Aside from being expensive. What are the drawbacks of using solar panels as power source for home use?

Question

Loads will be home lighting, maybe 5 computers, refrigerator, T.V. and other home appliances totaling maybe about 1-2 megawatt load if all appliances are turned on at the same time.

Answer 1

"1-2 MegaWatt" ??????????????????
A small home without air conditioning will peak at about 5-6 KW.
"Aside from being expensive" the drawbacks of a small solar plant of this size is maintenance.
Batteries and panels have a limited service life, (I know, - part of "expensive"), which is shortened if they are not properly maintained.
Most owners won't do it.

Answer 2

Storage of the power. Batteries are expensive, they require maintenance, and they don't last very long. You need to add in the replacement cost.


I hope your home doesn't have a 2 megawatt load. You might want to recalculate.

Part of working with solar power is learning to manage your power usage so that you don't have large peak loads.

BTW, what are you heating your water with, what are you cooking with, and what are you heating and cooling the home with? Some pretty big loads there if you want solar to handle any of them.

Answer 3

first of all, your total load would be more like 1-2 kilowatts, not 1-2 megawatts (1-2 MWs could run 1000 window type Air Conditioners).
Firstly, yes, it would be very expensive, and if you are not willing to pay for it, have a smaller load, just make sure to not exceed the load rating.
2ndly, what happens when its cloudy ?
solar panels are ideal if u use them as an axillary power unit and u can perhaps use it to sell power back to the utility when u r not home to use electricity.

Answer 4

I love my solar electric system out at the farm. There is more sun time in the American South than you need for practical applications. I assume you already knew you need batteries, regulators, and backup power systems.

I run CF lights, exhaust fans, electronics, and circulating pumps on solar, as well as a microwave oven and a low-power-consumption refrigerator. I use grid power for air conditioning, washer and dryer.

It works like a champ. The system cost almost $15k to build, which is about 5 times what the electric bills would have been for the same amount of power over about 20 years. So there is no economic justification; you just have to WANT it that way.

I had one panel to get broken by a tree limb in high winds, and I have to wash them more often than I would like. But I love them.

Make it easy to get to them. Put them near the ground or build a catwalk for access. I adjust for seasonal sun angle 6 times a year. There are zero-maintenance batteries that are not dangerous or troublesome.

Answer 5

As indicated above, the power from solar panels varies with lighting conditions. The panels also put out DC power. This needs to be converted to AC to be used by your standard house items. The other issue is storing the power, so when low light conditions occur, you still can have power. Most systems now have an invertor, converts the DC power to AC power which can place the excess power onto the Public AC utility grid. Most Power companies will give you dollar credits. This resolves the energy storage issue.

Answer 6

To optimize power production the panels need to track the sun. And/Or adjust there angle with the seasons. You can mount them in a fixed position at an average angle(The locations lattitude) to the sun facing south.

In northern locations it snows which requires panels be cleared off. Roof top mounted panels may be difficult if not impossible to clear of snow. Norther Solar systems may instead place the panels on ground mounded racks or poles. This provides easy and safe accesibility to the panels for snow removal.

Solar panels require area.... consider the size of a 1Kw array compared to the total Kw demand of a typical home.

Answer 7

Build Solar Power Easily - http://Solar.eudko.com/?cuo

Answer 8

panels don't put out a lot of power.
a panel the size of your desk = 200 watts
5 panels =1000 watts
5000 panels = 1,000,000 watts
you cant run heavy load appliances from solar power, you need a generator for like a washer or vacuum, or microwave.
MIKE

Answer 9

Additional structural support needed to hold up the panels, variable load of household forces you to add additional panels, lack of generating capacity during storms and night require a large storage capacity, dangers of having battery storage capacity, dangers of having to clean solar cells to maintain efficiency. That's what I can think of off the top of my head.

Answer 10

You need to orient them properly for best sun exposure. They are vulnerable to damage from hail or from tree limbs dropping. You need to provide storage since they only contribute energy in sunlight. They are not very effective in areas that do not have many hours of strong sunlight. They only output DC so you need inverters to make AC (and that decreases efficiency).