Solar, Wind, Bio, Energy News And Commentary By_Green Earl, 30 year Pioneer In Conservation & Solar Energy
Solar Power For Home
Everything To Install Solar Power To Your Home
« Does Anyone Have Solar Power?
Why Is That The Solar Power Equipments So Expensive.? »
(Why are you going to spend over $100K over the next 10 yrs
or so, without solar?
When / How Is Solar Power Going To Be Cost-competitive With Today’s Common Energy Sources?
ANSWER (Long term financing, like your utility bill is now.)_Green Earl
Actually this depends on where you live, and how much electricity you use.
obviously if you live in an area that has a lot of mostly sunny days, the Solar panels are more cost effective than where I live.
where I live we get 80 to 100 inches of rain a year, so we only get about 75 non-rainy or cloudy, or foggy days a year.
(New Jersey gets how many solar days a year? They are now number
2 in the nation, to add solar, it's rebates, credits and financing
that is making the difference.
also our utility company is a Co=op, so our energy bills are reasonably low.
however if you live in say Ca. either central or southern, with rebates and incentives, you should be able to recoup the cost of you solar panels in 15 years or less. (Sooner, if you add thermal, hot water, space heating and solar
electric air-conditioning)
This site should give you insight into cost and other related benefits.http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/…
Technorati Tags: Common, Costcompetitive, Energy, Going, Power, Solar, Sources, Today's, When, With
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 8:32 am and is filed under solar power for home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
4 Responses to “When / How Is Solar Power Going To Be Cost-competitive With Today’s Common Energy Sources?”
1. Hannah's Grandpa Says:
October 1st, 2009 at 8:32 am
Not for a long time.
Remember that if you decide to install a solar water heater you are not only paying for a water heater but you are paying the total cost for the system that harnesses that energy.
Every time you hit a light switch that is connected to a supplier you are only paying a tiny amount that contributes to the cost of harnessing that electricity.
It is a personal choice. Untill governments have the balls to increase power by an awful lot it will never be cheaper to pay for your own systems of energy generation.
2. napper Says:
October 1st, 2009 at 8:32 am
As far as I know solar power is still not cost-effective when you consider the cost of installation with the energy “payoff”.
Several years ago the government was giving generous rebates for homeowners installing solar power.
That program needs to be continued.
Also, consider installing a geo-thermal system. I understand this is an extremely cost-effective way of providing home energy.
3. seaeagle Says:
October 1st, 2009 at 8:32 am
It depends on what you want to use the solar power for and what you mean by solar power and where you live.
For example, there are solar panels which generate not electricity but are used to provide heated air for homes in the winter. Some even come with a small solar electric panel to drive the fan that takes the cold air out of the house into the solar space heating unit to be heated by the sun and then back into the house again. A small home with a south facing wall or roof can have one installed for around $3,000 and then receive it’s heat during the day for free!
The next best use I come across is using solar panels to heat water. What is the heated water used for? Not just for hot water in the house but also for radiant heating where the heated water goes through various tubes under the floors of the home which then heats the house rather than using electric or forced air natural gas / home heating oil during the day.
Depending on the price of natural gas (doubled in the past 12months) and home heating oil, the cost to heat a home is rising while through mass production and increasing government grants (depending on the government in power) the cost of solar heating is / will be going down.
Hope that helps,
Dan
4. Dan_DHRT Says:
October 1st, 2009 at 8:32 am
Let me start off by saying we (my family and I) live completely, 100% “off of the grid and are completely self sufficient”
The house is built utilizing natures natural elements, in the shape of an octagon with 8ft wide arch doors on every wall to catch every angle of wind (typical 4 sided homes have half the chance as one with 8 sides. A circle being the most efficient design). Woodburning stoves, solar chimney, solar AC, solar heating, solar water heating (pool and home), solar stove, solar power, wind power, hydrogen powered back up generator, hydrogen back up water heater, hydrogen stove, 2 hydrogen powered trucks, 1 EV (electric vehicle) and satellite internet.
There are no utility lines, no water lines, no roads, tv, cell service, etc. on our ranch. EVERYTHING needed is produced here. All electricity comes from 27 solar panels, 2 main wind gens and a back hydrogen generator if needed (typically we can last 9 days with all luxuries of sunless windless weather, hasn’t happened yet). Water is caught and storaged from the rain. Hot water is made with solar batch water heaters with an on-demand hydrogen hot water heater as backup. Even our vehicles use alternative energy (2 hydrogen trucks, 1 EV electric vehicle converted). Because of this we have no bills, no debt and no mortgage.
The fallowing steps were taking directly out of a DIY guide I offer to those who would like to run their homes on solar power safely, reducing their monthly utility bills or even selling power back the the electrical companies. The entire guide is available at www agua-luna com. Its pretty simple but if you have any problems feel free to contact me directly I can walk you threw the process.
