greenpinky
Member
.titoon26 knows his stuff his post was on the money.
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SOLAR POWER
- Thread starter Snook
- Start date
Biggest problem of the solar energy ? We use too much energy. Could be easily divided by 3 to 4 for typical household. Then solar OffGrid could fit our use.
Wanna go OffGrid ? Spend your money first on the lowest consuming electrical appliances : fridge, tv, computer... Hps ? Go for LED, way cheaper for sure... CO2 is mandatory of course, will increase your yield so less power needed per G.
Make sure that most of your appliances run in the day during production; you can greatly lower the size of your battery tank. some smart systems are coming on the market.
Actual problem of Off Grid is and will be energy storage. Batteries are efficient but they are not durable enough (if sized well, 8 to 13 years), costly, and can be dangerous (it s pretty rare actually if set up well the system should not have any problem). It s hot research right now so we can hope something is found soon... Even if I tend to think we got more then enough with the technology right now and batteries on a large scale are easily recyclable for 99% of it.
Wanna go OffGrid ? Spend your money first on the lowest consuming electrical appliances : fridge, tv, computer... Hps ? Go for LED, way cheaper for sure... CO2 is mandatory of course, will increase your yield so less power needed per G.
Make sure that most of your appliances run in the day during production; you can greatly lower the size of your battery tank. some smart systems are coming on the market.
Actual problem of Off Grid is and will be energy storage. Batteries are efficient but they are not durable enough (if sized well, 8 to 13 years), costly, and can be dangerous (it s pretty rare actually if set up well the system should not have any problem). It s hot research right now so we can hope something is found soon... Even if I tend to think we got more then enough with the technology right now and batteries on a large scale are easily recyclable for 99% of it.
Biggest problem of the solar energy ? We use too much energy. Could be easily divided by 3 to 4 for typical household. Then solar OffGrid could fit our use.
Wanna go OffGrid ? Spend your money first on the lowest consuming electrical appliances : fridge, tv, computer... Hps ? Go for LED, way cheaper for sure... CO2 is mandatory of course, will increase your yield so less power needed per G.
Make sure that most of your appliances run in the day during production; you can greatly lower the size of your battery tank. some smart systems are coming on the market.
Actual problem of Off Grid is and will be energy storage. Batteries are efficient but they are not durable enough (if sized well, 8 to 13 years), costly, and can be dangerous (it s pretty rare actually if set up well the system should not have any problem). It s hot research right now so we can hope something is found soon... Even if I tend to think we got more then enough with the technology right now and batteries on a large scale are easily recyclable for 99% of it.
Wanna go OffGrid ? Spend your money first on the lowest consuming electrical appliances : fridge, tv, computer... Hps ? Go for LED, way cheaper for sure... CO2 is mandatory of course, will increase your yield so less power needed per G.
Make sure that most of your appliances run in the day during production; you can greatly lower the size of your battery tank. some smart systems are coming on the market.
Actual problem of Off Grid is and will be energy storage. Batteries are efficient but they are not durable enough (if sized well, 8 to 13 years), costly, and can be dangerous (it s pretty rare actually if set up well the system should not have any problem). It s hot research right now so we can hope something is found soon... Even if I tend to think we got more then enough with the technology right now and batteries on a large scale are easily recyclable for 99% of it.
The solar industry will collapse after the subsidies are gone. That's what happened the last time they did this and it will surely happen again. There is no market without the subsidies. No one, well almost no one, would consider this without the tax credits and rebates. Once the subsidies fade all these companies will fade with them and your warranties and promises won't mean much. In the 70's everyone was all fired up and people bought windmills and installed solar panels and the nanosecond the tax credits dried up everything died. It's no different now. Then people will be left with orphan systems with no support and their roofs will all gradually leak and a key component will break and they will call people like me to take the fucking things down. Back then also several states provided a subsidy to the power company to pay a high meter price for home generated power. It's not like its an even swap for power. They pay a KWhr price and today its pretty much what the lowest provider gets payed.
