why dont we use sun light to produce electrical energy?

Question

advantages and disadvantages please

Answer 1

We do already, in two ways:

1) Solar panels, which absorb sunlight and directly converts it into electricity.

2) Solar Electricity Generators, which generate electricity by reflecting sunlight so they converge on one point, heats up the water at that point, which then turns a turbine and creates electricity.

Advantages: Sunlight is nature's biggest renewable resource, it is clean, releasing no pollution at all. It is also quiet.

Disadvantages: Unreliability. The sun is only guaranteed to come out for around 12 hrs in 1 day (unless you are in the extreme north or south), and even then you have no guarantee that the sunlight will be consistent, due to the clouds. Also, with the pollution around, creating smog, the sun's rays are often deflected before they reach the ground, which reduces the intensity of sunlight.

Answer 2

I heard it is because the solar panels we have today are expensive to make and are not very efficient. Plus, they are not the answer for everyone. Where I live is too far north and a solar collector would only be good about three months out of the year. There is some good news, however. Penn State just announced the development of a new solar panel using nano tube technology. This is supposed to boost the efficiency a great deal. I'll bet once it goes into mass production and the cost comes down it could make solar power more feasible for more people.

Answer 3

We don't yet use sunlight much to produce electrical energy because energy from fossil fuel is so cheap. One major reason that fossil fuel energy is so cheap is that the cost of pollution, including greenhouse gas production, is not included in the cost of the fuel.
In spite of this advantage to fossil fuels, solar photovoltaic is getting continually cheaper, and we are beginning to add large-scale production capacity for several different technologies. The economics have already gotten close enough that solar can compete with fossil-fuel fired energy in new homes if the financial structure is there to spread out the extra front-end costs. Please note , though, that this takes high tech industry,. You can bang out high-pollution coal-fired plants cheaply and quickly with 19th century tech.
When solar is competing in a world where the price of excess carbon output is subject to market forces we will see a rapid conversion away from fossil fuels. Until then, our best hope is for a solar process so cheap that everything on the grid becomes obsolete, coupled with the 30% or better boost we can get from conservation and efficiency technology.

Answer 4

Have you been living under a rock? It's the 21st Century.
We do use sun light to produce energy. It's called Solar Energy.

Answer 5

Aesthetics, people don't want to look at solar cells, plus the high initial cost and low lifetime of the old solar cells turned people off, they need to passs a law that so much electricity must be produced within a grid that consumes it to force people who want electricity to accept alternative sources like wind and water and tidal turbines, solar cells, solar heat, wood chip biomass plants, etc.

Answer 6

Solar power would produce essentially free energy, but solar panels are rather delicate and difficult to repair, which can also make them expensive.

Answer 7

Advantages: clean and cheap source of energy
Disadvantages: Expensive panels, low voltage produced in each panel,low accessibility in every where and time, expensive systems for converting it to AC power

Answer 8

We do use solar energy to some extent. Unfortunately, the renewable energy sector does not have as many lobbyists in DC and the states as the fossil fuel corporations.

Answer 9

Photovoltaics are still expensive to make, more expensive per usable amount of energy than fossil fuels. This will change as technology improves. The Japanese are outspending everyone in the world in photovoltaic research.

Answer 10

We do dear. It's called solar energy. Those black rectangular windows things on roofs are used to collect solar energy and convert it to electricity to heat and cool houses and run electrical appliances. Welcome to the 21st century!