Usually, the main utility of solar panels for our homes is to supply energy to our appliances, to provide us with light, to heat water, etc. and they are placed on the roofs of houses.
In addition, the solar panels are also used for satellites. This is what we know as space solar energy. The satellites carry on board solar panels that absorb sunlight and generate electricity that can be used for the operation of the satellite itself or to transmit that energy to earth. For example, a solar power satellite station can send the energy collected from the sun to earth in the form of microwaves or lasers for areas such as where earth’s energy is scarce.
Advantages
The main advantage of using solar panels is that they produce clean and renewable energy without having to resort to fossil resources and nuclear energy. It produces little pollution while the use of fossil resources release large amounts of toxic gases in our atmosphere.
Solar panels also help to save energy and installing a renewable system at home is quite fast, apart from that the maintenance of these solar panels is minimal and their life is quite long. Although they may be expensive at first, in a matter of years, you will have recovered the initial investment and will be receiving solar energy in your home for free, which does not happen with fossil fuels.
Another great advantage is that of finally being able to free ourselves of the monopoly of the companies that supply us energy. We ourselves can be our own energy suppliers, thanks to the solar panels.
Disadvantages
Solar panels provide clean energy, yet their manufacture still depends on unpolluted energies. The silicon or gallium arsenide have to be removed from the earth and then transformed into different processes to be placed on the panel, apart from other materials that make up the panel.
At first they are expensive although later the money is recovered throughout its use. The price of a solar panel installation in a house can vary euros depending on the needs of each house.
Another disadvantage of solar panels is that they depend on the weather. If you live in a scarce sun climate, solar photovoltaic panels would not be very useful. So it is more common to see solar panels in areas of dry and warm climates than cold and humid.
Space is another disadvantage, because for solar panels to operate efficiently, they need to cover a lot of space. For example, for a small house, the space needed by the solar panels would be disproportionate compared to the house itself and its elements.
