Why Solar? | Solar Farms & Photovoltaic Project Development in Ontario, Canada!!

Is solar power viable now?

by William Papolis, Monday Mar 26, 2007 10:34AM EST

Can we satisfy a significant portion of our energy consumption needs with solar power? Is solar power a credible power source? Is it technologically possible to deliver solar power on a large scale? Is it economically possible, today?

Taking a bird’s eye view, let’s first define solar power …

“Solar power (more specifically, photovoltaics) is a process whereby light energy is directly converted into electrical energy.”

This is important to understand. No turbines, no heat exchange, no pollution, nothing. Just panels, that connect to an inverter (converts DC to AC), that can then connect to your home, or the grid. It’s that simple.

Some advantages of solar power

Solar power is available everywhere and will last forever!
A typical home consumes ~ 31kWhrs/day. Each day the sun hits the planet with 3–9kWh/sq. meter of free energy! The best solar panels are about 20% efficient in converting solar power to electricity. With these ideal assumptions, (3kWhrs * 50 sq meters * 20% efficiency ~ 30kWhrs/day), we discover 50 sq meters provides almost enough power for the typical home.
Generating solar power is pollution free, with panels lasting 25+ years, with little degradation in performance
Unlike nuclear power or fossil fuel plants, which require millions of dollars in maintenance and fuel each year, solar panels require very little maintenance

Source: National Renewable Energy Lab

Well if solar power is so great, why aren’t we doing more? Some people will say, "it's the cost", other's will say it takes up too much space, still other's will say it takes too long to break even for a home system (~ 2 to 3 decades) and finally some will say the energy conversion efficiency of solar panels is still relatively low ~15 to 20% for the best panels available today, but are these the real problems?

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