Avernus Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 Does anyone know a good site for information about Solar Panels? I have heard that you can sell what energy you don't use...this is going to be one of the angles I want to work into my report for this "Green Buildings" class I am in... anybody have a suggestion or two?... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cre8tiff Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 Does anyone know a good site for information about Solar Panels? I have heard that you can sell what energy you don't use...this is going to be one of the angles I want to work into my report for this "Green Buildings" class I am in... anybody have a suggestion or two?... If you work into the fact the solar panels on the Martian Rovers have performed well above spec, you may get extra credit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonKnight Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 (edited) I saw something on the Science Chennel about a new technology called PhotoVoltaic cells. Theyre cheap and very flexible. They are now being used to make roof shingles (brilliant idea IMO). Read more about them here http://www.oksolar.com/roof/. Edited September 28, 2007 by DemonKnight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avernus Posted September 28, 2007 Author Share Posted September 28, 2007 If you work into the fact the solar panels on the Martian Rovers have performed well above spec, you may get extra credit. wow, I was not even aware of this...and I followed the stuff about the Mars Rovers.... not a bad angle to work in.....preciate it... and DemonKnight, I was reading about those......but that site is better than what I found...good looks on that as well.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Cracker Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 It's amazing how a random thread here at the huddle can really send you off on a tangent. I just spent about 10 mins looking into whether or not adding solar shingles to my roof would work and/or make sense... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westvirginia Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 Do a google on "photovoltaic", and you can check out the magazines "Backwoods Home" and (gag) "Mother Earth News" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avernus Posted September 28, 2007 Author Share Posted September 28, 2007 It's amazing how a random thread here at the huddle can really send you off on a tangent. I just spent about 10 mins looking into whether or not adding solar shingles to my roof would work and/or make sense... yeah, I was just fascinated by the fact that you can sell what energy you don't use back to the electric company... Green Building is the future and I have been encouraging everyone to use solar panels and things of that nature.... I mean, now we're making buildings with plants on each outer layer with windows that draw energy and keep the heat inside, instead of wasting the energy.... I already knew a little about this stuff....but after having a few classes, I find that I know almost nothing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonKnight Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 yeah, I was just fascinated by the fact that you can sell what energy you don't use back to the electric company... Green Building is the future and I have been encouraging everyone to use solar panels and things of that nature.... I mean, now we're making buildings with plants on each outer layer with windows that draw energy and keep the heat inside, instead of wasting the energy.... I already knew a little about this stuff....but after having a few classes, I find that I know almost nothing... What classes are you taking, if you dont mind my asking? There are lots and lots of job openings in teh "green" science and mechanics market ATM. I would love to get into this type of business because I would actually love the results of what I was doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avernus Posted September 28, 2007 Author Share Posted September 28, 2007 (edited) What classes are you taking, if you dont mind my asking? There are lots and lots of job openings in teh "green" science and mechanics market ATM. I would love to get into this type of business because I would actually love the results of what I was doing. I'm getting into Real Estate Appraisal...and this was just some class I took to accumulate hours... but I'm finding this might be my most useful class of them all as the other classes just re-hash the same stuff.... I actually have to apply myself in this class and use my brain differently..... the "Green Buildings" class is as much for appraisers as it is for people interested in Green Buildings, but when the Instructor brings up recycling buildings, I keep thinking like an appraiser, while she's thinking more along the lines of Global Warming.... it's not the "walk in the park" I expected it to be.....but then again, I had no idea what Green Buildings meant when I signed up for the class ..... but then again, I didn't really think about it either.... Edited September 28, 2007 by Avernus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchoutofwater Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 Does anyone know a good site for information about Solar Panels? I have heard that you can sell what energy you don't use...this is going to be one of the angles I want to work into my report for this "Green Buildings" class I am in... anybody have a suggestion or two?... Any energy you produce whether it be from solar, wind etc... can be sold to the electric companies.. The problem is in most cases green power is not cost effective. The initial cost is more than you will make up. Depending on where you live will determine how efficient solar panels are. Same for wind mills. I'm sure technology has changed and improved, but when I was in college about 13 years ago, you could put up a wind mill and sell all the power to the electric company and pay for it in roughly 7 years if you live in a place where it is running at about 80% efficiency all the time (basically if you lived on the coast). The problem is few of us live where a windmill will average 80% efficiency, and even if we did, we'd be using that power to power our homes, so it would not repay the investment even if we did average 80% efficiency. Someday, we may get to the point where each home or business can generate most if not all of their electrical needs, but we are still a long way off from being able to do it cost effectively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 (edited) Any energy you produce whether it be from solar, wind etc... can be sold to the electric companies.. The problem is in most cases green power is not cost effective. The initial cost is more than you will make up. Depending on where you live will determine how efficient solar panels are. Same for wind mills. I'm sure technology has changed and improved, but when I was in college about 13 years ago, you could put up a wind mill and sell all the power to the electric company and pay for it in roughly 7 years if you live in a place where it is running at about 80% efficiency all the time (basically if you lived on the coast). The problem is few of us live where a windmill will average 80% efficiency, and even if we did, we'd be using that power to power our homes, so it would not repay the investment even if we did average 80% efficiency. Someday, we may get to the point where each home or business can generate most if not all of their electrical needs, but we are still a long way off from being able to do it cost effectively. We build wind farms all over the country