what are the advantages and possible disadvantages of using solar energy?

Great way to save power and preserve reasources. But it may be a bit unsitely and it may not be the most efficent use of your money (I would assume solar producing sources would be hard to come by money wise because they are not mass produced as frequently, and most poeple just assume not using them will work). If your going to go for all solar power, then get power saving appliances, that way you help the solar panels that help you.

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various cost advantages and simplicity?only nuclear energy which is risk prone is widely talked about?

There is no advantage when it comes to meeting consumer need during higher demand times. Solar (i.e. photovoltaic-converters) can only ‘supply’ electrical power at the same rate that it can ‘receive’ solar/light power. As a power company, there’s no economical way you can increase production to meet increased demand. Since it’s ‘simple’ like that, there is the ‘illusion’ of an advantage. You as a consumer would have to find a way to store that electricity produced in the daytime, to get you through the night. Same way with wind turbines and the like. Unless you can make Mother Nature ‘blow/shine/flow/whatever a little harder" so you can convert a little more power at-will, those applications will never completely replace present systems.

Contrast that to coal-fired plants, which can simply burn more fuel to produce more electricity, coal gets the real ‘cost and simplicity’ advantages. But we’re talking about reduced carbon output so…

As for nuclear, modern plants do not have more ‘risks’ to operate than any other enterprise. Forget about Chernobyl, the Soviets and their Ukranian cohorts didn’t know what they were doing in the first place; we in the West wouldn’t even consider the same type of cooling material that they used. They used graphite, which is a flammable metal once you get it hot enough and that’s what did them in (on top of bad safety and accident-prevention procedures). We use water, so the compounded risk of core meltdown is way lower. Our Navy has been nuclear-powered for years, with Zero accidents/incidents related to their power source. They’re proof that the risks are quite manageable.

Nuclear plants increase electrical output by putting more fuel rods into play. That translates into more heat for their steam turbines, which then can spin more to produce more electricity as needed. It’s because of all that is why nuclear is the only other viable carbon-reduced alternative.

I’m planning on building a business. What would be the advantage of using solar cells or windmills to produce the power, or at least to keep the cost of electrical power down? The facility will be in the midwest and will be opened year round thru four seasons.

Ideally you could install what is called an hybrid system.
It is a combination of solar panels and wind turbine and its working fine.
The turbine will run 24 hours and the solar panels will produce electricity during the day.

It is renewable and "supposedly" less population.

There are two forms of solar energy. 1. Solar electric. It is clean but the solar panels only work well up to about 20 years. The manufacture process of the Solar panels also generate tons of pollution due to the chemical content.
2. Solar thermal. This is the ideal form of solar energy as it is more efficient since it uses all the heat and light generated by the sun. It is also clean but it requires a large area and tons of water. It generates heat by focusing the sunlight onto a focus spot and heat up water which turns into steam and that powers steam turbine which powers electric generators. it is like burning ants with your magnifying glasses.

i am buying my first home and considering solar energy. Plus what advantage does it have over regular electricity?
am buying my first home and considering solar energy. Plus what advantage does it have over regular electricity? what will the cost be for a 4bed/3bath house?

It depends on SOO many things. Firstly it depends on the amount of power you’re likely to use. It also depends on what government purchase rebates are in your area (if any), as well as feed-in tariffs (if any), and it depends on the actual sun hours you can get (non shaded).

For example, if you had…
* NO government rebate or FiT
* Consumption of about 20kw/h a day
* Average sun hours were 4
You’d need a 5kw system which would cost something like $40,000 – $50,000. The savings you would make per year would be around $1,100 (your whole powr bill), and the system would take 40 years to pay off – basically never as the system is likely to last less than that.

And on the other hand, if you had…
* Good rebates (I can get $8,000 here) and a decent gross FiT of about 80c per kw/h
* Consumption of about 5kw/h per day
* Five sun hours per day
Then you’d only need a 1kw system which would cost you about $3,000. You’d save/make about $1,300 per year and the system would be paid off in a bit over two years and save/make you another $30,000 over it’s life.

So as you can see, VAST differences. Both of these scenarios are legitimate too. I know where the second is reality (Canberra, Australia).

Please visit http://www.nrel.gov/csp/

how much of america’s energy comes from solar energy?
What are some advantages of using solar energy?
What are some disadvantages of using solar energy?

for advantages and disadvantages I would suggest reading this article

http://www.renewableenergybenefits.com/2009/11/solar-energy-benefits.html

how much of America’s energy comes from solar energy? well, the data from 2006 shows that in 2006 U.S. solar energy accounted for less than 0.1% of electricity generation.

solar energy

Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available renewable energy on earth. Only a minuscule fraction of the available solar energy is used.

Solar powered electrical generation relies on heat engines and photovoltaics. Solar energy’s uses are limited only by human ingenuity. A partial list of solar applications includes space heating and cooling through solar architecture, potable water via distillation and disinfection, daylighting, solar hot water, solar cooking, and high temperature process heat for industrial purposes.To harvest the solar energy, the most common way is to use solar panels.

Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute solar energy. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.

A. it will not run out for a billion years
B. it i snot available right now
C. no backup energy sources are needed
D. it must collected from a huge area

It is "A" all the way. Solar power is never going to run out anytime soon (not in a billion years, about 6 billion), so really it is the best way to go. All the biosphere uses solar energy. The chain starts at plants and ends at humans and other carnivores. Almost all energy sources come from the sun, so why not just use the sun in the first place? (Water: Evaporation from sun; Wind: Unequal heating from sun; Wave: Ocean would be frozen without sun)

i wonder why are we not taking advantage of solar energy ? our carss,electrical appliances can be built to consume solar energy which is very economical, less pollutant, save and environment friendly.

The reason why it isn’t being used more is because solar power is expensive. It also has only about 10-percent output whereas coal and gasoline have more than 30. Fossil fuels are cheap commodities with dense output. Further, the oil companies are doing what they can to stamp out alternative energy because they’re afraid they’ll lose profit.