Now, if you are skilled and want to do a system yourself just wait a few more years, all this solar stuff will be sold as scrap for salvage prices of the base metals( You see the pictures of the Solyndra guys breaking vacuum tubes for fun. They never payed the Germans for them). The stuff will be almost free and then you can really build something good for yourself.
But consider at least this: Find a suitable place in your yard and build a support system and put the array IN THE YARD, not on the roof.
Now, if you are skilled and want to do a system yourself just wait a few more years, all this solar stuff will be sold as scrap for salvage prices of the base metals( You see the pictures of the Solyndra guys breaking vacuum tubes for fun. They never payed the Germans for them). The stuff will be almost free and then you can really build something good for yourself.
But consider at least this: Find a suitable place in your yard and build a support system and put the array IN THE YARD, not on the roof.
very much agreed the solar array in the yard is much better for maintenance and forget about the solar trackers for the array just a waste of money and another thing to break
outback offers some really good offgrid solutions and they are a pretty solid company dont think they will be going anywhere for awhile.
outback offers some really good offgrid solutions and they are a pretty solid company dont think they will be going anywhere for awhile.
Nor'Easter
Member
thanks great post man!
ronbo51 Once the grid parity (cost of solar energy=cost of grid electricity) is reached, solar become a viable option, that's just the basic. One year.
In the 70s oil was much cheaper and not getting harder and harder to extract. now it is.
Nuclear energy gets more and more expensive to produce due to more regulations. And it promotes centralised energy distribution, which is interesting if it reduces the cost, but clearly dangerous in case of unforseen events.
To extract gas they now they use more and more fracking; which has a very strong negative impact on environment.
The 70's were too early for such a new solar industry to pop up, and we only start to get the feedback for these old panels regarding their durability, and to really see what we can improve. But like I said I have seen old panels you would not believe. They still work.
Much much more research is needed, but it has already a good potential. Will it be the main energy of the future, I don't know, not for sure. But it has the major advantage of providing a reliable, local source of energy that gives you a way to rely on your own energy rather then companies that you have no control over.
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In the 70s oil was much cheaper and not getting harder and harder to extract. now it is.
Nuclear energy gets more and more expensive to produce due to more regulations. And it promotes centralised energy distribution, which is interesting if it reduces the cost, but clearly dangerous in case of unforseen events.
To extract gas they now they use more and more fracking; which has a very strong negative impact on environment.
The 70's were too early for such a new solar industry to pop up, and we only start to get the feedback for these old panels regarding their durability, and to really see what we can improve. But like I said I have seen old panels you would not believe. They still work.
Much much more research is needed, but it has already a good potential. Will it be the main energy of the future, I don't know, not for sure. But it has the major advantage of providing a reliable, local source of energy that gives you a way to rely on your own energy rather then companies that you have no control over.
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Nor'Easter
Member
I think we need a hodgepodge mix of everything BESIDES fossil fuels in the short term until or or a few technologies mature. In other words we cannot afford to sit on our hands and use the excuse of research. If we are really researching fine but we need to take action in the meantime. Cellulose biofuels for instance if solar is not ready just yet
S
SeaMaiden
Ronbo, the company that consulted and developed our package has been around for several decades. Beutler Corporation. http://www.beutlercorp.com/history.asp Hardly fly-by-night or likely to be going anywhere once the subsidies dry up.
Not to mention, subsidies are how many industries get off the ground. What if we took away oil subsidies (one of the real reasons why oil is so cheap) and spent them elsewhere? Hell of a concept, I know.
Not to mention, subsidies are how many industries get off the ground. What if we took away oil subsidies (one of the real reasons why oil is so cheap) and spent them elsewhere? Hell of a concept, I know.
I definately agree with this and this is why I said earlier I'd like to have a combo of Solar, Wind and Geothermal. Geothermal just takes care of your heating and cooling but that's one of if not the biggest users of energy in most homes. So if you take that out of the equation with Geothermal the amount of kilowatt hours solar and wind would need to cover would be significantly less. I'm not sure if Geothermal would also cover your hot water heater but if it does that's another big consumer as someone already pointed out. So again if that's covered some other way then the amount of solar or wind energy needed to be self sufficient becomes much lass and therefore more achievable for the average person.
