Is Solar Energy Affordable?

Question

Why can't solar energy be put into widespread use? is it because it's unaffordable? if so,what can be done in order to make it more affordable so more people can use it?

Answer 1

Depending on the situation, it costs about $0.25-0.35 per KwH; pretty high compared to other power sources, unless you're very far from a grid.

Ways to make it cheaper:

1. Use DC appliances/loads to eliminate the need for an inverter.

2. Attach your panels to a grid to minimize the need for batteries.

3. Dramatically scale up the production process to realize economies.

4. Offer subsidies and or rebates (from the utility or government) to encourage the development of distributed generation facilities.

Answer 2

T Princess

Let me start off by saying we (my family and I) live completely, 100% “off of the grid and are completely self sufficient”

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.

Here’s a DIY step by step process to build a small solar panel that really works, taken from a guide I offer at www agua-luna com it’s complete but if you’d like the more specific process or the pics and images go to 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. Living self-sufficient now i've found building my own panels is the most affordable way to have solar energy.

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 http://www.agua-luna.com/guides.html

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 http://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

Retired Boeing Engineer now 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:

http://www.agua-luna.com/40plus.html

http://www.agua-luna.com

Stop Global Warming, Receive a FREE Solar Panels Now!!!

Answer 3

If you want to know about affordable renewable energy.

I recomend you go to blockbuster or download the movie "The End of Suburbia".  It has a very negative final message so get something uplifting to watch after.

This has been critized for the bias but the research is solid as disturbing as it is.

Answer 4

A very good question.  Here's an overview of th esituation.

First of all--the operating cost of solar energy is VERY affordable--in fact, even allowing for the maintainance of the equipment, it produces electricity at much lower cost.  From taht perspective--its worthwhile even in a climate like the NorthWest, where theres a lot of cloud cover.

The big thing is the start-up cost.  It can cost a LOT of money. Systems large enough to provide all or most of the power for a good-sized home can run over $20,000.  That can pay for itself--eventually.  But its a lot  to invest ina home.

Now, the cost is coming down. Solar panels used to cost around $7.50/watt genrating capacity (in 2000). By 2006 that had dropped to about $4. That's about $4000 for panels that can genrate up to 1kilowatt--down from $7500 in about 5 years.  And the cost is going to drop further--a LOT further--in the next decade. There is a whole range of new technologies being developed--and the main push is to get that cost down.  The other thing that will make solar energy more affordable is jsut having a bigger market for it.  As the market grows, economies of scale help to bring down costs.

Here's a couple examples of things scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs are working on:

>new manufacturing processes. It turns out that solar cellls require technology very similar to computer circuits--so methods are being developed to use the same sort of "printed circuit" methods of manfacturing the solar panels. That would cut the cost of panels--drastically.

>My favorite is this (and its still experimental--so it may not prove feasible, though technically it does work): "Painting" a house roof with aspecial matieral that will generate solar energy.  The idea is that the roof is first covered with a layer of conducting material (basically, heavy gauge aluminum foil). then the special compound (actuallly its a highly sophisticated nanotech matieral) that will act like a conventional solar cell when dry.  Then you just attach conducting leads to a current regulating system tha tsends the electricity on into yur howme.

Like I said--that one's experimantal. BKut it DOES work (whether it can be made commercially feasible is still up in the air).  But you gotta love the idea of just "painting" your electriccity gnerating system on the roof of your house!

Answer 5

in the long run YES