panels are made from silicon and include potentially toxic metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium.
4. Reliability. In order to continuously power your home or business with solar energy, you’ll need batteries in which to store excess energy. Solar panels do not work when the sun goes down. If you draw off the grid during off-peak hours, you’ll want to have credit from the utility during periods that output is very great. That’s not always the case… yet.
Any other disadvantages of solar energy?
5. Inefficiency. Currently, most solar panels have a 40% efficiency rate. That means that 60% of the potential energy from the sun is not harnessed. Some higher-tech, advanced solar panels have increased efficiency of up to 80%. Each year, more technological advancements are announced, however, that increase efficiency and decrease cost.
6. Inertia. It is easier for people just to leave things “as is,” than to invest the time and energy to install solar panels, work with the utility company, research tax incentives, wonder about reliability, etc. You could even include me on this list. I’ve been wanting to install solar panels (both PV panels and solar thermal panels) for the past year. We’re still in the planning phase!
I’ll follow this post with one about the advantages of solar energy. But I’m wondering… are there any disadvantages of solar energy that would prevent you from harnessing this resource? Please let me know in the comments below.
Tags: disadvantages of solar energy, pros and cons of solar power, why solar energy
February 7th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Hi Stephanie,
Solar Hot Water systems offer many solutions to the disadvantages of solar that you mention. Solar hot water systems typically cost less than most PV systems, are more flexible in their sunlight needs, are reliable, and are very efficient.
The biggest problem with solar hot water systems is that people don’t know about them! With their ability to supply over 70% of hot water needs in a typical home and cut large amounts of carbon, they are a great way to use the sun to offset non-renewable energy use.
-Chris
March 16th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
thnx, jus wut i was lookin 4 =]
April 17th, 2009 at 8:54 am
i really didn't find this helpful at all
sorry =Dx
May 10th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
well your a idiot then because I wrote half my english paper based off this information
May 20th, 2009 at 4:54 am
it was good and useful
May 27th, 2009 at 2:11 am
Thank you very much !
This was very informative
I based my english assignment on this.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
this did not help!!!
May 27th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
my teacher is a doosh
May 27th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
i wonder if i cuse the word would come out f*ck
May 27th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
damn it it censored it
May 28th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
you suck
June 1st, 2009 at 10:30 pm
gayyyyy
June 6th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
it was very good thank you
June 17th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Solar panels' efficiency is constantly improving, thanks to immense technology development efforts that achieve improvement increments of a few percent. Regrettably, mediocre dirt and dust hamper sunlight transmission to the solar cells, and consequently reduce their throughput substantially. Cleaning the panels is a costly operation and therefore cannot be a practical solution. TitanShield SolarCoat is an optimal solution to the problem! This innovative photocatalyst material is sprayed on the surface of the solar panel and will avoid accumulation of dirt. Not only that, due to its special optical characteristics, TitanShield SolarCoat will diminish the loss of solar radiation through the glass of the panel by 5% (by reducing glare and thus reflection from the panel, as well as other losses). TitanShield SolarCoat is inherently a UV radiation mask. This helps to prolong the useful life of the DSSC cells that are susceptible to UV radiation. Once coated, the TitanShield SolarCoat will last and function for the entire lifetime of the solar panel. We offer here a holistic environmentally friendly solution that eliminates the use of water and detergents for cleaning the panels, while saving considerable expenses.
July 26th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Its very useful for me:) I just planned to install it soon. Also, recommend one sport website for those who loves sport… http://www.sportkin.com
September 9th, 2009 at 7:03 am
the writer wrote very well.
September 17th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Where can I buy this product?
November 19th, 2009 at 3:03 am
very helpful. thank you.(:
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:29 pm
this didnt help … at all
November 29th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
hi
i had to write a paper on this and this helped me a lot thank you =]
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:26 pm
very good info good for science papers
December 17th, 2009 at 1:05 am
Wow…A for me on this science projecto
December 18th, 2009 at 4:56 am
lolz Yes now i can finish my project for my teacher ms wertz!
January 22nd, 2010 at 1:12 am
this will so help me with my arguement about why geothermal energy is better!!!!!!!!
February 9th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
me too i don't really find this helpful !!!!!
