Solar Energy Pros and Cons

There are obvious advantages and disadvantages to the use of solar energy as a primary power source, whether residentially or commercially.  The obvious advantages are that the products of solar energy are CO2 neutral after being manufactured.  They allow you to live off the grid by supplying your own electricity.  The reduced future energy costs for your home.  Solar energy is a renewable energy source.  Some of the obvious disadvantages are that at the present time it is more costly per watt than fossil fuel energy prices.  There is usually a large up-front cost in the $10,000 -$20,000 range for most residential systems.

Some Not So Obvious Advantages Of Solar Energy

Some of the not so obvious advantages are that eventually residential solar power systems will add value to your home.  I believe that once people see the value, both environmentally and economically, of a solar energy system incorporated into a house that will reflect in the value offered for your home.  I think at some point we will start seeing a more gradual movement towards community solar system projects, which increase the community’s value as a whole.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Another advantage would be the availability of solar power during natural disasters.  I used to live in a hurricane prone area and the biggest headache was lack of power for days at a time, especially since the hurricanes usually arrive during warmer weather so there was no air conditioning in those sweltering summer days.  Of course we would hope that the wind loading factors on the solar panels would sustain some of the weaker storm’s winds.

Of course another great advantage of solar energy is the ability to do what is called net metering, which is where you supply power back to the grid and the power company either pays you or credits your account up to the point of negating any power you use above and beyond what your solar energy system supplies you.

The major component of solar panels is silicon, which is the 2^nd most abundant element in the earth’s crust.  Silicon actually comprises 27.7% of the weight of the earth’s crust.  In comparison, aluminum is only 8.1% of the weight of the earth’s crust.  So, as you can see there is an abundance of silicon and is not likely to run out any time soon or even in the near future.  If you think of all the aluminum that has been mined out of the earth’s crust over the past 100 or so years you can calculate that we have nearly 4 times as much silicon as there is aluminum and that it would take at a minimum at least 400 years before we even had to think about other sources of silicon.

One of the other solar energy advantages is that it is a budding industry.  As more and more countries, communities and individuals demand more solar energy this creates jobs and increases economic activity where solar panels, solar batteries, solar inverters and solar racking are produced.  It also creates economic activity where solar energy systems are installed and where those same systems will require periodic maintenance.  As solar energy expands so to will the number of companies manufacturing solar panels.

As you can see I think there are some major overlooks of the pros of solar energy.

Other than the upfront costs and lack of power at night, without the use of a solar battery system, there are very few disadvantages of solar energy.