Solar power inquiry??

[jahilliard]

I have been reading a "little" bit about solar power systems and I am entirely unfamiliar with them. I believe that with government assisstance and incentives increasing in this direction, there will be more and more demand for "green" electrical systems. What's everyone elses opinion AND what all should I expect as far as training, costs, finding experienced installers (if necessary), etc, etc.

 

[mlnk]

Government subsidies for solar are needed to make it pay for itself. 50% % of my system was paid for by fed and CSI. And why not? We are competing with oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear which are all subsidized. Some are supported over 70% depending on who you talk to.
I am concentrating on Solar now and getting out of residential and communications wiring.

 

[hillbilly1]

Keep in mind the "Government" does not pay for anything, it is the taxpayers that pay for it. Might as well get some of your money back. Solar is not efficent enough yet for a unsubsidized payback yet. Eventually it may.

 

[danickstr]

Technology in this field is moving very quickly. I don't think the current offerings in PV panels are up to the latest breakthroughs, which promise much better returns and less fragile panels. While we always have to "use what there is", I think the new stuff that will be out in a year or two is going to blow away what we have now, so keep that in mind if there are people you want to sell to that you don't want to have upset later cause the tech was so far behind when you did it.

 

[dereckbc]

Technology in this field is moving very quickly.

Not so sure I agree with that as it has not changed much in 50 years. First panels were around 10% efficient, toady around 19 on the high end and 15% on average. The promise of higher efficiency and $1 per watt were made 50 years ago and still being made today with no real progress.

Solar has two huge obstacles:, long term cost effective energy storage on an industrial scale, and for every watt installed a conventional watt of generation must be built to back it up at a moments notice. So far battery technology and storage capacity does not exist nor any on the horizon. Building conventional power can be done but politics and environmental movement prevents it from happening.

 

[Rewire]

I will be long retired before solar makes any great impact in our field.

 

[Infinergy]

We sure are busy considering its a relatively new field

We sure are busy considering its a relatively new field

Thin Film is the new " In Thing" for our Renewable Energy business but it has a long ways to go to be practical to place on roof tops. Current production is too big and too heavy but I was just asked about testing a lighter weight Thin Film which gets very close to the Crystalline in both areas which we use every day. And tis $1.00 a watt cheaper than what we are using now. In our business that is HUGE.... only problem is it hasn't cleared UL yet and that is a must.

 

[ITO]

Our local rebates at $3.75 per watt, add to that the Obama 30% of cost after rebate plan make them look better. The catch is the local rebates all tend to run out of funds VERY fast and the $3,750 you may have been counting on per KW is not there when it's time to write the check.

 

[Power Tech]

In California if PG&E (POCO)reaches over 2% solar saturation - no more compensation. The law needs to change. It may be just CA.