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Changing Careers

Moderator: Andrew Grant

Future Solar Energy Contractor/Advocate

Andrew Grant is a former commercial music producer and composer who worked with one of the premier music houses in the world. A short list of clients he worked with includes Coca Cola Co., Time Wa... expand

visit: http://www.lattc.edu/dept/lattc/WED/GCIPrograms.html

Recent articles by Andrew Grant

Solar Energy: Pros and Cons

After my first week back to school studying the exciting field of Solar Photovoltaics, I wanted to share some of the advantages and a few of the disadvantages of solar PV systems.

Pros:

The harnessing of the sun's radiation using solar PV modules is completely pollution- and emission-free.
It is completely renewable and sustainable. Once a system is installed, the sun's energy is free of charge and its power is almost limitless (nighttimes excluded, of course)!
If you are creating more energy than you are using, you can actually sell it back to the utility grid (net-metering).
The use of batteries along with a solar PV system can provide you with blackout-free power. If you are in a remote area, this type of setup can provide you with power without having to pay for an expensive utility installation. These systems can also be completely independent of any power utility!
After paying for the initial setup/installation and depending upon the size of the system, you could be receiving FREE power, or greatly reduced power bills!
They are almost completely maintenance-free, and depending on the type of system, have no moving parts and are noiseless and odorless. More panels can be easily added to accommodate your growing family/business.
Utility solar arrays could be located closer to city centers, negating the necessary long distance pumping in of distant coal burning, hydro electric and nuclear power plants.

Cons:

The primary disadvantage is the initial start-up and installation costs. As technology advances and prices for the modules themselves decrease, as they have been, we will see this being less of an issue. We are also seeing government and utility company incentives on purchasing residential and commercial PV systems.
Space can be an issue if living in an urban environment or a multi-unit building. You need a fair amount of space to absorb the necessary energy to compare with local utility prices.
Solar PV systems are dependent upon sunlight, therefore you will not be receiving any solar energy during night hours and will receive limited amounts during cloudy days.
If in remote or rural areas, finding a company to do your installation might be costly and hard to find.

As you can see, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. When you take into account the recent power outage in the San Diego/Northern Baja areas, which affected about 7 million consumers and caused up to $100 million in economic losses, the good definitely outweighs the bad!

Related Conversations

As parents, we often hear that "our children are the future." This phrase is often placed within the context of taking better care of not only our minds and bodies, but also of our planet. Especially over the past decade, the call to become more environmentally-conscientious, and making a strong effort to recycle, use biodegradable products, and reuse items that can be utilized for more than one purpose have become increasingly prominent within our society. And since my husband and I agree with this philosophy and style of living, we try to instill these same values into our four children. A family man that shares our passion for helping the environment is Andrew Grant, whose motivation to use green energy products encouraged him to change careers. Andrew shares his insights on changing careers while simultaneously helping the environment, here on The Knowledge Nests. Wendy Bellissimo

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