Advantages
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The 89 petawatts of sunlight reaching the earth's surface is plentiful - almost 6,000 times more - compared to the 15 terawatts of average power consumed by humans.

Additionally, solar electric generation has the highest power density (global mean of 170 W/m²) among renewable energies.
Solar power is pollution free during use. Production end wastes and emissions are manageable using existing pollution controls. End-of-use recycling technologies are under development.
Facilities can operate with little maintenance or intervention after initial setup.
Solar electric generation is economically superior where grid connection or fuel transport is difficult, costly or impossible. Examples include satellites, island communities, remote locations and ocean vessels.
When grid-connected, solar electric generation can displace the highest cost electricity during times of peak demand (in most climatic regions), can reduce grid loading, and can eliminate the need for local battery power for use in times of darkness and high local demand; such application is encouraged by net metering. Time-of-use net metering can be highly favorable to small photovoltaic systems.
Grid-connected solar electricity can be used locally thus reducing transmission/distribution losses (transmission losses were approximately 7.2% in 1995).
Once the initial capital cost of building a solar power plant has been spent, operating costs are extremely low compared to existing power technologies.