What is the real argument against solar energy?
All is takes is vacant waste land some place, and nobody will make good on the technology. We could produce a lot of electricity with it. ...
All is takes is vacant waste land some place, and nobody will make good on the technology. We could produce a lot of electricity with it.
there are many thing to argue,,,,,,,,
cost
area
roof consideration and many more
but the main thing is that what is the effect on our environment,,,,, these are following
Lead & Sulphuric Acid
If you have an off grid residential solar power system then chances are pretty good that you have a bank of deep cycle, lead acid batteries.
Most solar power systems come with a substantial warranty on the solar panels – 20 to 25 years in some cases. The same, unfortunately, is not true of the battery bank that is necessary for an off grid system. Batteries will need to be replaced, on average, every 5 years, at considerable expense. (Expect to pay at least $100 USD per battery, and way up from there) The more batteries your bank consists of, the more money it’ll cost you. A diligent lead acid battery maintenance schedule will keep these costs as minimal as possible.
A lead acid battery’s contents of both lead and sulphuric acid are toxic to the environment’s air, soil and water and is highly poisonous to marine life. Improperly managed, these can lead to a serious environmental disadvantage of solar energy use
Also, lead has been found to be a seroius health risk to children. .
The good news is that 98% of the materials in dead lead batteries are recoverable when recycled.
The best defense for your pocketbook and for the environment is getting the longest life possible out of your batteries and then to retire them to a recyling facility at the end of their life. There are facilities in place to recycle batteries and some very successful methods to as much as triple your battery life.
Keeping your batteries in good health keeps them out of the landfill. Following some healthy battery tips will ensure that your batteries enjoy a long life full of… electrifying experiences.
Cadmium
Cadmium is a nasty substance that can have serious health impacts. Known to be a carcinogenic agent and worse. Used in some semi conductive applications (like solar cells) the cadmium poses no health risk while contained within the cell.
A highly carcinogenic substance that poses a variety of serious health risks depending on length and method of exposure (inhalation, ingestion or absorption).
Attention to appropriate disposal methods and access to disposal facilities will be necessary, when it comes time to dispose of these materials to prevent them from leaching into soil and ground waters. More about cadmium.
more about this…………
http://www.solarpowerathome.com/disadvantage-of-solar-energy.html
I’m all for clean energy. But for solar, first you need somewhere that does get a lot of sun year round. You need a very large area to have enough solar panels for any significant production. Also the panels and their installation is very expensive. There is some place in Arizona or similar that has a huge solar plant.
The real argument is capitalism. 1) Solar energy is very expensive, and conversion to mass solar power would bankrupt America. 2) If the U.S. converted, thousands of people would be out of jobs, which would not make the people in the government who decided to convert very popular.
It’s expensive.
That’s pretty much the only argument. Even in the UK, we could produce ~25% of our electricity with rooftop solar. But it’s very expensive. And you need backup too – ways of using it when there’s no Sun. The batteries, pumped storage etc all add to the cost.
In the UK there’s also the big problem that you make 4-5 times as much power during the summer as during the winter, so you’d still need winter power stations.
As others have said – it is all about money. The new feed in tariffs will make solar more viable and when the next generation of solar panels appear, the output from panels will be greater.
Solar generated electricity is much more useful than wind generated electricity because it is much more predictable and constant, yet the big wind generators can make 20-40% return on their investment and solar generators only get a 5-8% return. That is why all the effort is going into windfarms and not solar.
Two primary negatives:
Reliability – We need reliable 24/7 power. Solar is not! Solar output is very unpredictable even on sunny days if there are clouds, and of course produces nothing most of the day.
Cost – Solar power is much more expensive than Nuclear or Fossil power primarily because of the item above. The initial investment is high, but it only produces power less than half the time of other sources so it is very difficult to get a decent payback time. Also, because of the first item, we must keep and maintain the Fossil or Nuclear in operation to insure reliability which raises the overall cost of power.
What type of images am I ‘legally’ allowed to include in my blog posts?
Thanks very much for posting this awesome info! Looking forward to reading more blogs!
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