Materials you will need
A sheet of copper flashing from the hardware store. This normally costs about $5.00 per square foot. We will need about half a square foot.
Two alligator clip leads.
A sensitive micro-ammeter that can read currents between 10 and 50 microamperes. Radio Shack sells small LCD multimeters that will do, but I used a small surplus meter with a needle.
An electric stove. My kitchen stove is gas, so I bought a small one-burner electric hotplate for about $25. The little 700 watt burners probably won’t work — mine is 1100 watts, so the burner gets red hot.
A large clear plastic bottle off of which you can cut the top. I used a 2 liter spring water bottle. A large mouth glass jar will also work.
Table salt. We will want a couple tablespoons of salt.
Tap water.
Sand paper or a wire brush on an electric drill.
Sheet metal shears for cutting the copper sheet.
The first step is to cut a piece of the copper sheeting that is about the size of the burner on the stove. Wash your hands so they don’t have any grease or oil on them. Then wash the copper sheet with soap or cleanser to get any oil or grease off of it. Use the sandpaper or wire brush to thoroughly clean the copper sheeting, so that any sulphide or other light corrosion is removed.
Next, place the cleaned and dried copper sheet on the burner and turn the burner to its highest setting.
As the copper starts to heat up, you will see beautiful oxidation patterns begin to form. Oranges, purples, and reds will cover the copper.
As the copper gets hotter, the colors are replaced with a black coating of cupric oxide. This is not the oxide we want, but it will flake off later, showing the reds, oranges, pinks, and purples of the cuprous oxide layer underneath.
The last bits of color disappear as the burner starts to glow red.
When the burner is glowing red-hot, the sheet of copper will be coated with a black cupric oxide coat. Let it cook for a half an hour, so the black coating will be thick. This is important, since a thick coating will flake off nicely, while a thin coat will stay stuck to the copper.
After the half hour of cooking, turn off the burner. Leave the hot copper on the burner to cool slowly. If you cool it too quickly, the black oxide will stay stuck to the copper.
As the copper cools, it shrinks. The black cupric oxide also shrinks. But they shrink at different rates, which makes the black cupric oxide flake off.
The little black flakes pop off the copper with enough force to make them fly a few inches. This means a little more cleaning effort around the stove, but it is fun to watch.
When the copper has cooled to room temperature (this takes about 20 minutes), most of the black oxide will be gone. A light scrubbing with your hands under running water will remove most of the small bits. Resist the temptation to remove all of the black spots by hard scrubbing or by flexing the soft copper. This might damage the delicate red cuprous oxide layer we need to make to solar cell work.
Cut another sheet of copper about the same size as the first one. Bend both pieces gently, so they will fit into the plastic bottle or jar without touching one another. The cuprous oxide coating that was facing up on the burner is usually the best side to face outwards in the jar, because it has the smoothest, cleanest surface.
Attach the two alligator clip leads, one to the new copper plate, and one to the cuprous oxide coated plate. Connect the lead from the clean copper plate to the positive terminal of the meter. Connect the lead from the cuprous oxide plate to the negative terminal of the meter.
Now mix a couple tablespoons of salt into some hot tap water. Stir the saltwater until all the salt is dissolved. Then carefully pour the saltwater into the jar, being careful not to get the clip leads wet. The saltwater should not completely cover the plates — you should leave about an inch of plate above the water, so you can move the solar cell around without getting the clip leads wet.
now place in the sun with the magnefied on top.
The solar cell is a battery, even in the dark, and will usually show a few microamps of current.
That’s it it’s that simple. If you’d a more detailed process and some pics (ouldn’t put them here) it’s available along with some other DIY alternative energy projects at www agua-luna com
Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at www agua-luna com on the subject. I also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help others help the environment.
Dan Martin
Alterative Energy / Sustainable Consultant, Living 100% on Alternative & Author of How One Simple Yet Incredibly Powerful Resource Is Transforming The Lives of Regular People From All Over The World… Instantly Elevating Their Income & Lowering Their Debt, While Saving The Environment by Using FREE ENERGY… All With Just One Click of A Mouse…For more info Visit:
www AGUA-LUNA com
Stop Global Warming!!!
5. Green Earl Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
October 2nd, 2009 at 1:19 am
BS….Thermal is cost effective right now, with rebates and tax grants, savings and increased home market values. Only difference is financing, if you take your average utility bill, add 10% per year for the next 10 years,(solar should last about 30yrs) you’ll see the $100K or so you’ll be spending (over time) for PG&E. Solar is a steal, with the right financing…I suggest, new first at 6% over 30 years._Green Earl
You’ll get about 1/2 back in CA…In cash withing 60 days, putting you into a positive cash flow forever..Make sure you have a solar space heating option, with hot water and solar air conditioning option, if you need it, with electric…Address the entire utility bill that way.
Thanks For The Visit_Green Earl
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Like it? Why Not Share It?
