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Anyone here using any solar energy?Follow
My forehead is used solar energy to shed it's skin off, apparently.
With all the time I've spent recently driving up and down the Garden State Parkway, I figure that if the shoulders were lined with solar cell strips it would be enough to power the whole state. Or, at least the service stations and highway signs.
publiusvarus wrote:
we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.
My wife and I were considering installing solar panels on our roof recently but decided against it due to some recent developments in nanotube technology.
Referenced here
and here
There's currently some very promising developments in the advancement of solar technology using a nanotube-derived technology called solar concentration coming out of MIT. Basically it uses refractive materials in windows to collect the solar energy in cells around the edge, and each cell will return approximately 40% more energy than the average solar cell of today.
Since my house is east-west oriented, we get full sunlight in the back in the morning, and full sunlight in the front in the afternoon, so I could see this being an ideal solution for someone in my position. And that's why we decided to hold off on Solar Panels until this is made available to the public, at which time we'll do cost comparisons and make a decision.
Referenced here
and here
There's currently some very promising developments in the advancement of solar technology using a nanotube-derived technology called solar concentration coming out of MIT. Basically it uses refractive materials in windows to collect the solar energy in cells around the edge, and each cell will return approximately 40% more energy than the average solar cell of today.
Since my house is east-west oriented, we get full sunlight in the back in the morning, and full sunlight in the front in the afternoon, so I could see this being an ideal solution for someone in my position. And that's why we decided to hold off on Solar Panels until this is made available to the public, at which time we'll do cost comparisons and make a decision.
reavenance wrote:
My wife and I were considering installing solar panels on our roof recently but decided against it due to some recent developments in nanotube technology.
Referenced here
and here
There's currently some very promising developments in the advancement of solar technology using a nanotube-derived technology called solar concentration coming out of MIT. Basically it uses refractive materials in windows to collect the solar energy in cells around the edge, and each cell will return approximately 40% more energy than the average solar cell of today.
Since my house is east-west oriented, we get full sunlight in the back in the morning, and full sunlight in the front in the afternoon, so I could see this being an ideal solution for someone in my position. And that's why we decided to hold off on Solar Panels until this is made available to the public, at which time we'll do cost comparisons and make a decision.
Referenced here
and here
There's currently some very promising developments in the advancement of solar technology using a nanotube-derived technology called solar concentration coming out of MIT. Basically it uses refractive materials in windows to collect the solar energy in cells around the edge, and each cell will return approximately 40% more energy than the average solar cell of today.
Since my house is east-west oriented, we get full sunlight in the back in the morning, and full sunlight in the front in the afternoon, so I could see this being an ideal solution for someone in my position. And that's why we decided to hold off on Solar Panels until this is made available to the public, at which time we'll do cost comparisons and make a decision.
That's pretty cool...thanks for the head's up!
Nexa
“It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But a half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor.â€
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
that's why we decided to hold off on Solar Panels until this is made available to the public
You understand that's probably 10 years from now, minimum, right?
Disclaimer:
To make a long story short, I don't take any responsibility for anything I post here. It's not news, it's not truth, it's not serious. It's parody. It's satire. It's bitter. It's angsty. Your mother's a *****. You like to jack off dogs. That's right, you heard me. You like to grab that dog by the bone and rub it like a ski pole. Your dad? Gay. Your priest? Straight. **** off and let me post. It's not true, it's all in good fun. Now go away.
To make a long story short, I don't take any responsibility for anything I post here. It's not news, it's not truth, it's not serious. It's parody. It's satire. It's bitter. It's angsty. Your mother's a *****. You like to jack off dogs. That's right, you heard me. You like to grab that dog by the bone and rub it like a ski pole. Your dad? Gay. Your priest? Straight. **** off and let me post. It's not true, it's all in good fun. Now go away.
The articles generally say 3-5, so I figure 5-7 is probably a safe bet. Either way it means I wouldn't have the solar panels paid off before I was looking at getting the solar concentrator windows put in, so that's what I'm thinking about.
The big thing about these solar concentrators is that they already work and have been tested and are already relatively cost efficient. They're not still currently in the RnD phase where it's costing them millions of dollars to build each prototype and they've got a team of specialists trying to figure out how get costs down. The technology is here already, and while skepticism is healthy I choose to air on the side of optimism in this case for a number of reasons. Not least among them is that alternative energy sources are currently the buzz word of the day and anything that's not killed off immediately by big oil typically is gaining near-unlimited government and private funding.
The big thing about these solar concentrators is that they already work and have been tested and are already relatively cost efficient. They're not still currently in the RnD phase where it's costing them millions of dollars to build each prototype and they've got a team of specialists trying to figure out how get costs down. The technology is here already, and while skepticism is healthy I choose to air on the side of optimism in this case for a number of reasons. Not least among them is that alternative energy sources are currently the buzz word of the day and anything that's not killed off immediately by big oil typically is gaining near-unlimited government and private funding.
reavenance wrote:
The articles generally say 3-5, so I figure 5-7 is probably a safe bet. Either way it means I wouldn't have the solar panels paid off before I was looking at getting the solar concentrator windows put in, so that's what I'm thinking about.
