I have always wondered.
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Indeference to my “lerned” friend above, solar cells are NOT made out of hazardous chemicals, and they are the only thing you can attach to your home that has a 1% payback, and beacuse they give you free energy, you save almost $.25MM over the 30-year lifecycle of the pannels.
So, aside from the processes used to make the solar cells, and solar panels, or the processes to make aluminum to make the frames for the solar panels or the aluminum to make the solar arrays, solar cells are made from silicon, essentially….sand. So there is no problem if you bury them. They won’t break down for 10,0 years, but then they’re made from what the earth is made of…
As for economic problems….there are none…except that the utility companies don’t get paid as much, the more people build solar arrays on their homes, offices, and businesses. Not only that, but with all the rebates and new legislation requiring utility companies to pay solar array owners who are hooked to the grid on a net-metering system, it has become a very financially wise and environmentally savvy investment.
I just don’t understand why all these bleeding heart liberals are crying about global warming and won’t embrace one of the smartest things they can do to help STOP global warming!!! Uggghhhh!!!!!
Source(s):
http://www.solarispv.com
The solar power is no pollution itself,but when the factory use the solar power hoter,it can increase the light pollution and the solar power facility can add some pollution to the environment if it is not dealed with.
The problems with solar panels are that they depend on sunlight for power and people want power at night and in bad weather. They are not cost effective yet, maybe in a few years they will make sense.
They create what is known as visual pollution, which means they aren’t very pleasing to look at and are sometimes viewed as making a home look less attractive. Although, solar power can provide long-term savings, start-up costs are relatively high.
well: according to ” Earth Ecology Program we’d found out
an easier way for use called Solar Energy in which that can save fule & Manages our Environment Resources by Recycling yes also please keep City Clean at all times
Source(s):
Green Living
The reason why solar panels are so expensive is because they are not mass produced in the US. At least not the way they are mass produced and government subsidized in Europe.
As a result, few people are jumping on the Solar power bandwagon, the costs are too high right now.
In California, the electric utility companies have banded together to charge solar panel owners for electricity they don’t use.
The energy companies feel threatened by solar power and want to punish people for using it.
The initial cost seems to be what stops most people, but the payback is so quick that really should not be an arguement. Most people just don’t think they would work in their area. Germany is the top country in solar use, and they get less sun than Alaska (the US state with the least sun). Everyone should get them.
Solar Panels last about 50 years. Here in CA, the energy companies have to pay homes equipped with solar panels for the energy that is fed back into the grid at the same price they CHARGE their customers (watching your meter run BACKWARDS is a beautiful thing!). In the end, at present rates, solar panels can pay for themselves in 10 to 20 years depending on various factors. We also have huge tax incentives here, so up to half of the cost of the panels can be written off. I’ve also seen a few homes here with battery arrays, so night time the power to the house is run off the batteries. Very cool. For those that choose solar energy, new homes built here spend about 2% of the total cost of the home on installation, but it adds 8-10% on the value of the home at resale. For those that don’t like the look of solar panels, they do make panels that look like roof shingles, and are pretty invisible, though these cost more. Downside: what downside?
Living on a boat, I have learned a bit about being “off the grid”. There is not only solar pannels that you can use to power things, but you can also harness wind power to help charge your batteries.
Your solar pannels or wind generator would be fed into a seperate charging system which has a battery bank. If you want to run some of the things in your house you would have to have a minimum of 12 deep cycle batteries for your bank.
The whole system is costly to begin with, but you would probably make your money back within a couple of years of putting the system in and have the satisfaction of being independant and “off the grid”
The only environmental problem that I can think of would be disposing of the batteries if they die. There are enough places out there that recycle them or remake them that I couldn’t see it as much of a problem.
HTH
Solar is coming on fast./on an individual level,Its not practical for most and for the 30% that could use it in a household its expensive.There are lots of good things going on in solar for all the world but like nuclear its slow going.
the only true environmental problem i have encountered is that the BATTERIES where solar panel energy is stored have to be disposed of properly, just like with all batteries. Also, semi-conductor production uses toxic chemicals. Simple fact: solar power is the safest, most eco-friendly form of energy.
Source(s):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/…
There are no known environmental problems associated with the use of solar power. There are waste disposal problems associated with the manufacture of all semi-conductor devices, solar cells being just one type. The major ingredient, silicon dioxide, is just sand, but the process involves various plating and cleaning steps with solvents, various metals, plastics, and hundreds of other materials, some of which are hazardous and require special handling and disposal.
There are land use issues if solar power farms are placed on land with other uses, but not when private landowners place them on their roofs or on unused portions of their property. Solar cells generate no pollution and do not wear out in most circumstances.
Economically, solar cells are a more expensive way per kilowatt to generate electricity than fossil fuel combustion, at current costs of fabrication and costs of fuel. It is also uneconomic at present to replace grid power with home produced solar power. At present prices and costs, it would take 40 years to save enough on your electricity bill to pay off the investment in solar cells to power your home in Tucson, AZ, a place with only ten sunless days per year and with high solar energy availability most of the time. I suppose, if thousands of people installed home solar panels, the volume effect would drive the price down tenfold, but that is not something likely to happen soon, Al Gore, a rich and famous proponent of solar power, spent years getting his neighborhood association to permit homeowners to install solar power collectors on their roofs. His neighborhood is not the only one where looks trump harm to the environment.
So, if you have an extra $40-60,0 with which to almost totally eliminate your use of fossil fuel to get electricity to power your home, go ahead. Most states now require power companies to hook up the bidirectional meters and automated switches required for a homeowner to become a supplier of grid power as well as a consumer. If enough people do it at current prices, prices will drop and more people will be able to do it later.