Solar PV Success Story - The Cowing family, Greasby

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[Prophet2520]

Just one of the many examples of successful PV installations.

[Mechanicos]

This is what is called a nuanced view of “successful.”

[rdcbn]

Yup, next generation distributed solar is the wave of the energy future, especially in low population density areas.

[DariusBane]

450 pounds in 24 months. What was the capital expenditure? Was this unknown amount financed? At what interest rate?

We don’t know if this is successful or not.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

on very sunny days, we become a net exporter of clean green electricity.

And at night?

[mrsmith]

“Successful”: forcing other people to give you money for nothing.

[Paladin2]

Does Solar also provide “chicks for free”?

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Is it true that it takes far more energy to manufacture a photovoltaic cell than it will ever produce?

[PLMerite]

So is there any evidence that the local power company has been able to back off generation of reliably-sourced electricity in any kind of equivalent amount to this “clean green electricity” or even that it’s realistically integrated into the grid?

[Paladin2]

If Bammy is able to necessarily make your electric rates skyrocket, solar may be a good thing to have as part of your energy source portfolio.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Is it true that it takes far more energy to manufacture a photovoltaic cell than it will ever produce?

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According to The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a propaganda arm of the DOE, the energy break even point is 4 years for polycrystalline and 3 years for thin film. This is a pretty neat graph of the efficiency of various PV technologies. The more efficient the more costly.

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[NautiNurse]

And at night?

A solar PV setup includes a battery bank which is charged by the solar panels.

[bert]

as a side note, to achieve the %’s noted it was necessary to trash the electric water heater and replace with gas.

[dangerdoc]

I’m picturing a small group gathered around an illegal crystal radio set listening to resistance broadcasts.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Dear Cowing Family. I seriously doubt you invested the significant amount required for a storage system to get you through cloudy days and nights. So it is only because somebody else has invested in conventional generation, transmission lines, and distribution lines that you can lead your smug, holier-than-thou lifestyle. You should thank those investors for making your so-called “success” possible. Of course, their ROI isn’t predictable or very good because their asset utilization depends on the vagaries of the sun. So, from an overall system economics perspective, we have two suboptimal systems with poor economics. But keep writing those great articles about how your neighbors look with awe upon your roof..

[Paladin2]

"The more efficient the more costly. "

Can't Congress make that illegal? Bend the cost curve?

[chrisser]

“Successful”: forcing other people to give you money for nothing.

Exactly. There's a reason the power company distribution lines operate at thousands of volts, and it's not because the power company has an affinity for zeros.

It's because it's the only way you can get a reasonable fraction of the power shoved in one end of the line to come out the other.

Anyone who's tried to use a couple hundred foot long extension cord or had to run wire to an outbuilding has experienced how quickly the voltage drop eats up any useful power when you're at double and even triple digit voltages.

I bet the "green" power, by the time it gets to even the nearest neighbor is such a trickle that it isn't even measurable compared to the line losses involved.

We have some property in a rural area. The site where we spend most of the time is shaded by a hill. I have another hill several hundred feet away with better solar exposure. But even to get that power across our property would require a significant investment in heavy copper, and that's after inverting it to 110vac first. Trying to push that at 12-18VDC? Forget it.

[Paladin2]

"And at night? "

Just point your solar panels towards AlGore's house....

[Paladin2]

"Anyone who's tried to use a couple hundred foot long extension cord or had to run wire to an outbuilding has experienced how quickly the voltage drop eats up any useful power when you're at double and even triple digit voltages."

Try running 12 DC from the batteries to the inverter.

[MrB]

“clean green electricity”, really?

Have you investigated the “carbon footprint” required to make your solar panels in the first place?