Compared to oil, oil burning will release carbon dioxide plus other greenhouse gases into the air. The process of getting oil can also lead to damaged or compromised ecosystems because of spills and dredging. Cheap and Easy People do not have to keep maintaining solar cells, because a panel can last about 30 years or more if well kept. On Availability The good thing about solar energy is that it can be used anytime or as long as the sun exists. You can get the power you need day in and day out. Solar power is a renewable resource which means that you do not have to pay any bill or keep replacing parts to get the results that you need. The fluid is heated in solar collectors, then pumped to a storage tank. This is also known as a closed-loop system. The Third Type Active solar pool heating involves the use of pumps to properly circulate the water in the pool via solar collectors to heat and then return to the pool. The pool becomes a storage medium for heated water so you do not need any more water storage tanks. Solar Hot Water Heater One of the more common uses of solar energy is for solar hot water heaters. Most homes in America actually have a hot water heater, which is probably why it accounts for about a quarter of the total energy consumption of a typical American home. Unfortunately, the U.S. government actually spends a lot of money on paying off the energy consumed by these hot water heaters, about $13 billion every year, possibly making it the single biggest energy consumer in your home or work place. The batteries will not gas out this way and battery longevity is enhanced. Grid-Tie Solar System The grid-tie solar system is very useful for homes that are already linked to the utility grid. The primary advantage of this kind of system is the cheap price of utility. The system needs to be wired with an inverter that creates pure-sine-wave AC electricity, which is needed for linking to the utility grid. And since this particular form of alternative energy is becoming more and more viable, new and better applications for its technology are now being developed for the future. Though the future for solar energy appears to be clear and better, a lot of people are still speculative about what the future really holds for solar energy.