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Author Topic: solar roofing, one of the many evolving benefits of technology  (Read 3917 times)

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soybean

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DaveLembke



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Re: solar roofing, one of the many evolving benefits of technology
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2016, 10:37:13 AM »
Biggest factor in solar is return on investment and risk analysis.

I checked into adding solar to my barn roof which has full exposure to sun with no trees around and the cost was going to be around $10,000.

Then looked at how many years it would take to which I am actually getting free electricity.

Then looked into the life expectancy of the solar panels in my region in which most are 10 years. So to break even I need to create $1000 a year of electricity for myself. More on warranties here: http://news.energysage.com/shopping-solar-panels-pay-attention-to-solar-panels-warranty/

Additionally i checked with my home owners insurance and they do not cover replacement of solar panels if struck by lightning etc, so the risk is all on you whether it will last to which you will actually save some money.


To me, if there was better protection and a free replacement for panels of up to 20 years in age, excluding labor costs with swapping out bad panels, then it might tempt me more. Additionally the solar panels they shown in the article you linked would be a nightmare for clearing snow off a roof and not destroying them with a roof rake where I live in the North Eastern USA. However if they made them seamless to disallow anchoring of snow and added a heating element feature to get the snow to slide off the roof and expose them again to the sun that might be better. We have long winters and usually a lengthy snow cover once it arrives, so to get sunlight there would need to be a safe way to remove snow from panels.

patio

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Re: solar roofing, one of the many evolving benefits of technology
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2016, 07:15:29 PM »
Solar works...it's not cost effective,,,there's a reason for that.

Think about it...
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BC_Programmer


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Re: solar roofing, one of the many evolving benefits of technology
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2016, 07:34:08 PM »
The purpose of Solar Panels is not to get completely "free" electricity for your house through installed panels, but to reduce electricity costs. Some Power companies will even allow you to sell generated power that you don't use back to the grid (Of course, at a reduced rate). Exactly how much you get out of it and how much you save depends very strongly on location. An Australian Engineer by the name of "Dave Jones" who runs a youtube channel covered his installation a few years ago here and in later updates he calculated that within the first year of installation it had already paid for itself in the electrical savings- that is probably even considering the mysteriously smashed panel he had to replace.

Of course a side-benefit is particularly obvious in that Solar power does not create pollution like many other generation methods- that too, is location-specific; Where I am for example, in British Columbia, Canada, most of our power is generated via hydroelectricity- to the extent that our electric company is (confusingly to newcomers) called "BC Hydro", in which case the energy is already "clean", leaving the cost factor as the major reason for using it.
I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

patio

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Re: solar roofing, one of the many evolving benefits of technology
« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2016, 07:42:37 PM »
You should switch your nick to BC Hydro... ;D
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soybean

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Re: solar roofing, one of the many evolving benefits of technology
« Reply #5 on: August 23, 2016, 08:56:14 AM »
Solar works...it's not cost effective,,,there's a reason for that.

Think about it...
I'm thinking but I guess I'm still missing your point.  According to http://www.triplepundit.com/2016/01/5-solar-energy-trends-2016-residential-market/, "In just nine years, the installed cost of solar energy has fallen by more than 73 percent – setting up the industry for explosive growth."   So, it clearly has become more cost effective.  However, its cost effectiveness is still going to depend not only on the direct cost of acquisition, but also on location.  For example, solar panels are surely more beneficial in Arizona than in Ohio, mainly because Arizona has more hot sunny days in a year than Ohio.  In winter, Ohio has a lot of overcast skies; this does not bode well for solar in Ohio in winter. 

patio

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Re: solar roofing, one of the many evolving benefits of technology
« Reply #6 on: August 23, 2016, 10:36:35 AM »
Maybe you did miss it...i was stating the prices for it have been intentionally held at a high level for years...even though it has dropped as you stated it's still costly.

As far as overcast the dropoff of power generated is not as great as you would think...usually between 4 and 11 %
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Geek-9pm


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Re: solar roofing, one of the many evolving benefits of technology
« Reply #7 on: August 23, 2016, 11:03:41 AM »
Solar panels are very narrow approach to solar energy collection.
There are a wide range of devices to convert solar light into some other form of energy. One that can be very economical in some regions is the salt pond.

For more on this idea, Google salt pond energy
Some think more attention should be given to this kind of engineering.
http://www.solar-energy-for-homes.com/solar-ponds.html
Quote
The effect of solar ponds also occurs in natural salt lakes, from which the technology derives. A natural solar pond, where the effect is really noticeable is at the shore of the Red Sea in Egypt, at Solar Lake. Due to the effect of solar heat the lake can get as hot as 140°F.