Technical Issues With Solar Power?

Question

Technical issues with solar power now.. in the future. What can go wrong etc... Anything you know :) Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

Solar panels (also called photo voltaic panels or PV panels) are very reliable, and often come with at least a 10 year guarantee. The amorphous type can even withstand a bullet hole through and it still works. Nothing goes wrong with them and they are maintenance free. The just keep getting better and the future is bright. The first solar panels were only 5 to 8% percent efficient but now they are close to 20%. Laboratory panels are close to 40% efficient. Efficiency is rated at the amount sunlight that falls on the panel that is converted to electricity.

Answer 2

The biggest problems are those not mentioned. If a home switches to solar (without batteries) and the sun is blocked or goes down the house simply switches to the electric grid. The grid can absorb one home moving on or off the grid. But what if whole communities do this? The grid cannot handle whole communities switching on or off as clouds and storm fronts move overhead. Any grid that had mostly solar customers would have to have enormous amounts of generation running in the background to handle sudden load swings.

Answer 3

All solar energy that is captured can not reach vegetation and stimulate growth and the production of oxygen. There should be no problem if solar collectors are placed on roofs as long as there are not too many roofs. There has to be a practical limit as to how much of the earth's surface can be covered with solar collectors but we are still far from reaching that point.

Answer 4

Build Home Solar Power : http://Solar.eudko.com/?AsH

Answer 5

power failure during eclipses?
power overload during sunspot or solar flare activity?