Solar energy has turned out to be one of the critical forms of energy that can address the emerging renewable energy solutions. Global warming and exhaustive usage of fossil fuels is a matter of serious concern in today’s world and using solar energy as a renewable source is not only better for the environment, but can also go a long way in reducing carbon emissions. This article analyzes the opportunities of and challenges for solar energy and its prospective for changing the energy picture.
Advantages of Solar Energy
Renewable and Abundant
Solar energy is one renewable source of energy which implies that it will not run out in the future. The amount of energy originating from the sun is almost inexhaustible, and goes beyond the practical requirements of the world energy demand today and in the future.
Environmentally Friendly
Photovoltaic power plant production of electricity creates no greenhouse gases and as such, it untainted by smoke stack emissions. It has been said that relying less on the conventional sources of energy such as coal, oil and natural gas yet considering solar energy helps in halting air pollution and climate change.
Cost-Effective
The price of solar PPA has been on the decline in the last decade hence making solar electricity more accessible to the consumers and the businesses. Also, the rising improvement in technology, and increased scale of economies, the costs have been found to be declining.
Energy Independence
The realization of solar power means that most or all the needed energy can be generated locally, thus eliminating the dependence on imported resources such as fossil fuels. This ultimately benefits energy security and can actually level out energy costs, by diversifying the energy source.
Challenges of Solar Energy
Intermittency
The generation of energy from the sun is relied upon and therefore susceptible to variation with weather and light changes from day to night. This intermittency of the resources proves to be a drawback due to instabilities in the provision of energy.
Storage Solutions
There are always peak power generation periods during the day when the sun is shining, in such cases, energy storage solutions are required to store the extra solar energy in order to use it in the evening or at night. Battery technology is evolving but the problem of bulk storage which is cheap has not been satisfactorily solved.