Poll time! Residential Solar Energy
It’s time for a new poll and today I’m going to deal with a subject that has come to my attention recently: solar power. Specifically, residential solar power.
The technology for generating photovoltaic (or PV) solar energy has come a long way in the last 20 years and you’d be surprised at how much is available. I’m planning a couple of related posts on the topic this week but I wanted to get a sense from my readership about the interest level in putting solar power generation into your home. So have a look over there on the right and give me a click.
Thanks!
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Show me how to do it without another mortgage, and I’m in!
the interest level is at an all time, although will the credit markets open up so people will take the risk and turn their cash into an investment in solar power? I suppose what you should look into is how should customers pay for the systems?
Bulletproof:
There is light at the end of the tunnel. A company called nanosolar (German, I think) has developed a method of essentially printing thin film solar cells. They were quoting $0.35 per watt the last time I checked.
That translates to very roughly $35 worth of pv cells to power a laptop.
The catch is they are only selling to industry at the moment but it’s only a matter of time before it’s available to the rest of us. (Not affilliated, by the way)
Mike
[...] Poll time! Residential Solar Energy The technology for generating photovoltaic (or PV) solar energy has come a long way in the last 20 years and you’d be surprised at how much is available. [...]
Pingback by Who Are The World’s 1 Renewable Energy Site | 31 January, 2009
[...] Residential Solar Energy [...]
Pingback by Solar Energy Facts | | 31 January, 2009
Thanks for the lead, Mike. I’ve just learned that Franklin Park’s array (70mW)over in nearby (to us)Purcellville has been hooked into the grid, although Dominion still does not credit Franklin Park for the usage.
Really? I just reached out to the Franklin Park guys to see what was up and the guy who responded (Jeff) said it wasn’t, yet. They have a smaller array, he said, but not the big one. He gave me a name in the Loudoun Govt to contact and I was doing that on Monday to see what the story was. I hope your story is the right one. (Minus the not getting credit for the power generation, of course.)
[...] Residential Solar Energy The technology for generating photovoltaic (or PV) solar energy has come a long way in the last 20 years and you’d be surprised at how much is available. [...]
Pingback by Define Solar Energy | 1 February, 2009
Let me know, Ric. That’s what came back to me, but I never verified it with my own eyes or speaking with the Park personnel. If we need to turn the heat up on Dominion, I’ll stand with you (and bring a staggering number of folks with me).
Ric, just spoke to Jeff onsite. You were correct. The party who informed me mistook the small array for the larger one, which remains unhooked to this day. I did find the place to actually monitor what we’re losing from that array….
Go to: http://www.fatspaniel.com and click on “live sites”, and I’m afraid you’ll have to contact Jeff again (or I will with his contact info-which I do not have) for the heading or the listing of that project. Once you’ve identified that feed, you can watch the power that the array generates that’s dead-ended, right now.
Found it!!! Target Aurora Energy and select Franklin Park.
Yep, I found that one as well, but that’s the output for the smaller array. (You can see the array’s rated capacity near the top middle of the monitoring link: http://view2.fatspaniel.net/PV2Web/merge?&view=PV/standard/Simple&eid=163109. The info block there shows the System Size as 1.8 kW DC. Again, that’s pretty cool, but it’s not the big one. I think the big one is, literally, not connected at all. A real shame, given what the smaller one’s been putting out. The graph for today (2/2/2009) showed 1.3 kW between 11:00am and 1:00pm. Not bad.
FYI, I sent a note to the Loudoun gov contact, Mark Milsap, to ask for a status. I’ll let you know what he says.
Let’s keep an eye on this project. I really think this is an under-utilized, definitely-expandable commodity.