What is bad about solar?

Question

i need to know today

Answer 1

Its expensive.  Photovoltiacs will need 35 years to reach a break even point compared to buying electricity off the grid.  the problem is that solar cells only last 20-25 years.

Answer 2

Doesn't work well at night.

Answer 3

just the price for the panels and batteries and you need a lot to get some good voltage

Answer 4

they are very expensive and last a like 20 years

they also take alot of solar panels to generate sufficient amounts of electricity.

wind and geothermal are much better

Answer 5

In addition to the answers mentioned previously, it takes having sunlight (duh).  If it's cloudy too much of the time in that location, you're not going to generate much electricity relative to what you'd get in the middle of a nice, sunny locale.

Time after manufacturing and being exposed to the elements will degrade any sort of electronics equipment at a relatively similar rate, whether electricity is actually being produced or not.  If it's not sunny enough, there's no way your sizable investment in the equipment will be profitable or economically wise.  It's not the solution for everyone, although it supposedly works nicely so far where the sun's usually out all day.

Answer 6

Solar power from the sun is free. The photovoltaic panels are what is used to capture the power when the sun shines. This is active solar power. There are also lower- tech ways of using the heat from the sun that are called passive.

In the very near future there will not be a household that does not get some sort of solar power. Prices for the panels will come down and cost of the batteries or other method of holding the power so that it can be used on rainy days will become more available. It is only a matter of time.

Answer 7

I heat my home with solar.  I grow trees using the sun then I burn the wood when I need heat.  Very simple renewable energy supply.

Answer 8

There's nothing "bad" as such. Like any other technology solar energy has advantages and disadvantages.

Also--in evaluating solar energy, you need to be aware that the technology is advancing rapidly.  The most important part if this change is that the costs of setting up solar power systems is falling--so the economics are going to change in the very near future (definitely within a decade). Costs of solar panels have already dropped by half since2000.  

Now--the disadvantaes--

>Although solar energy is zero-impact (no harm to the environment) and it is very cheap to operate, it is still very expensive to set up.  With tax breaks and careful financing, it can be a break-even investment, but no more.  Again--that is changing so this is not likely to remain a drawback for too much longer.

>the other big disadvantage is that a solar panel only generates power when the sun is shining. It doesn't produce electricity at night, and very little when it's cloudy.  As it stands, thee are two ways around this. Most people stay connected to the power grid (the electric company) and purchase the electricity (usually not much, but some) to make up for this. The other approach is to have a bank of storage batteries thaat store some of the electricity the solar panels generate for later use. This works--but adds to the cost of installing the system.

Incidentally, there is a myth that"solar power is only worthwhile in really hot sunny places).  This is not correct.  A solar power system will work well almost anywhere in America.  The difference in the amount osf sunlight isn't that great from north to south.  You do get a lower efficiency in areas like Seattle where the weather is cloudy much of the time.  but--when solar power becomes cheap enough in the next few years--it will be cost effective in most places.

Answer 9

they are very inefficient the best ones we have only get about 25% of the energy out of the light the rest is wasted as heat

Answer 10

I think the following statements described the disadvantages of solar energy in general.

Solar electricity is often more expensive than electricity generated by other sources.

Solar electricity is not available at night and is less available in cloudy weather conditions. Therefore, a storage or complementary power system is required.

Limited power density: Average daily insolation in the contiguous U.S. is 3-7 kW·h/m²[79][80][81] and on average lower in Europe.

Solar cells produce DC which must be converted to AC (using a grid tie inverter) when used in currently existing distribution grids. This incurs an energy loss of 4-12%.[82]

There are more disadvantages in environmental impact in solar panels used.Unlike fossil fuel based technologies, solar power does not lead to any harmful emissions during operation, but the production of the panels leads to some amount of pollution. This is often referred to as the energy input to output ratio. In some analysis, if the energy input to produce it is higher than the output it produces it can be considered environmentally more harmful than beneficial. Also, placement of photovoltaics affects the environment. If they are located where photosynthesizing plants would normally grow, they simply substitute one potentially renewable resource (biomass) for another. It should be noted, however, that the biomass cycle converts solar radiation energy to electrical energy with significantly less efficiency than photovoltaic cells alone. And if they are placed on the sides of buildings (such as in Manchester) or fences, or rooftops (as long as plants would not normally be placed there), or in the desert they are purely additive to the renewable power base.Unlike fossil fuel based technologies, solar power does not lead to any harmful emissions during operation, but the production of the panels leads to some amount of pollution. This is often referred to as the energy input to output ratio. In some analysis, if the energy input to produce it is higher than the output it produces it can be considered environmentally more harmful than beneficial. Also, placement of photovoltaics affects the environment. If they are located where photosynthesizing plants would normally grow, they simply substitute one potentially renewable resource (biomass) for another. It should be noted, however, that the biomass cycle converts solar radiation energy to electrical energy with significantly less efficiency than photovoltaic cells alone. And if they are placed on the sides of buildings (such as in Manchester) or fences, or rooftops (as long as plants would not normally be placed there), or in the desert they are purely additive to the renewable power base.