What are the advantages and disadvantages of solar energy?

There are a number of advantages, such as its renewable nature, and disadvantages, such as the high initial cost, that are worth consideration when it comes to solar power. The overall benefits of using solar energy over other sources of energy, such as the oil, are high, including the fact that it is friendly to the environment.

Some advantages of solar energy include:

1. There is no production of noise when solar cells extract solar energy from the sun. On the other hand, machines, such as generators, produce a lot of noise when producing power.
2. There is absolutely no pollution created by solar energy. However, when oil is burnt to produce energy, harmful greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and carcinogens are produced.
3. It is cheaper to use solar energy in the long run because the maintenance cost of solar panels is very low compared to the other types of energy production equipment that have moving parts that lead to high maintenance costs.

Some disadvantages of using solar energy include:

1. Solar energy entirely depends on the amount of sunlight available. Therefore, it cannot be harnessed on a cloudy day, at night or during a storm.
2. The solar panels and cells required to harness this renewable energy are very expensive to purchase unlike the equipment needed to generate non-renewable energy, such as a generator.