Why do people keep singing the praises of solar?

Question

Can anyone show me where the average home, is able to remove itself from the gird using solar and do so in an economical way?

If it cost 10’s of thousands of dollars then it’s not worth doing, so why do some keep acting like it’s the cure all? I have even seen people say ‘it will pay for its’ self in 40 or so years’ Big deal, we need the savings now, how many homes do YOU know of that do not need a major roof or other very big repair in just 20 years? But we are supposed to think that these things will last forever?

Answer 1

There is no amount of research and innovation thats going to increase the solar constant above 1,000 watts per square meter.  People need to do a lot of study before they shoot their mouths off about relying on an land intensive, unreliable energy source such as solar.

Answer 2

Your so right about he costs associated with solar power. Its way too expensive for most, especially for what it provides. It may be good for running a transistor radio, or lighting one of those new mercury fangled light bulbs, but overall its just a waste of money.

I say to all the politicians who support this: Unplug your electric power utilities to all government buildings and hack house-holds. Use only solar power to demonstrate the efficiency of going totally green. Lets see if you can run a refrigerator, and an electric light bulb at the same time. I seriously doubt it. If after a year you all still have solar power only, and it works by your own standards, then we shall follow suit.

Finally, give us an financial costs sheet about the effective use of solar power then stand before the American people with a straight face and tell us what you think…

Consider this a  challenge to all the hacks, especially Gore, who want us to sign on to the global warming band wagon.

Answer 3

On a large scale, the more we buy solar, the more solar companies will start to make them, the more they will start to compete with each other in prices. Companies will be constantly looking for ways to bring down the production costs, and bringing up the quality of the panels. So, you're always better off doing what's right versus what's wrong. In the end we'll have a win-win situation, as long as greed don't get the better of people. THAT'S where our biggest problem lies.

And you can be connected to the grid, reversing the way the meter runs, and using solar you are not contributing to the co2 emitted into our ozone. So, even if the power companies should up the price cause we might be using less power, we will still be doing our part for the environment. The government should use the tax money to run huge solar panel and pv system factories manned by volunteer prisoners who get $2,- for each hour they work doing good for our planet. These panels should in turn just be given to all households. A government that really cared about us all could do that, instead of using hour tax dollars to make ever more weapons, and generating hate in the world in the name of God. Giving everybody a stimulus package isn't going to solve the problems. It's like giving money to a drunk in some cases, and it'll up the debt. I heard that money was borrowed from China. And a lot of ignorant people are going to go out and just party with the money, and the drug pushers and alcohol dealers will be making money, Isn't that great!!!!

Answer 4

Global warming is a way to control wealth.  It drives money to solar power devices as well.  These people don't think as logically as yourself so don't expect them to come up with any good ideas.

Answer 5

U are right it will cost a lot of money .I installed one large complete solar system at a remote mountain top repeater . The solar cells cost 10,000 dollars. It was a good installation with regulators and back up batteries. It lasted about 3 months and a storm blew it all over the jungle. We had to carry a small 4 kw generator up the mountain, well we took it up in a helicopter.

Be sure that u support it for winds above 100 mph. If u don't it can be very expensive.

Answer 6

Solar energy is used for more than just mass producing for  homes.  I've seen them used along the highways in Arizona and New Mexico to light the highways and run power on individual pole grids.  I use them in my landscape lighting.  Individually used I do believe a household can save on utility costs by even adapting a portion of their home to solar and properly maintaining it.  And it's operated by sunlight, nothing dug up, sucked up, pumped up or drained.  Even batteried used are rechargeable.

Answer 7

Because only people on yahoo answers with a limited grasp of economic, social, and technological concepts are saying that small scale photovoltaic solar mounted on houses is the only technology we need to replace all of our current energy usage.

Coal and nuclear energy both rely on federal subsidies that come from our tax dollars to remain as inexpensive as they are. If we either removed those subsidies, or gave the same subsidies to alternative energy sources like large scale solar thermal power plants, wind farms, tidal generators, or geothermal plants, than they would be more economically viable. And then, when you take into account the damage that coal plants do to human health and the environment, and the logistics of long term nuclear waste storage, the clean technologies are even more preferable.

The idea of being "off the grid" with small scale solar is a fun idea for those who choose to live that lifestyle. But, with large scale solutions and improvements to the existing grid, we can still enjoy a comfortable and modern quality of life while at the same time embracing a cleaner and healthier future for everyone.

Answer 8

solar panels will generally pay themselves off in under 20 years not 40 and even less depending on the state you live in and what tax credits and rebates are offered.

Now, you mentioned "the average home" and this is where things get complicated. The average home in America is not built very well in terms of energy efficiency. So, to put solar panels on an "average home" without first devising a basic energy efficiency strategy is too expensive.

A typical 1500 sq ft home may use over 2600kwh of electricity per year, but that same home can be audited and renovated to only draw 1500kwh annually. This then makes it cost effective to add solar to the home.

My rule of thumb is for every dollar spent on energy efficiency, you will save about $4 on alternative energy. So, first and foremost you MUST make the home more energy efficient, then and only then look into solar or wind.

to address your other comments, a good solar panel system will have a 30 year warranty. In general solar panels will begin to degrade in the amount of electricity they can generate after about 20-25 years, but can continue to work for well over 30-40 years. Also, most solar panels systems are installed on a rack type system which can be removed when it is time to re-roof.

Although commercial solar panels are still a bit expensive, some major breakthroughs have come out in the last year. Nanosolar is now manufacturing thin film panels for under $1 per watt which is cheaper than coal, so.... solar is definitely the future.

PS: Nanosolar is currently only selling to large scale solar generation plants, so its not for the small scale home application.