subject: Advantages And Benefits Of Pv Systems [print this page] A Photovoltaic (PV) or Solar system converts energy from the sun to electricity. As such, it presents many benefits not only for the individual consumer but also to the community on a local, national and even global level.
Perhaps the primary motivation for considering the installation of a PV system is environmental. Electricity generation from solar energy is clean, efficient and quiet. The electricity can be used to power practically any electrical appliance in the house. It can be used for indoor and outdoor lighting, for example. In some cases, solar energy is used to light road signs.
The electricity generated from sun energy by the solar panels is converted to grid-compliant AC electricity by a solar inverter in a totally pollution-free manner. The PV inverter, like every other product, needs energy for manufacturing, and is manufactured in a process that emits greenhouse gases. But PV systems pay back this energy input within 1 to 3 years, depending on cell type and location, and are expected to produce energy for 25 years. There are no greenhouse gas emissions such as CO2 in the energy production process and no other harms to the environment that are usually associated with energy production in processes such as mining, drilling or digging (not to mention the elimination of the dangers to the workers involved in these activities).
Moreover, A PV system provides the most power in the periods during the day and the year in which demand is highest, i.e. - daytime with air-condition operating at full speed.
Large consumer conversion to solar power would be beneficial on a political level as well, by reducing a nation's dependency on foreign energy sources and the costs of their import. Political or strategic crises will have a lesser effect on a diversified national energy market
Another benefit of solar power is that, unlike the case of fossil fuels, there is no need to transport it for great distances from, say, an oil field to a refinery to a power plant to the home of the consumer. This also totally eliminates any possibility of environmental disasters such as oil spills or exploding pipelines. No waste or byproducts are created during the energy production process.
Lastly, PV systems present financial benefits as well. Over the past 50 years, most consumers have become accustomed to relatively cheap energy based on fossil fuels such as coal and oil. However, the costs of these energy sources have increased dramatically in the last several years and are predicted to rise at even more alarming rates in the future as the resources diminish and global demand increases. The Sun is a constant source of free and renewable energy and one of the major advantages of utilizing it is that the price of the raw energy is not affected by supply and demand. It is available world-wide, and the only costs after installing solar panels and a solar inverter are the maintenance costs. In addition, some systems can be used to feed electricity back to the main grid, and the system owner can be paid for it by a local electricity supplier.
With today's technology, which is constantly advancing, a good PV system can have a warranty of up to 25 years, and produce energy day-in and day-out for 30-50 years.
