What Are The Real Disadvantages Of Renewable Energy Applications For Home Electrical Generation And Hot Water?
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by: GrahamBailey | Total views: 23 | Word Count: 452
The use of alternative energy in the home has been gathering momentum during the past few years, and house holders have been exploring the best forms to integrate into their houses. There are several forms, but some are better employed in large scale applications, such as hydro-electric installations. Amongst the others, some have disadvantages that make their use less attractive. The common forms of renewable alternative energy systems are the solar applications, such as photovoltaic for generating electricity and thermal systems for heating water, heat pumps and wind power.
Naturally, no renewable energy application is ideal, and we should be knowledgeable about solar energy disadvantages. Photovoltaic panels have many advantages, being a static system that requires little maintenance apart from cleaning the glass over the panels periodically. Of course, if the system feeds a bank of rechargeable batteries for total autonomy, then they would require regular maintenance in the form of liquid level checks and possible voltage degradation. Although efficiency does decrease over the years, standard solar panels will continue to produce useful amounts of electrical energy for more than forty years.
Of the solar energy disadvantages relating to photovoltaic panels, perhaps the biggest is the cost, but even this is reducing as production methods improve and competition drives down the prices of the raw material. This type of panel is only thirteen percent efficient, so if 1000 watts of sunshine energy falls per square meter, we would need 8 square meters to generate just 1 kw of electricity. The output of the panels varies significantly, depending upon the lateral orientation, the inclination, country of application, cloud cover and the season. In very bright sunshine, they can be in danger of over heating, and should be installed with a space between the back of the panels and the roof.
The other big direct solar application is thermal water heating. These are around 75% efficient, needing just 1.4 square meters of collecting panels to transform sunshine energy into 1 kw of water heating thermal energy. Remember that, this ideal figure of 1000 watts of sunshine energy per square meter depends on several factors, like location , cloud level, and the inclination and orientation of the panels. A system to heat domestic hot water is not too expensive particularly if the aim is to provide around 80% of our needs.
An installation with up to forty square meters of collector panels could provide a proportion of home heating during the colder seasons, particularly when feeding into an underfloor warming system. The great disadvantage of thermal solar systems is the amount of upkeep necessary, as the water system is usually kept under pressure, has parts which rotate (water circulation pump) and uses anti-freeze, each of which require periodic maintenance.
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