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Posted by Andy Energy on June 8, 2008, 11:20 am
On Jun 5, 8:31=A0am, "Thomas G. Marshall"
> I've been interested in potentially going a smidgeon more green, and was
> wondering if anyone here has any experience with solar panels (water
> warming, or even photo voltaic), and/or windmills.
>
> The research online does not compare to useful observations from people wh=
o
> have actually installed them.
So they are both hypocrites: Al tells us to do as he says not as he
does and George tells us to do as he says not as he does. So choose
your poison. I choose to do my own thing. And that is do as much as
I can for the planet and get me off the addiction of OIL. 6 years and
no electric ill and my gas bill keeps getting smaller. I do not put
pay back at the top of the list of why to do something. It is
normally on the bottom. If there was good info on the total effect a
product has on our environment it would be at the top.
We did a lot of energy reduction, then production. Now we are doing
more reduction soon to do a solar DHW thermal hot water and maybe some
solar thermal heating. My goal is to get the gas to zero.
If one wants to look at what is the most cost effective. Reducing the
energy consumed is almost always less expensive then producing more.
So, do a complete Whole House Performance analysis and do many of
those items first before producing more.
Every company will have conflicting information on the performance of
their equipment. They all want you to think they have the best. You
should be able to find info on the Department of Energy site for
estimating the size you need. As for the companies I do not have a
good answer for you.
I have a PV (Photovoltaic) system for 8 years now. It has 24-120 watt
kyocera panels and a Sunny Boy inverter and faces SW on a 4-12 pitch
roof with no shading. It produces about 4,300 kWh=92s per year. It has
been running now for 6 years.
As for wind look into http://www.bergey.com/ I understand they have a
durable unit. As for production your specific site can vary
dramatically year to year. One would have to study it for many years
at the height of the wind turbine. Not practical. So you have to go
by the experience and knowledge of those in your area. I do not
recall where but there is a comprehensive US wind map. Your area can
vary depending on the micro climate your in.
I hope some of this helps.
Andy
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