Solar Panel Questions!?

Question

What properties of solar panels make it economical and practical to use in our society?

What are the current uses of solar energy?

How much of the worlds energy is provided by solar?

Answer 1

"What properties of solar panels make it economical and practical to use in our society?"

They aren't very economical nor very practical.

Solar PV turns out to be about the most expensive form of energy (with the exception of the Plutonium-238 RTGs used for outer planetary space probes).

Although for remote areas that don't have a grid connection solar can be cheaper than running a diesel generator all the time (especially if fuel transportation is expensive).

"What are the current uses of solar energy?"

Powering pocket calculators.

It's a pretty decent source of power for emergency telephones in remote areas and can handle low power demands, it's not very good at handling high power demands but that doesn't seem to stop people from throwing money at it.

Of course for boiling water solar is very good, to the point of actually making some sense.

"How much of the worlds energy is provided by solar?"

Not even a percent (and unless you put the solar panels in space (the power can be beamed down to Earth with microwaves) it probably won't go beyond a few percent).

Answer 2

I have a solar system for my home, it is practical for a few reasons. We have high demand times which often results in rolling power outages. Since I work from my home, I will now have no interuption in service. My system will pay for itself in about 6 years, it is guaranteed for 20 so I will have a minimum of 14 years of free energy. If we do get electric cars in the near future I will add a second system and not have to pay for my transportation fuel either.

The big reason large scale solar systems are practical is the fact that oil and coal are finite and nuclear waste currently can't be rendered harmless or reused. We don't know when oil or coal will run out so it is practical to look for alternatives now before it becomes scarce and the price becomes too high.

I think we should look at cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels, but it will be decades before they are completely replaced. I think the most practical approach is a variety of wind, solar, geothermal, nuclear and a reduction of fossil fuel electricity.