What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of solar panels?

Benefits Solar panels reduce your dependence on the power company. Whenever the sun is out, you've got power By not buying electricity from the grid, you reap significant savings: Over the course of a few decades, most solar-system owners save several times their original cost Solar energy is clean and renewable, and much safer than nuclear or coal power Solar systems can be designed to suit your needs and budget Problems They also have problems if they don't get direct sunlight, as it reduces their power output. Another factor that can cut down on the efficiency is if the house is at a good angle for the best amount of exposure, and they're usually not If you get long periods with bad weather, the solar panels become useless Glass and semiconductors are the main materials used for solar panels, and they are usually considered fragile.

You need to maintain them and sometimes you also need to replace them. This happens even if you use Plexiglas shields for your solar panels, since they can still get deteriorated by hail, wind or lighting The main disadvantage is the cost. Also to some solar panels are not considered very aesthetically pleasing The benefits will differ based on where in the world you live and the amount of panels you have.

Where I live in NW England the amount of power generated per year on the roof of an average sized house would not come close to covering a a typical home owners full yearly electricity bill. And by some it is believed that in the UK, it may not be possible to recoup the costs of installing the system before the lifespan is up. Some places offer government grants which may help towards cost of purchasing and installing.

And it should also be noted that solar panels can increase the value of a home As a 6th year architecture student I would say that any amount renewable energy is good for the environment even if it is only a small contribution (imagine if every home in the UK had solar panels how much could be saved on our national Co2 emissions) however whether it is financially viable for the average person is another question Photovoltaics (PV) panels have 3 major drawbacks 1) they require a substantial initial investment ($15,000.00-$50,000.00 for a whole house set up) 2) they have an effective life of 25 years or less 3) they are relatively inefficient, processing only limited wavelengths of sunlight into electricity sure that they don't work at night also they don't work in a cloudy day of if it's raining. They are a renovale way to produce electricity, and they produce much energy if the weather's sunny almost the whole year, if you are in Africa those solar panels are the right for you cheaper and you don't have to pay electricity bills every month! Advantages: Sunlight is free* They are pollution free, that is, no carbon dioxide greenhouse gas apart from their manufacture Disadvantages: Some people have a flawed concept of solar energy.

While it's true that sunlight is free, the electricity generated by PV systems is not. Quite a bit of hardware is needed. Currently, an installed PV system will cost somewhere around $9 per peak Watt.To give you an idea of how much a house system would cost, let's consider the Solar House -- a model residential home in Raleigh, North Carolina, with a PV system set up by the North Carolina Solar Center to demonstrate the technology.

It's a fairly small home, and it is estimated that its 3.6-kW PV system covers about half of the total electricity needs (this system doesn't use batteries -- it's connected to the grid). Even so, at $9 per Watt, this installed system would cost you around $32,000. That's why PV is usually used in remote areas, far from a conventional source of electricity.

Right now, it simply can't compete with the utilities. Costs are coming down as research is being done, however. Researchers are confident that PV will one day be cost effective in urban areas as well as remote ones.

Part of the problem is that manufacturing needs to be done on a large scale to reduce costs as much as possible. That kind of demand for PV, however, won't exist until prices fall to competitive levels.It's a Catch-22 situation. Even so, demand and module efficiencies are constantly rising, prices are falling, and the world is becoming increasingly aware of environmental concerns associated with conventional power sources, making photovoltaics a technology with a bright future.

Advantages: 1) Solar panels require no moving parts required to generate electricity. 2) Decreased thermal radiation on the roof underneatch the solar panels will keep the HDB flat cooler. 3) Power generating capabilities can supplement the electrical grid during "brown outs".

Disadvantages: 1) In an urban setting, the solar panels would be a target for theft because of their high resale value. Consider laser etching the glass with a unique code. 2) Solar panels systems are designed to add supplemental power; true off-grid solutions require batteries and high output inverters 3) Purchasing solar panels is tough in the year 2010.

Solar panel market is flooded with Amporphous and similar knock-off thin film variants that last only a few years at 90% output. As a result, you will need to make sure you buy monocrystalline or polycrystalline solar panels. I wish you luck.

Solar panels do generate generous amounts of power and tend to attract the environmentally aware community of home owners.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.