Pros and Cons of Solar Energy Solar Energy

Installing a private solar power plant has many advantages:

• reduction of utility bills;
• possibility to sell surplus generated electricity to the public grid;
• independence from the centralized power supply;
• reducing your carbon footprint;
• minimum operating costs;
• noiselessness of work and simplicity of operation;
• increase in the value of a house with solar panels installed;
• long service life of the system;
• possibility of installation of panels in the conditions of any climatic zones;
• availability of incentives and government programs to reduce initial costs for the purchase and installation of the power system.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these benefits.

1. Reducing the amount of utility bills. Using electricity generated by your own panels will allow you to consume less of it from the public grid, so your electricity bills will decrease. The amount of savings will depend on the capacity of your solar power system and your household’s electricity consumption. In addition, you will be protected from constant energy tariff increases.
2. Possibility to sell surplus generated electricity to the general grid. With sufficient energy capacity of the panels, after 7-8 years of their operation and full payback, the excess amount of electricity generated by your home can be sold to the local utility.
3. Independence from centralized power supply. Electricity in the room will always be in the presence of sunlight (and in the presence of additional batteries – and in the dark).
4. Reducing your carbon footprint. Fossil fuels (coal and natural gas) used to generate electricity account for a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. The production and use of renewable and affordable solar energy will make it possible in the future to prevent an environmental catastrophe caused by global warming.
5. Minimum operating costs are realized during periodic service maintenance. The specialist checks and cleans the panels; inverter filters from dust and snow, and also tightens the bolts that support the structure.
6. Quiet operation and easy operation. Solar power systems operate silently in automatic mode, since they are devoid of engines and generators. Their work can be controlled remotely. To maintain the high performance of the panels, it is enough to regularly clean them from snow and dust.
7. Increasing the value of a home with solar panels installed. When evaluating a house for sale with solar panels, its investment attractiveness increases, and the cost increases by an average of 4-5%.
8. Long service life of the system. Most solar energy systems have a guaranteed efficiency of 25-30 years. However, even after this period, they continue to function, only with lower productivity.
9. Possibility of installation of panels in the conditions of any climatic zones. For the operation of photovoltaic modules, only sunlight is needed, and air temperature and atmospheric pressure are not significant. Therefore, solar panels will work equally effectively on the plain and in the mountains, in Antarctica and at the equator.
10. Availability of benefits and government programs can significantly reduce consumer costs for installing a solar energy system. The US Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) helps reduce the initial cost of purchasing solar panels by 26%. Each state has its own system of benefits and subsidies that encourages the development of alternative solar energy.

Thus, investments in solar energy systems are economically and environmentally justified. The constant improvement of solar technology allows increasing the performance and power of the panels.