The big thing about these solar concentrators is that they already work and have been tested and are already relatively cost efficient. They're not still currently in the RnD phase where it's costing them millions of dollars to build each prototype and they've got a team of specialists trying to figure out how get costs down. The technology is here already, and while skepticism is healthy I choose to air on the side of optimism in this case for a number of reasons. Not least among them is that alternative energy sources are currently the buzz word of the day and anything that's not killed off immediately by big oil typically is gaining near-unlimited government and private funding.
The big thing about these solar concentrators is that they already work and have been tested and are already relatively cost efficient. They're not still currently in the RnD phase where it's costing them millions of dollars to build each prototype and they've got a team of specialists trying to figure out how get costs down. The technology is here already, and while skepticism is healthy I choose to air on the side of optimism in this case for a number of reasons. Not least among them is that alternative energy sources are currently the buzz word of the day and anything that's not killed off immediately by big oil typically is gaining near-unlimited government and private funding.
Who are you? Are you new or just a lurker?
I like him(?), he can stay.
Nexa
“It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But a half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor.â€
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
I've been posting in the on-topic forums for a long time now. But at the moment I'm bored at work and the on-topic forums are filled with boring people who are rehashing the same old discussions day in and day out, and it's tiresome.
So Hello Crazy People, I'm new to the asylum. So far I like it, so I may stay a while.
So Hello Crazy People, I'm new to the asylum. So far I like it, so I may stay a while.
I wouldn't say we're crazy, necessarily. More like...intolerant and caffeinated.
Nexa
Nexa
“It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But a half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor.â€
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
People in asylums always claim they're not crazy. And they blame everything on the meds.
I think I see a pattern.
I think I see a pattern.
The only issue with solar is power storage and regulation. If you're just heating your water it's not a problem, but if you want to power your home you'll need a battery pack large enough to store the energy as well as a voltage regulator. Can get expensive.
Maintenance would be the equivalent of changing what amounts to stacks of car batteries when they fail (not often) and swapping out some panels in 25-50 years (I may be behind the times on this part).
If you plan to stay in the same home for a long period of time it's worth it for people in sunny areas, especially if your power supplier refunds you for additional energy put into the grid (assuming you have excess), some people actually get cheques periodically from the utilities for their unused electricity.
If you're not paying cash for this you'll want to add up your interest costs for the duration of the loan and compare it to how much you expect to save during the lifetime of the system. If you're doing it for environmental reasons this may not matter to you.
A lot of the time the money invested in solar panels could be invested elsewhere and actually make you more money than you'd save in the long term.
Maintenance would be the equivalent of changing what amounts to stacks of car batteries when they fail (not often) and swapping out some panels in 25-50 years (I may be behind the times on this part).
If you plan to stay in the same home for a long period of time it's worth it for people in sunny areas, especially if your power supplier refunds you for additional energy put into the grid (assuming you have excess), some people actually get cheques periodically from the utilities for their unused electricity.
If you're not paying cash for this you'll want to add up your interest costs for the duration of the loan and compare it to how much you expect to save during the lifetime of the system. If you're doing it for environmental reasons this may not matter to you.
A lot of the time the money invested in solar panels could be invested elsewhere and actually make you more money than you'd save in the long term.
Maybe I'll just make the solar panels myself, McGyver style with some tin-foil, mattress springs, an old satellite dish, and a ball point pen. Or maybe I'll just intimidate the sun into powering my house by besting it in a staring contest.
Options.
Nexa
Options.
Nexa
“It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But a half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor.â€
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
Quote:
some tin-foil, mattress springs, an old satellite dish, and a ball point pen.
Needs moar bubble gum.
Nadenu wrote:
Quote:
some tin-foil, mattress springs, an old satellite dish, and a ball point pen.
Needs moar bubble gum.
*starts chewing*
Nexa
“It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But a half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor.â€
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
My power company has a system where you use solar or wind energy to put power onto the grid which causes you to accumulate kwh(kilowatt hours) credits, you use these to offset the number of kwh you use in the run of a month. After these offsets are calculated the difference is then put on your bill and they'll charge you the "standard rate" for any excess you use, while refunding you a different(considerably lower) wholesaling rate for anything you put back onto the grid over and above your energy consumption.
Some friends of my wife's have a fairly new house with a lot of roofspace that basically gets the sun all day every day. In the summer they get refunded a reasonable amount of money each month for the power they put back on the grid(I live in Canada, A/C is not much of a concern for us). While in the winter due to increased heating and decreased sunlight they have a fairly heavily reduced bill each month. They tell me that their net power bill on a yearly basis amounts to about 300$ against them.
Some friends of my wife's have a fairly new house with a lot of roofspace that basically gets the sun all day every day. In the summer they get refunded a reasonable amount of money each month for the power they put back on the grid(I live in Canada, A/C is not much of a concern for us). While in the winter due to increased heating and decreased sunlight they have a fairly heavily reduced bill each month. They tell me that their net power bill on a yearly basis amounts to about 300$ against them.
reavenance wrote:
(I live in Canada, A/C is not much of a concern for us)
Western Canada? Because the humidity from Ontario->East makes A/C a feasible option. Not required on the east coast itself, but worth considering.