and there are so many going up we have an order book going out two years just for them. However, it's totally dependent on the tax breaks from Congress and the fact the power companies have to buy the product. That said, the efficiency of a modern wind turbine is extremely high - the technology has advanced hughly in the last three or four years. Edited September 28, 2007 by Ursa Majoris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchoutofwater Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 We build wind farms all over the country and there are so many going up we have an order book going out two years just for them. However, it's totally dependent on the tax breaks from Congress and the fact the power companies have to buy the product. That said, the efficiency of a modern wind turbine is extremely high - the technology has advanced hughly in the last three or four years. I'm sure that where you build these wind farms is strategically located in areas with high average winds. I also assume that the vast majority of them are built for power companies, and not the consumers. They are long term investments, with large initial investments that make them cost prohibitive. I do not doubt that the efficiency has improved a great deal in the 13 years since I've studied them, but I would be very surprised if it has advanced enough to make it cost effective for the average homeowner, or even business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 I'm sure that where you build these wind farms is strategically located in areas with high average winds. I also assume that the vast majority of them are built for power companies, and not the consumers. They are long term investments, with large initial investments that make them cost prohibitive. I do not doubt that the efficiency has improved a great deal in the 13 years since I've studied them, but I would be very surprised if it has advanced enough to make it cost effective for the average homeowner, or even business. Exactly. It's an economy of scale because a wind farm can have over 100 turbines, each costing over $1m. We build them mostly on west facing ridges - clearly unobstructed wind is an essential. I do know of isolated cases where farms have put their own (much less expensive) turbine up, using the electricity for the entire farm and selling off the excess. No idea where the payback point is, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonKnight Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 The problem is few of us live where a windmill will average 80% efficiency, and even if we did, we'd be using that power to power our homes, so it would not repay the investment even if we did average 80% efficiency I think youre overlooking the savings of not paying an electric bill every month. The point is not to sell back energy to the grid but to remove yourself from the grid. Anything beyond that is free money. And only certian power companies will even let you sell back energy. You also fail to factor in the tax rebates you get for installing such systems. It is getting more and more feasable to go green when it comes to energy. The only drawback is the ammount of energy (carbon emmissions) it takes to actually produce these energy gathering devices vurses thier lifetime yield. It is currently in the black but not enough fo my liking. One of the largest technological initiatives in play these days is the advancement in solar panel cost/efficency increase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonKnight Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 Heres another good article on the subject. http://www.usatoday.com/educate/environmen...ff_the_grid.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avernus Posted September 29, 2007 Author Share Posted September 29, 2007 Heres another good article on the subject. http://www.usatoday.com/educate/environmen...ff_the_grid.pdf a fantastic read right here.... the article talks about prices possibly dropping in 18 months when there are more factories built.... I'd expect another surge of people moving to solar panels and other options after that point... including myself....probably in 3-5 years.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuddyPaws Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 It's called Net Metering the selling of the energy. As it's been said previously unless you are off the grid it is not all that great of an investment (ROI wise, as far as carbon footprint lessening use of oil by all means do it) Better investments converting to CF light bulbs, increasing the insulation in the attic, new double pane windows, eliminating drafts from can lights etc... The Science Channel did a EcoTech Show on Solar panels etc... They will be a much better investment when the technology becomes cheaper and/or the panels become more efficient at producing energy when the sun is at an angle. A combination of those two would be fantastic. BTW Noting that article is a year and a half old, we can hope those prices drop that much quicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghola Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 http://www.cirkits.com/solar/solarlinks.html http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_links.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 Exactly. It's an economy of scale because a wind farm can have over 100 turbines, each costing over $1m. We build them mostly on west facing ridges - clearly unobstructed wind is an essential. I do know of isolated cases where farms have put their own (much less expensive) turbine up, using the electricity for the entire farm and selling off the excess. No idea where the payback point is, though. It's not just an economy of scale by the number of turbines, it's the size that matters. Commercial turbines are enormous and generate huge amounts of force (that gets converted into electricity) with even moderate winds. Most home power generation schemes are neither cost effective nor all that environmentally helpful (think about the industrial process that went into making that solar cell being installed). In most cases, people would be much better off doing simple things like improving their insulation, switching to compact fluorescent bulbs, and good old fashioned conservation. The most notable exception to that is solar hot water heat, especially in warmer/sunnier climates and for those who use electricity to heat their domestic hot water. Solar hot water cells are much cheaper to make than photovoltaic panels, mostly because they don't have to try to convert the heat energy that they gather into electricity. I even saw a system made out of plastic (cheap!) in The Family Handyman magazine (which is a pretty cool magazine, by the way). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 It's not just an economy of scale by the number of turbines, it's the size that matters. Commercial turbines are enormous and generate huge amounts of force (that gets converted into electricity) with even moderate winds. Yup. 250 feet high, each generating 1.5 MW. Turbines are geared, I think, to do 10,000 rotations for each rotation of the propeller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Cornelius Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Do a google on "photovoltaic", and you can check out the magazines "Backwoods Home" and (gag) "Mother Earth News" he he i get both mags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Cornelius Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 i looked into wind about 5 years ago and wasn't cost effective... i would have to live at my house for 75 years for it to make sense.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.