March 30th, 2010 at 1:10 am
useless…. cant copy it, lol atleast write the definition
April 6th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
this was suckish!! we are in science class and im learning more from the losers singing beside me than this dumb website
April 27th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
THIS DIDN'T HELP AT ALL!!!!!!!!
May 12th, 2010 at 7:02 pm
Thanks for my Geography asessment
))
May 14th, 2010 at 12:55 am
fuck LIBERALS! OBAMA IS FUCKING UP EVERYTHING!!! HE IS! HE IS! HE IS! WE NEED A REPUBLICAN TO MANAGE MONEY, CUZ OBAMA AND HIS BLACK ASS CAN'T!!! DONT CALL ME A RASICTIST YOU FAG'S.
May 14th, 2010 at 12:55 am
FUCK OBAMA!
May 14th, 2010 at 12:56 am
FUCK ALL DEMOCRATS FUCKING UP THIS COUNTRY
May 18th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
HaHA
thanks my assesment complete!
May 31st, 2010 at 4:20 am
didnt help at all thanks alot my report is goin to be bad now
July 6th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
yeah because that REALLY means they're the idiot….
September 1st, 2010 at 2:10 pm
can you tell me what happens when water is turned off and theres no water in hot tank when heating water from solar panels
September 9th, 2010 at 11:40 am
Good job, one important issue is that Solar panels contribute to CO2 emission..you can read more at http://www.mychoicegreen.com/s.....dvantages/
September 23rd, 2010 at 7:17 am
Solar energy is really a good technology. It decreases the cost. its absolute featurs provide cost less power. It had only a few of desadvantages it is not consedering.
November 5th, 2010 at 8:18 am
thanx alot it helped me for my debate
November 5th, 2010 at 8:19 am
it was awesome !!!
November 10th, 2010 at 9:25 am
awsome website
December 1st, 2010 at 7:12 am
There are a LOT of other technologies out there that address the concerns made here. Not just other forms of energy, solar energy as well. For instance Dye Sensitized Solar Cells are still a very new technology (comparatively), however, they have shown promising improvements in efficiency, cost, durability, pollution, even the need for sunlight (as they don’t need much). But the concern about the world wanting to keep it the way it is will always be there, and that’s the true disadvantage.
December 7th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
That was so helpful with my debate. I found it very interesting also. Thankyou so much.
January 4th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
I found this to be a very good article on the basics of the disadvantages of solar power. To everyone who said their report is now going to be bad, or something to that effect, I would like to point out to everyone that a report written solely from this information would be incomplete anyway. A person would either have to do additional research or already have a good idea of how solar power is harnessed before they can actually write a comprehensive report.
March 9th, 2011 at 7:39 am
Umm this didn;t really help at all. And most of the comments on here are very useless becuase they are just wasting space. Obama is a googd president and if you guy werent racist you would have mentioned his skin color in your argument. As for solar energy its efficiency is always improving because of all of the technology. very well written, it just didn’t help because i already had all of this information. And “Joe” you obviously are an idiot. its AN idiot not A idiot, don;t correct people untill you yourself are perfect
Thanks losers!
March 22nd, 2011 at 1:14 pm
This was a very informative article, and listed the basics of solar energy disadvantages. I would also like to say that pollution-from other sources-affect solar energy, as they degrade the efficiency of the photovotaic cells. But lately solar panels are created to put up against the worst of the effects of this issue.
Now speaking to everyone who is ‘hating’ Obama here: Why? It’s pretty useless, spamming up a website on SOLAR ENERGY. This is not a political debate, nor is it a place you post useless comments that have no relation at all to the topic. I’m not trying to be rude, just trying to get people to stop this: ‘FUCK ALL DEMOCRATS FUCKING UP THIS COUNTRY’.
Yeah, that’ll get you somewhere. Note the sarcasm there.
~Katie Butler~
April 27th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
informations awesome!!!
c’est une bonne explication de désavantages de l’énergie solaire!!!
April 27th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
c’est une bonne explication de désavantages de l’énergie solaire parce que j’ai besoin de cette information pour mon projet de science.
May 5th, 2011 at 12:26 am
if you guys didn’t spend so much time criticizing the writer of this blog, then maybe your reports/papers etc, wouldn’t ‘suck’ so much….
here’s a helpful hint,,, do some research
January 24th, 2012 at 3:00 pm
Essays like this are so important to broadening people’s hoirzons.