Solar energy can be used to make electricity, central heating, heated water, cooking, and even for producing salt desalination. Solar energy comes from the suns rays. Solar energy is known to be exceptionally environmentally friendly. However, when the sun rays enter the earths atmosphere it is quite weakened.Although solar energy is recognized as being very environmentally friendly it does not only have advantages, but also some disadvantages. Lets discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of solar energy.

Lets begin with the all-important advantage of solar energy. Solar energy is clean. To produce electricity or heat with solar energy you need only the sun rays. There’s no need to use fossil fuel in conjunction with sun rays to produce electricity or heating. You simply need a solar energy collector or solar power panels in order to collect the suns solar energy.

Solar energy is much cheaper than traditional electric heating. That’s another great reward of solar energy. By just utilizing solar energy you can save a lot of money on heating. In return you will experience smaller electric bills and it also means that you don’t have to maintain heaters or furnaces.

If you live in a remote area where there are no power-lines solar energy can be the solution. There are rural areas where power companies have no means to access your home. Solar energy is an excellent alternative because it supplies you with anything from heating water, a supply of electricity, and even cooking, and that pretty well covers all of the bases.

Another excellent use of solar energy is for desalination in regions where fresh, potable water is non existent. Solar energy vaporizes brine and leaves the salt crystals in the bottom of the catch basin. The water in turn condenses into another basin where it is now potable.

Although all of the above-mentioned is very useful, solar energy does have some disadvantages. These disadvantages also need to be talked over to paint a complete picture.

The primary disadvantage of solar energy is that its dilute. Which means that you need a lot of solar collectors installed around your house. Solar energy may be very cheap but the solar collectors are relatively expensive and involve regular upkeep in order to work properly and efficiently. If you decide to go with solar energy you want to calculate the ROI (return on investment) in order to know if the investment makes sense.

One primary disadvantage is that you need the suns rays to create solar energy. If you are located in a part of the country where there is not much sun light then this could be a problem. In other parts of the world, the suns rays are almost always covered in clouds making solar energy collectors less effective. You should first know if the sunshine in your area is abundant for the most part of the year. Of course if you live in desert areas like in Arizona or New Mexico the sun produces a lot of sunshine for the majority of the year and is ideal for solar energy collection.

Lastly the sun only shines during the day. Therefore if you need electricity or hot water during the night, like pretty much all of us do, it can be a problem. You will need a backup system like the local electric company or you will need to store the electric for later use. There are battery systems available, that can store solar energy for later use.

Solar energy is very clean and an substitute to traditional heating and electrical systems.While this is true it is also good to mention the disadvantages of solar energy. If you are thinking about using solar energy you must read this first to make a informed decision.

The advantages of renewable energy definitely outweigh any disadvantages. If you’re like me, and sick and tired of paying electric bills, that just keep doing through the roof, visit us at www.energymoneysavings.com