Solar power - any new developments?

Question

the last time i asked about solar energy, i found out that even a square mile worth of silicon wafer photovoltaic cells won't be enough to power even a single home. a few weeks ago, i read up on solar cells that are thin, bendable and more powerful than older cells.

if you fill the roof of an average-sized house with them, can these new cells power a home with a ref, air conditioning, computers and other appliances?

Answer 1

Yes they can.

let me give you some links that you can learn some of the truth about solar.

http://www.nanosolar.com/

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/09/calif...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/...

http://www.google.com/products?q=solar+p...

Answer 2

Hi ,no they cannot yet.Air condistion is big POWER consuming electronics.If you want to use solar energy to supply these electronics,you will have to install LARGE size solar panel on the roof.

Answer 3

A square mile worth of silicon wafers could power a city.   It NEVER has been just able to power one house, except maybe at night.

Answer 4

There's only about a kilowatt of solar power hitting each square metre of the Earth's surface when the sun is at zenith (i.e. directly overhead) which is even available to harness and that power isn't reliable (things like night and clouds can cause you problems along with seasonal variations reducing the insolation).

If you have 30 m^2 of roof space then the maximum theoretical power you could possibly get out of solar would be around 30 kW but only if the sun is right overhead and the sky clear (you'd need to be between the tropics and you'd only get that at noon on two days a year).  In the real world at about 40° of latitude or so you can expect to lose about half the noon insolation due to the angle of the sun with the change in angle going through the day reducing it to low single figures.

Then when you factor in that even really expensive solar cells are around 20% efficient and that small scale inverters along with energy storage systems have some inefficiency it becomes pretty clear that a home solar power system won't power everything you want to run.

Low power emergency equipment like roadside satellite phones can run fine from solar and backup batteries and solar water heating is great but for serious stuff the energy just isn't there (at least not enough to make ground based solar viable without massive environmental destruction).

Answer 5

I don't know where you got your info, but I have a 3.75kwh system and it takes care of most of my energy use. I'm down to 5kwh per day usage. I live in a 2000sf multi level house with a large pool and have all the common houshold appliances. I have less than 1/4 of my roof covered. I plan on adding an addition to the system in a few years, I'm waiting for the plug in hybrids to see how much more power I'll need to generate.

the new developments that I know of, you can now lease the panels, that eleminates the upfront expense and locks your electric rate for 20-30 years.  

Answer 6

Some places tell you yes some say no. The fact is that it is extremely expensive to install. Too much for the average home owner to afford.

Answer 7

We can harness the sun’s power using several technologies. The first uses solar cells to convert sunlight (photons) directly into electricity (voltage), a process called the “photovoltaic (PV) effect.” This technology frees electrons from atoms, allowing them to flow through the solar-cell material and produce electricity. The cells usually are combined into modules mounted in “arrays,” or flat plates positioned flush on south-facing rooftops. Between 10 and 20 arrays provide enough power for a household.

Read more about solar power at http://www.naturalhomemagazine.com/Inspi...

Here's a couple more links to articles about solar power:

http://www.naturalhomemagazine.com/Remod...

http://www.naturalhomemagazine.com/Inspi...

Here's a story about a solar-powered home in California:

http://www.naturalhomemagazine.com/Homes...

Hope this helps!

Answer 8

Some of what you've read seems to be c**p in my opinion.  The thing to keep in mind is that the more appliances you use at the same time the more energy you need.

The solar panels charge  DC batteries which power an inverter which converts that DC power to AC power.  The more power you need at once ( to run your house) the bigger the inverter has to be and the more batteries you need to store the power and the more solar panels you need to keep charging the batteries.

So if you want to run the fridge and air-conditioning and every other bloody thing at the same time then you need a whopping big system that will cost you over $100,000!  The idea is not to run big power-using appliances all at the same time.

But at the moment, you can say with certainty that to use solar power to try and run a 'normal' house the way you usually do now is not possible unless you have lots of money, or can change your lifestyle so that you can manage with a smaller solar system, but even that is too hard or expensive for most.

But they're working on it, and better solar panels will eventually be with us.  And affordable.