Whats the positive and negative impacts of solar energy on the environment?

Question

Whats the positive and negative impacts of solar energy on the environment?

Answer 1

Jenny,

This answer is from the Union of Concerned Scientist's web site. They make a very complete and accurate answer to especially the negative impacts of solar power. The primary positive impact is the avoidance of the many negative impacts of conventional power generation. The second link below discusses these positive impacts in more detail.

If you use it you should attribute their website:

Solar Energy

Since solar power systems generate no air pollution during operation, the primary environmental, health, and safety issues involve how they are manufactured, installed, and ultimately disposed of. Energy is required to manufacture and install solar components, and any fossil fuels used for this purpose will generate emissions. Thus, an important question is how much fossil energy input is required for solar systems compared to the fossil energy consumed by comparable conventional energy systems. Although this varies depending upon the technology and climate, the energy balance is generally favorable to solar systems in applications where they are cost effective, and it is improving with each successive generation of technology. According to some studies, for example, solar water heaters increase the amount of hot water generated per unit of fossil energy invested by at least a factor of two compared to natural gas water heating and by at least a factor of eight compared to electric water heating.

Materials used in some solar systems can create health and safety hazards for workers and anyone else coming into contact with them. In particular, the manufacturing of photovoltaic cells often requires hazardous materials such as arsenic and cadmium. Even relatively inert silicon, a major material used in solar cells, can be hazardous to workers if it is breathed in as dust. Workers involved in manufacturing photovoltaic modules and components must consequently be protected from exposure to these materials. There is an additional-probably very small-danger that hazardous fumes released from photovoltaic modules attached to burning homes or buildings could injure fire fighters.

None of these potential hazards is much different in quality or magnitude from the innumerable hazards people face routinely in an industrial society. Through effective regulation, the dangers can very likely be kept at a very low level.

The large amount of land required for utility-scale solar power plants-approximately one square kilometer for every 20-60 megawatts (MW) generated-poses an additional problem, especially where wildlife protection is a concern. But this problem is not unique to solar power plants. Generating electricity from coal actually requires as much or more land per unit of energy delivered if the land used in strip mining is taken into account. Solar-thermal plants (like most conventional power plants) also require cooling water, which may be costly or scarce in desert areas.

Large central power plants are not the only option for generating energy from sunlight, however, and are probably among the least promising. Because sunlight is dispersed, small-scale, dispersed applications are a better match to the resource. They can take advantage of unused space on the roofs of homes and buildings and in urban and industrial lots. And, in solar building designs, the structure itself acts as the collector, so there is no need for any additional space at all.

Answer 2

positive-

zero impact electricity generation

negative-

Even if perfected, it would still take up a lot of surface area, unless mixed with other energy sources ( if current demand stays constant).

but basically, lifeforms will have less sun-lit room, there is also the possibility of loss of heat radiated by the earths surface.

Answer 3

The positive is that it's a renewable source. There's an infinite amount of sunlight that can produce energy and the actual energy production causes no pollution whatsoever.

The negative is the energetic costs of creating photovoltaic, or light sensitive cells, to put in the solar panels. Producing them causes a lot of pollution, but the benefits outweigh that. Also, they don't produce a whole lot of energy and there's the risk of a really dark and cloudy day putting towns in power shortages, so producing most, if not all of our power via solar plants would require a very large electrical grid that would wire practically every town together. That way if it's cloudy in one area, a solar plant in a sunny area in another town can produce the energy for the town with the cloudy weather.

Hope that answers your question :]