Using power of the sun for power production offers a cleaner, renewable future, but it has got some challenges, just like any other technology.
It is important to address those challenges for making smart and clear decisions for sustainable use of solar energy.
Drawbacks of Solar Energy
This study gives insight at eight crucial points that make obstacle on solar powered present and future use.
I have explored the potential problems, how they affect things and the ways to solve them for the benefit of our World.
Intermittent Nature and Variability
Solar energy relies much on sunlight making it intermittent and inconsistent. Seasonal changes, time of a day and weather conditions (cloud cover) affects much solar power production.
Production of solar energy decreases as sunlight fades out, especially at dawn, and during cloudy snow and rainy days.
Also, at night solar power production becomes insignificant as no sunlight is there, requiring alternative sources of energy for consistent power supply.
To address this difficultness, it is recommended to use solar rechargeable batteries for constant power supply when sun light goes off.
Geographical Limitations
Sunlight is available everywhere on the earth but its abundancy varies across regions, affecting solar power production. Factors under this category are latitude, cloud cover and altitude or topography.
Direct and heavy sunlight found in regions near the equator while it is far less in polar regions, each cloud reduces some percent of direct sunlight to the earth’s surface, and geographical features like mountains valleys and hills block sunlight impacting efficiency of solar panels.
Substantial Space Requirements
Solar energy installations for large scale power production demand vast area of land or rooftop space (in urban areas), impacting wildlife and agricultural productions negatively, raise concerns on land competition against farmers, displacing their original position of farming and livelihood.
In ecological view point, it hinders migration routes, destroys wildlife habitat causing loss of biodiversity.
Initial Cost being High
The cost involving solar power facilities like solar panels, batteries, inverters and installation labor is much high in terms of money as it can cost more than 15,000 dollars.
This would be a great challenge encountering low income families and individuals for adoption of solar energy.
A good news, a government can grant monetary fund to those families so as to help them accomplish their wish to adopt solar power production.
Reduced Efficiency and Power Density
Efficiency of solar power production varies a lot depending on several factors like, solar panel efficiency (stored much as efficiency of solar panel is high), angle of sunlight (it is high when a solar panel is in optimal position with the sun, receiving direct sunlight) and weather conditions (high efficiency in sunny days while reduced in cloudy, snow and rainy days). Thus it is unreliable source of energy.
Now days, some researches has been done on increasing solar panels efficiency reaching 30% or higher in the future.
Environmental Consequences of Manufacturing and Disposal
Manufacturing and disposal of solar panels has a significant drawback which needs a serious attention.
Solar panels manufacturing uses some rare minerals like silicon gallium and silver whose extraction processes pollute environment intensively by releasing harmful gases especially Sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Improper disposal of solar panels can cause leaching of toxic heavy metals to the soil like mercury.
To encounter the challenge, cleaner methods of mining should be used as well as recycling of materials for future use.
Vulnerability to Weather and Potential Damage
Solar power production system is susceptible to extreme weather like hailstorms, torrential rain, strong winds and heavy snow, high temperature, dust, dirt and interference from animals and birds that can cause physical damage and system malfunction.
The use of tough materials like tempered glass and regular inspection can manage to alleviate this challenge.
Technological Progress and Maintenance Needs
To successive use a solar power system, regular inspection and maintenance is required. This requires a skilled labor and expertise which costs highly, and cannot be affordable to low income individuals and those who dwell in remote locations.
It is recommended to use latest solar energy advancements and to clearly understand the guidelines on how to properly use solar technologies and appliances for long life span.
Key takeaways: Drawbacks of Solar Energy
It is important to address all the challenges given above for beneficial use of solar energy, making our future cleaner, from depending on weather conditions, land use and extracting resource to better technology advancements that can make solar energy harnessing process very efficient, environmentally friendly and more affordable.
We have to make responsible rules, researches and actions from initializing and progressing with solar energy.
This process cannot be held by a single individual, a government and stakeholders should cooperate together with deeply held commitment, thus we can use sun’s power for brighter, cleaner future for next generations.
