Hi and welcome to the solar energy advantages page.
It is interesting to note that every single day enough sunlight falls on Earth to supply our energy needs for the next 4 to 5 years, at present levels.
Photovoltaic (PV) cells are usually silicon wafers impregnated with other materials to make it conductive or when light shines on them electricity is produced.
Solar cells are virtually maintenance free and you only need an area facing the sun, with minimal obstructions, (trees) in the way to enjoy reliable free electricity.
Some history.
Photovoltaic cells where developed by Bell Laboratories in the early 1950’s. And weren’t taken seriously until the advent of spaceflight in the 1960’s, where they were used on satellites.
They were an efficient, long term solution to powering a satellite in space although back then they were very expensive to produce.
$40,000 per watt-1960’s prices.
$3 per watt, (minus state rebates)-present day.
It is also interesting to note that if Australia created a solar farm in it's outback region that covered 50 square kilometers, we could power our cities, indefinitely from solar panels.
Obviously the costs would be huge for this scheme, but costs will come down eventually.
So what other solar energy advantages are there?
Well generating electricity is the main one, but as you will learn next they are not that efficient.
Efficiency.
Solar panels, unfortunately are not 100% percent efficient.
At present we are getting about 10-12% percent of turning sunlight into energy, and it is only in the laboratory that we have got it up to 20%, using expensive materials, that are not viable for mass production.
From what l recently heard, we have gotten the efficiency up to 25% in the lab, but as said before very expensive materials need to be used.
How long do solar panels last?
We can’t be 100 percent sure at present, but since solar panels on satellites from the 60’s are still going strong l could safely say that a minimal of 20 years to 50 to 80 years to be a reasonable benchmark.
And maintenance is not even worth mentioning.
They are virtually maintenance free; they may need to be hosed down from time to time, but as the Rovers presently on Mars are showing-a few years on a dusty planet, with the occasional twister to clean their solar panels off is enough to keep them powered up.
Thank you for visiting the solar energy advantages page.
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