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With the increase in awareness about the depleting natural resources, the lookout for new, renewable, and cleaner energy sources has also gained pace.

Solar energy is one of the main sources of renewable energy. Being clean and free of cost, it can be utilized easily to generate energy. Solar panels are used to harness the sun’s energy, but it does not come without any pros and cons.

Advantages of Solar Panels

1. Accessibility

Solar panels allow you to obtain energy from an alternative source rather than the main power grid. This eliminates the need of having long power lines running to your home. This can prove to be especially beneficial for houses that are located in far off areas.

2. Long-term Efficiency

Once installed, solar panels can make up for their initial installation investment as they do not require any extra fuel to work. This means that you can rely completely on solar panels and see a return on their investment immediately, with no more electric bills. Solar panels also require very little maintenance.

3. Incentives

There are several federal and government incentives available that are offered to those who plan to install solar panels on their homes. This is available in the form of tax credits for homes and businesses. Solar panels also tend to increase the value of a home or business.

Disadvantages of Solar Panels

1. Positioning

It is important to place solar panels in an appropriate place where they can receive the maximum amount of energy from the sun. Solar panels have minimal efficiency in cloudy areas, and can also be less effective in areas where there is heavy tree cover.

2. Initial Expense

The initial cost of installing solar panels can be quite high. Studies show that extensive use of solar panels in homes may not yet be a financially suitable option due to their high costs.

3. Impact of Geography

Rather than depending on the strength of the sunlight they receive, solar panels tend to rely more on the number of hours in the day that the sun is out. Thus, solar panels are less efficient in places closer to the poles.

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According to a report published by the Environment Agency, it is possible to produce almost one third of Britain’s renewable heat, using underground energy.

The report says that by using ground source heat pumps, homeowners and businesses could be paid to produce their own heat to regulate temperature in buildings and provide hot water.

Currently, UK has just 8,000 of these pumps, but it is believed that almost 1.2 million could be installed to heat 11 per cent of homes and 40 per cent of commercial buildings if the government decided to support them.

The renewable heat incentive will be in place in April 2011 to give financial assistance to those who generate their own renewable heat.

Right now, only 0.6% of all heat is generated from renewable heat sources. This will have to increase to 12%, for Britain to meet its binding EU targets by 2020.

Although the heat pumps are not carbon neutral, as they do need electricity to run, however they can generate up to four times the amount of energy they use.

They have already become more popular in London, where they are used to power large developments in order to satisfy the sustainable energy policy to reduce carbon emissions by using onsite renewable energy generation.

Ground source heat technology is quite common in Sweden as it uses energy stored in the ground. But the electricity distribution network in Britain would need upgrading to facilitate the installation of larger heat pumps if the government was to commit to the technology.

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The solar industry took another blow last week. Evergreen Solar stocks were downgraded by major investment firms, and subsequently fell further to less than $1.50 per share. Evergreen’s fall may be having the most direct effect in its home state of Massachusetts, but this decline is representative of a wider fall in solar stock prices, [...]