PV Gap

Gail Said:

what are some advantages of solar energy?

We Answered:

Advantages? All of our energy sources are ultimately traceable to solar energy, with the possible exception of nuclear. I say possible because the fissile elements were initially created by the sun. Now if we were to harness fusion......

Randy Said:

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Solar energy?

We Answered:

To clarify some of answers below, it's not necessarily expensive anymore--my installer, Sungevity, installed my system for free and I pay monthly about the same as what I used to pay my utility for electricity. Look for an installer who offers a solar lease or power purchase agreement or find out if you city offers PACE financing (Property-Assessed Clean Energy).

Regina Said:

What are the advantages and disadvantages of solar energy?

We Answered:

Solar energy is the only energy which will be around in 500 years.
Solar energy is not steady.
Solar energy is best (for OUR needs right now) if paired with hydroelectric. When the sun doesn't shine, open the hydro and get sufficient energy for the day.
Solar energy is not very efficient yet.
Solar energy is not viable in all parts of the globe.

June Said:

What are advantages and disadvantages of solar energy?

We Answered:

Solar energy is green energy, clean energy and it is freely available during certain hours of the day and during certain months of the year. It all depends upon how we make use of this
infinite energy.
Example: many of us misuse electricity during day time for LIGHTING the interiors of our homes even though free, bright and clean solar energy is available just across our windows and doors, when the sun is shining. Switching on the bulbs during day time is a criminal waste of costly electricity. The bulbs also contribute CO2 and global warming.

Example of savings of electricity that can be effected - one bulb/tube light of 40 volts burnt for 6 hours during day time (whether at home or offices or business complexes), consumes about 8 units of electricity in a month. If this ONE bulb can be switched off during day time, by 100,000 people, we can save 800,000 units of electricity in a month and in six months, when the sun shine is available, we can save 4,800,000 electricity units.
Supposing more than one bulb is switched off, use the above formula to calculate the savings and also how many thousands of tons of CO2 emission can be saved. That is the power of volume.

I am not asking you to live in darkness. Many of us need that one burning bulb to keep our interiors bright because we would have kept our doors and windows shut for various reasons like security, wind, dust etc., but still we need that burning bulb for reading etc.

I have a simple solution for giving you free energy for lighting your interiors. I am not talking about energy that is required for kinetic purpose like running a fan, oven, geyser etc., I am talking about that simple light that brightens the interior of your home. My following solution does not involve any nano technology or billion dollar investment. Anybody can do it with a little innovative mind.

SO, LET US "BRING HOME THE SUNSHINE AND LIVE IN A BRIGHTER WORLD". How?

When the sun is shining outside your windows, locate the spot where maximum hours of sunshine will be available. Take a plastic chair, a pillow, a few pieces of waste thermostat or cardboard and a mirror measuring 1' X 2'; open one window, keep the chair in the sunshine, pillow on it and the mirror on the pillow. Keep adjusting the angle of the mirror till such time that the deflected sun shine gets inside your home and hits the white ceiling and fine tune the same by keeping small pieces of card board behind the mirror to maintain that angle. LO, AND BEHOLD, YOUR ROOM IS BEAUTIFULLY LIT UP WITH NATURAL LIGHT FROM THE CEILING - FREE FOR YOU.
This is a practical solution for a global problem and everybody can become innovators for helping the world reduce global warming and to get free lighting with the help of infinite solar energy by switching off as many bulbs as possible. Think of the benefits that would accrue by way of savings in terms of investment to generate that many MW of electricity, how much of fossil fuel, coal or water that would be used for generating that much of electricity, investment on machineries, transmission cost, labor, etc. etc. and also how much of CO2 can be reduced, they have nth value.
Please publish this simple solution or send it to as many people as possible.
This solution has been awarded a Certificate of Honor and a knowledge grant by the world bank - project U-SEE # 585 of IDM 2007 competition. Browse,
http://dmblog.worldbank.org/mirrors-can-…
For further details and FAQs, mail to vasanthmysoremath@gmail.com +918214243319 / 9845950440

Lauren Said:

What are some advantages and disadvantages of solar energy?

We Answered:

advantage free power disadvantage cost,you'd be looking at a 7 year pay pack period.

Marjorie Said:

What are the Advantages and disadvantages for solar energy?

We Answered:

The most glaring and overlooked disadvantage to solar energy is the deprivation of sunlight to plant life (and people)


it is a green source of regenerable energy - this is main advantage and quite important these days, does not consume any resources thus once built a photovoltaic plant is very cheap to maintain.

disadvantages:
- you only can get a max of 1000W/m^2 - this is what our Sun offer, with 20% efficiency means 200W/m^2;
- you don't have any energy at night, and bad weather will decrease the output.
- instalation cost are still high. for a photovoltaic plant of 1MW, 1kWh cost about 3euro. for a 20kW you get 10euro per 1kWh
- big power output imply huge surfaces (because of the first "-")

Overall it is a new technology, still in development, but with a huge growth in last years. If you think 20% is to less, remember that combustion engine is ~15%. NASA use solar cell with 40% efficiency but those are to expensive for now.

>You can put it on top of buildings (usualy done) so none is deprived of sunlight.