Advantages and disadvantages of solar power energy

The technology that is utilized to collect and convert solar energy is known as solar energy. In 2011, less than 0.1 percent of the world's energy consumption was met by the technology.

Many people are familiar with 'photovoltaic cells,' often known as solar panels, which are used in items like spacecraft, roofs, and handheld calculators. Semiconductor materials, similar to those used in computer chips, are used to make the cells. Electrons are dislodged from their atoms when sunlight strikes the cells. The cell produces electricity when the electrons move through it.

Solar-thermal power plants use a variety of methods to concentrate the sun's energy as a heat source on a much bigger scale. The heat is then utilized to boil water, which powers a steam turbine to produce electricity in a manner similar to that of coal and nuclear power plants and serve thousands of people with electricity.

In one method, sunlight is focused on an oil pipe that passes through the center of a long trough of U-shaped reflectors. After that, the hot oil boils water to produce electricity. Another method concentrates the sun's beams on a collecting tower, where a receiver is located, using movable mirrors. To power a generator, hot molten salt is forced through the receiver.

There are passive solar technologies. For instance, large windows positioned on a building's sunny side allow sunlight to reach materials on the floor and walls that absorb heat. These surfaces then release the heat at night to keep the building warm. Similar to this, absorbent roof plates can heat water in tubes that give hot water to a home.

It is praised as an unrenewable fuel source that produces neither noise or emissions. Furthermore, the technique is adaptable. For instance, solar cells can just as easily power downtown structures and future vehicles as they can satellites in Earth orbit and lodges deep in the Rocky Mountains.

Without a storage mechanism like a battery, solar energy cannot be used at night, and overcast conditions might impair the technology's performance during the day. In order to collect solar energy at rates helpful to many people, solar technologies are also quite expensive and necessitate a large amount of land.

Despite these shortcomings, solar energy consumption has increased over the past 15 years at a rate of roughly 20 percent annually due to fast declining costs and improvements in efficiency. Major markets for solar cells include the United States, Germany, and Japan. Solar electricity can frequently pay for itself in five to ten years with the help of tax incentives and effective coordination with energy providers.