Solar Power Limitations

Solar Power Limitations should be considered before planning on installing one of these units on your roof. Although we generally think of Renewable Energy as being environmentally friendly the power generated by Solar can only occur when the sun shines on the Solar Cell.

Needless to say, when the sun is covered by cloud or at night there is no possibility of generating power through this system which means there is need to have a Power Backup. This is to either store power when generated for release later, or, to find a second source of power.

Apart from the fact that Solar Panels require a sunny climate for best results, you can not put them in a desert area either because, the Limitations of Solar Power in a desert region is the wind, which will sandblast the panels and, the heat where the efficiency of the Panels drops if its too hot.

When looking at Solar Power Limitations it's important to recognise that there is a fine balance between the local climatic conditions and the cost savings made by this kind of installation. When thinking of installing solar energy for your home it is advisable to take into consideration the fact that, too cold and cloudy gives unreliable power, too hot and windy gives poor efficiency and higher maintenance costs.

As mentioned earlier, one Disadvantage of Solar Power being installed in your home is that you would require a backup power supply of some type especially if you wish to generate sufficient power for your household for the entire 24 hour period.

One common solution to reduce Solar Power Limitations is to build both Wind Power Generators and Solar Panels so that one can back up the other in times when one or the other is unable to produce sufficient electricity for the home.

There are also a couple of further options you may wish to consider, one being the utilisation of what's known as local Power Storage. This system uses deep cycle batteries which are charged during daylight hours and used via a power inverter during other times.

Another viable option to overcome the Disadvantage of Solar Power is to have a diesel generator installed so as to supply power during non generating times. Needless to say that to be environmentally friendly there would be the need to use Bio diesel which is a very cheap fuel made at home. (further details on this topic are covered under Bio diesel)

The Institute for Solar Energy Supply Technology of the University of Kassel in Germany pilot-tested a combined power plant to overcome Solar Power Limitations by linking Solar Panels, Wind Generators, Bio diesel and hydro storage to provide load-following power around the clock, entirely from renewable sources.

Although these kinds of systems will overcome the restrictions with Solar Power it is all very well in a commercial environment but it would be totally impractical and not viable for the home situation. This is why, if you were considering building a power plant for your home a combination of Wind Power Energy and/or Solar Power Energy with battery Power Storage would be the ideal solution.

As mentioned earlier to overcome Solar Power Limitations there is the viable option of installing a diesel generator running on Bio diesel which can be used in an emergency or even full time if you live in a remote area.