The Negative Impacts of Solar Power

Touted as an environmentally friendly alternative resource, solar power uses energy from the sun. With the constant call to "go green," renewable energy resources such as wind, geothermal and solar are sprouting up everywhere. While wind energy is produced with the help of large structures known as wind turbines, geothermal energy taps reservoirs embedded deep in the ground. The sun produces greater than 10 times larger the amount of energy than global reserves of coal and oil combined. Solar power systems do not generate pollutants during use; however, other negative impacts exist.

Economics

• The economics of producing and maintaining solar power represents one of the major downfalls of the technology. The costs of creating solar-friendly items remains one of the top negative components barring its implementation. While the sun requires no cost for upkeep or use, the technology required as well as assembly costs remain high. But, as the technology gains in popularity and becomes more widely available, supporters believe the cost will decrease. Parts such as the photovoltaic cells that convert solar power to usable energy drive up the cost of this energy supply.

Environment

• While actual usage of solar energy emits no pollutants, the manufacturing process is another story. The energy required to manufacture and install solar energy systems comes from fossil fuels. These fossil fuels emit toxic emissions -- exactly the ones solar energy is engineered to reduce. The amount of emissions during assembly, however, usually remains minimal in comparison with continuous fossil fuel use. The use of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and petroleum contributes to the damage of the ozone layer. Damage to the ozone is related to the gradual warming of the earth's average temperatures, known as global warming. The effects of global warming span extreme weather and possible species endangerment and extinction.

Wildlife

• The amount of land area used in the creation of solar power supplies harms habitats and ecosystems. A solar power plant requires nearly half a square mile of land per 20 to 60 megawatts of power. Acquiring land requires disrupting animals in the area and damaging entire ecosystems. Surveying, construction and maintenance impedes the homes and lives of the animals living on the land and may result in endangerment or displacement. While traditional power plants for fossil fuels also require land surveying, construction and maintenance, they are not revered as a less harmful energy supply as solar power is. The idea of using renewable energy such as solar power is to decrease damage to the earth including the possible extinction of species. If threat of harm to species of wildlife exists in both scenarios, than one goal of renewable energy fails to be reached.