Donate. One day it could be your family.
An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come. Victor Hugo
An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come. Victor Hugo
meh, just got into the argument last night with the wife. She thinks they are to ugly and the savings on the power bill would never be enough to offset the eye sore.
Its gonna be a long tough road to try and convince her otherwise...
damn wimminz... I blame it on her prego hormonal imballance.
fixt...
Edited, Jul 23rd 2008 12:33pm by Aadyn Litefoot
Its gonna be a long tough road to try and convince her otherwise...
damn wimminz... I blame it on her prego hormonal imballance.
fixt...
Edited, Jul 23rd 2008 12:33pm by Aadyn Litefoot
Aadyn Litefoot wrote:
damn wimminz...
Hey, hey! I started the damn thread!
Nexa
“It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But a half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor.â€
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
Uglysasquatch wrote:
reavenance wrote:
(I live in Canada, A/C is not much of a concern for us)
Western Canada? Because the humidity from Ontario->East makes A/C a feasible option. Not required on the east coast itself, but worth considering.
I'm directly on the east coast, New Brunswick to be more specific. I've lived here all my life and have never found A/C to be an important thing. I -have- an air conditioner in my camp but that's because my camp is located in this natural heatsink thing and it gets ridiculous there(40+ degrees when it's 30- degrees at home, 1 hour drive away).
I was more considering A/C from a temperature perspective. Where I live it never goes above 35 degrees celsius, and rarely above 30. Although the humidity is a factor it's not a large enough nuisance(to me) to justify the additional costs that air conditioning entails.
Hell, I don't even use A/C in my car, I drive with the windows down.
Aadyn Utefoot wrote:
meh, just got into the argument last night with the wife. She thinks they are to ugly and the savings on the power bill would never be enough to offset the eye sore.
Its gonna be a long tough road to try and convince her otherwise...
Its gonna be a long tough road to try and convince her otherwise...
Give her a choice, women like choices, it makes them feel like things were their idea and they're in control.
She can choose to:
A) Get a (better) job, in order to pay the additional premium for "green" power.
B) Get Windmillz, lots of Windmillz
C) Get considerably more discreet solar panels.
D) GTFO
reavenance wrote:
Aadyn Utefoot wrote:
meh, just got into the argument last night with the wife. She thinks they are to ugly and the savings on the power bill would never be enough to offset the eye sore.
Its gonna be a long tough road to try and convince her otherwise...
Its gonna be a long tough road to try and convince her otherwise...
Give her a choice, women like choices, it makes them feel like things were their idea and they're in control.
She can choose to:
A) Get a (better) job, in order to pay the additional premium for "green" power.
B) Get Windmillz, lots of Windmillz
C) Get considerably more discreet solar panels.
D) GTFO
Let me guess...
Single?
Nexa wrote:
Who are you? Are you new or just a lurker?
I like him(?), he can stay.
Nexa
Alma wrote:
I lost my post
Aadyn Utefoot wrote:
reavenance wrote:
Aadyn Utefoot wrote:
meh, just got into the argument last night with the wife. She thinks they are to ugly and the savings on the power bill would never be enough to offset the eye sore.
Its gonna be a long tough road to try and convince her otherwise...
Give her a choice, women like choices, it makes them feel like things were their idea and they're in control.
She can choose to:
A) Get a (better) job, in order to pay the additional premium for "green" power.
B) Get Windmillz, lots of Windmillz
C) Get considerably more discreet solar panels.
D) GTFO
Let me guess...
Single?
Married... going on 6 years now. And no, I would never in my life say that to her, I just try to goad people into taking the worst possible advice for the lol-factor.
I consume the stars.
On the solar energy front, It's an excellent way to A. Take care of your electrical bill, and B. destroy the environment slower. You can more than likely get a significant piece of the cost paid for by a government grant. I don't know the specific laws in your area(so look them up), but you can typically end up getting money back on your power bill, depending on your set up.
I'd heavily recommend it, but just make sure you do your research to make sure that you are getting a good system that won't wear out, has high efficiency etc. (Not that this really needs being said with Smash)
On the solar energy front, It's an excellent way to A. Take care of your electrical bill, and B. destroy the environment slower. You can more than likely get a significant piece of the cost paid for by a government grant. I don't know the specific laws in your area(so look them up), but you can typically end up getting money back on your power bill, depending on your set up.
I'd heavily recommend it, but just make sure you do your research to make sure that you are getting a good system that won't wear out, has high efficiency etc. (Not that this really needs being said with Smash)
Just as Planned.
Timelordwho wrote:
(Not that this really needs being said with Smash)
Exactly. Thank god I have a man around who can look into these things for me, what with me being unable to do any sort of research and disinclined to looking into the best value. What am I doing here posting when I could be out shopping for shoes anyway?
Nexa
P.S. I love you.
“It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But a half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor.â€
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
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