People have been using solar energy to provide electricity, heat water, cooking, for producing salt and even for desalination. Solar energy, as its name suggests, comes from the sun's rays, it may seem that it is very abundant but solar energy entering the Earth is quite dilute.

You have to know that solar energy has its own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to using one. So, before you try and collect solar energy, you must first understand what are their advantages and disadvantages in order to make use of the sun's powers a lot more efficient.

To start with, the main advantage of solar energy is that it's clean. Since it is only the sun's rays that solar energy uses to produce electricity or heat, you don't need any fuel like coal or gas, which produces a lot of air pollutant, to produce heat. You will just need a solar energy collector or solar power panels in order to collect solar energy.

Another advantage of solar energy is that it's cheaper than electric heating. You can save a lot of money on heaters by just using solar energy. Therefore, it will meant lower electric bills and it also means that you don't have to maintain heaters.

With the right location, you can have electricity even on areas where there are no power lines. This means that you can power your own home in remote areas where power companies couldn't reach. This will eliminate those high electric bills because you are producing your own electricity. Solar energy has a lot of uses in your home and where it can provide you anything from heating water, electricity, and even cooking.

Solar energy is also used for desalination in areas where fresh, drinkable water is scarce. This works by letting the solar energy evaporate brine and leaving the salt crystals in the bottom of the basin. The water in turn condenses back in another basin where it is now drinkable. You can by these devices or you can simply make one for you to produce fresh and drinkable water from brine.

However, as useful and convenient solar energy may seem, it also has its disadvantages. So, before you decide to harness the power of the sun for your building or home, you should first consider the following before you decide on it.

The main disadvantage of solar energy is that it's dilute. This means you have to have a lot of solar collectors installed around your house. Solar energy may be very cheap but the solar collectors are relatively expensive and require maintenance in order to work properly and efficiently.

The location is also a factor you should consider when you want solar energy. Not all people in different location around the planet can harness solar energy. This is because in some areas, the sun isn't always there. In some areas, the sun's rays are almost always covered in clouds making solar energy collectors useless. You should first know if the sunshine in your area is abundant for the most part of the year. Desert areas like in Arizona or Mexico produces a lot of sunshine for the most part of the year and is ideal for solar energy collecting.

Solar energy is very clean and an alternative to conventional heating and electrical systems. However, you should first consider that it also has its own disadvantage. You should first determine the several factors above in order to determine if solar energy is for you or not.

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