• With natural resources growing increasingly scarce, governments and corporations are turning to renewable resources as a means of providing energy. Solar power ranks among the most prominent; it harnesses sunlight to provide clean, renewable electricity. Individuals can make use of it by installing solar panels on their property. The prospect holds a number of benefits, but it isn't perfect, and considerable drawbacks remain.
  
  

Installation and Cost

• Many of the drawbacks of solar energy stem from the initial cost and difficulties in installing it. The panels are extremely expensive, meaning that an individual needs to pay much more in startup fees if he wishes to use solar power. On the other hand, solar cells have few moving parts, which means they don't break down easily and rarely require maintenance. Their status as a renewable energy resource also means that they'll pay for their initial cost over time; without recurring costs, one can potentially harness free energy for a lifetime. Owners can expand a solar cell array very easily to keep up with demand.
  
  

Location

• Solar power obviously requires a great deal of sunlight in order to function. That makes them impractical in places with a lot of cloud cover, especially in the wintertime (when solar power might otherwise help with heating costs). No solar energy can be generated at night regardless. Solar panels also take up a great deal of space, which makes installing them in crowded urban environments difficult. They require wide open spaces and a lot of land, though they also can be installed on rooftops without much difficulty (cutting down on the space they take up). The benefits stem from the pollution-free content and the corresponding effect on the local area. Solar power generates no toxic byproducts, nor does it release carbon dioxide into the nearby air. And solar power doesn't require connection to an existing energy grid, making it useful for people living in remote or rural locales.
  
  

Other Forms of Energy

• As mentioned elsewhere, solar energy costs more than many other forms of energy, including fossil fuels. They're not as efficient as certain other energy sources as well; gas-powered cars can move faster and accelerate more quickly than solar-powered cars. However, they are much quieter than other clean sources of energy; wind turbines and hydroelectric power create a great deal of noise. Finally, because solar energy has no theoretical limits, it's not subject to market fluctuations; gas and oil prices can swing up and down, which isn't a problem with solar power.