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Posted by on August 21, 2006, 11:45 pm
On Mon, 21 Aug 2006 14:43:35 -0400, Stubby
>A real problem with solar panel is the plastic and rubber parts fail
>because of continuous sun exposure. The MTBF is shorter than the payoff
>period. Nobody has reinstalled them after they fail around Boston.
>
That seems to be the most common outcome of most of these things. It
is hard to beat the stuff that comes in that service drop for
reliability and cost. The solar that really seems to work is a pool
heater but you still have to be careful with the installation. Most of
them get thrown away when the roof leaks.
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Posted by Dave on August 22, 2006, 12:11 am
I've had my solaroll pool heating system for 27 years. I rolled up and
removed the whole shebang when i re-roofed to a metal roof 5 years ago. I
hear they've gone out of business, but my system keeps on producing
prodigious pool heating 6 months of the year.
Dave
> On Mon, 21 Aug 2006 14:43:35 -0400, Stubby
>
>>A real problem with solar panel is the plastic and rubber parts fail
>>because of continuous sun exposure. The MTBF is shorter than the payoff
>>period. Nobody has reinstalled them after they fail around Boston.
>>
> That seems to be the most common outcome of most of these things. It
> is hard to beat the stuff that comes in that service drop for
> reliability and cost. The solar that really seems to work is a pool
> heater but you still have to be careful with the installation. Most of
> them get thrown away when the roof leaks.
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Posted by HeyBub on August 22, 2006, 10:52 am
JimL wrote:
> Yesterday, heard a talking head on TV say that solar energy kits are
> NOT cost savings. At the most, when you consider the tax breaks, they
> generate zero net energy savings.
>
> All I want is enough panel to run a 12,000 btu AC during the summer
> when the sun is shining. What is it going to cost?
You can't run this country (or much of anything) off of sunbeams.
The amount of the sun's energy falling on the earth is about 1300 watts/sq
meter. At the equator. At noon. With no clouds. In North America, the
average is about 250 watts/sq meter (about 5 kwhr/day). The only way to
increase these numbers is to move the orbit of the earth closer to the sun.
At roughly 16 cents/kwh, one square meter of solar collector at 50%
efficiency will save about 40 cents per day.
Assuming 50% efficiency, it would take a solar collector the size of the Los
Angeles basin to generate sufficient electricity for California (~1200 sq
miles). Plus, you'd have to light Los Angeles since they would be in
darkeness due to the collector system.
Or, you could leave Los Angeles in the dark, which, come to think of it, has
a great deal of merit.
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Posted by Michael Daly on August 22, 2006, 3:02 pm
HeyBub wrote:
> You can't run this country (or much of anything) off of sunbeams.
With the exception of nuclear power, all energy used is from the sun.
Wind, oil, soy based bio-diesel, ethanol from corn, wood, you name it - all that
energy came from the sun
BTW - in spite of your pessimism, you can do a lot with 5kwh/sq m/day.
Mike
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Posted by on August 22, 2006, 3:10 pm
> HeyBub wrote:
> > You can't run this country (or much of anything) off of sunbeams.
> With the exception of nuclear power, all energy used is from the sun.
Nuclear power is from another sun, FWIW, but long ago sources are only
really interesting to acedemics and shouldn't be brought into this
conversation.
> Wind, oil, soy based bio-diesel, ethanol from corn, wood, you name it - all
that
> energy came from the sun
> BTW - in spite of your pessimism, you can do a lot with 5kwh/sq m/day.
But not economicly. Take the money you might have thrown at solar, throw
it in the bank and use the interest to buy regular power (made from
whatever the power company finds to be the best buy at the time) and
you'll find that you can buy power forever.
Solars time (for PV panels anyway) has not yet arrived.
John
--
Remove the dead poet to e-mail, tho CC'd posts are unwelcome.
Mean People Suck - It takes two deviations to get cool.
Ask me about joining the NRA.
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