Why is solar energy difficult to harness?

Question

Why is solar energy difficult to harness?

Answer 1

Solar energy is quite easy to harness but it is the expence of the technology that really makes solar energy not efficient.  There are new technologies that are currently being developed that will make harnessing the solar energy more efficent and cheaper and for it to become a viable energy source.

I will try and get the link and add it.

Answer 2

Two basic factors:  The earth receives only about 1,000 watts per square yard, which is a little more than one horsepower per sq. yd.

Secondly, its only available an average of 12 hours a day.  At night time you either need another source, or stored energy from batteries which are very space consuming.

Answer 3

There are some awesome companies out there doing solar energy like First Solar, Inc. There are some cool products out there for harnessing solar power though...

Answer 4

I don't think so

More a thing of common sense ,I know some one who has done it ,he has a huge shed full of truck batteries and has more that enough power, to the point he some times sells it off to a power company.

It took  a lot of years to achieve all this and I suspect most of it may have been on line as well.

His entire home is green, recycled water for the gardens and the toilet as the area still has old fashion septic tanks that works extremely well and there is no odor.

food scraps are recycled and they grow there won food and have hens and some ducks.

Duck eggs in cooking are fantastic.

So its really just thinking about what your doing and what can be recycled at home.

Answer 5

Ajhidell has it right.

Answer 6

location

Answer 7

Damien M

Let me start off by saying we (my family and I) live completely, 100% “off of the grid and are completely self sufficient”, we have absolutely no difficulty harnessing solar energy for all of our needs.

The house is built utilizing natures natural elements, in the shape of an octagon with 8ft wide arch doors on every wall to catch every angle of wind (typical 4 sided homes have half the chance as one with 8 sides. A circle being the most efficient design). Woodburning stoves, solar chimney, solar AC, solar heating, solar water heating (pool and home), solar stove, solar power, wind power, hydrogen powered back up generator, hydrogen back up water heater, hydrogen stove, 2 hydrogen powered trucks, 1 EV (electric vehicle) and satellite internet.

There are no utility lines, no water lines, no roads, tv, cell service, etc. on our ranch. EVERYTHING needed is produced here. All electricity comes from 27 solar panels, 2 main wind gens and a back hydrogen generator if needed (typically we can last 9 days with all luxuries of sunless windless weather, hasn't happened yet). Water is caught and storaged from the rain. Hot water is made with solar batch water heaters with an on-demand hydrogen hot water heater as backup. Even our vehicles use alternative energy (2 hydrogen trucks, 1 EV electric vehicle converted). Because of this we have no bills, no debt and no mortgage.

Here’s a DIY step by step process to build a small solar panel that really works, taken from a guide I offer at www agua-luna com it’s complete but if you’d like the more specific process or the pics and images go to www agua-luna com. Its pretty simple but if you have any problems feel free to contact me directly I can walk you threw the process.

http://www.agua-luna.com/guides.html

"STEP 1. SOLAR PANELS: or PV panels are the key to a hybrid system., converting the sun’s beams into electricity that we can use in the home. They come in many different sizes, shapes, power ranges and costs. We will focus on a 12v 50watt (4amp) panel, measuring appx 4 sq. ft. with a price range from $300-$500.

www.mrsolar.com ($340)

www.agua-luna.com ($299)"

"Retrieve a typical winter electric bill. You won’t need a summer bill, because by building a system that runs in winter, it’ll be proven for summer use where days are longer. Divide the total KWH (Kilowatt Hours) on the bill by 30 (giving you your Kilowatt Hour per day, or KWH/d consumption amount), now divide that by 10 (or the total average winter day hours in your area)(giving you KWH/h), now multiple that by 1000 (converting KWH/h to WH/h or watts)."

"Now that we know how many watts your systems requires, we need to know how many panels to use, along with an adequate- sized controller. For simplicity reasons, let’s use a typical 50w solar panel. We will divide your final “system requirement” results from above by 50 to tell us how many panels you'll need (hourly winter consumption watts / 50)."

"NOTE: Size (watts and feet) of panels is a personal choice and isn’t determined by any system requirements.

Mount panel/s flat (0 degree) facing south (if located in the north hemisphere). With a multimeter, measure the incoming amps (via pos cable to battery), slowly raise the top edge until the amps peak on your meter. Secure."

Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at http://www.agua-luna.com on the subject. I also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help others help the environment.

Dan Martin

Retired Boeing Engineer now living 100% Off-the-Grid with my family, using Alternative Energy & loving every minute.

for more info visit agua-luna com or email me at [e-mail]

http://www.agua-luna.com

Stop Global Warming, Receive a FREE Solar Panels Now!!!

Answer 8

it's not it's just expensive.

Answer 9

Photovoltaic technology is inefficient, because the cells don't respond to the whole solar light spectrum, so you need expensive, multilayer cells. But there are newer, concentrating cells, which use focusing mirrors or lenses, and much less silicon, so these are more efficient and cheaper

There is another method which uses mirrors to focus the sun to generate heat which is used to drive a generator.

Which ever method you use, to make the most of available energy during daylight hours, you also need to to mechanically track the sun across the sky with your solar array.

It's impossible to get more than 1000 w/sqm from the sun at the surface, so you would need 10's of thousands of square Km of solar plant to supply all our current needs. That would be very, very expensive. It would also obliterate a lot of wildlife habitat.