Solar renewable energy

[httrdd]

With the election of President Obama do you guys think solar will take off as fast as they say it will? I'm asking cause I am going to be a distributor of solar products in my area such as solar panels, solar collectors and solar heating systems and just want some of your opinons of this. Will this take off fast or do you think that it will take a while to build up? Let me hear what you think!

TJ

[ponygt65]

Like anythign else, the market price will have a major affect on how well it does. Currently solar setups are pricey. Most consumers don't understand or want to hear about paypack periods. ONce they become more the norm and the price comes down, then it will move. It will take something to drop the current market prices before people really take it on.

[slowmofo]

they should be a big hit in places like Seattle

[horist]

whatever Komrade Obama says will happen my friend! weeeeeeeeeee Change!

[Pro Stock John]

The solar ITC (investment tax credit) was extended for 8 years so I think solar has a comfortable future.

[NJSPDER]

Solar has a future, but for a while it is a future that is limited to those that are already well to do. The initial investment cost is pretty staggering, and with all of the mortgage refinancing going on, most bank have cut back on home improvement lines of credit and loans.

Solar has a great future, I think it is still 10-15 years off before it is really something the common home owner can get on board with though. The costs of the technology and installation have been cut in half over the last ten years and the efficiency of the systems has nearly doubled in the last 5 alone.

One thing that I would like to see more people do is get their home checked out and do everything to make your home as efficient as possible before doing an alternative energy installation, be it solar or wind.

Get your home properly insulated, get rid of your big water heater for a compact unit, switch as many light bulbs as you can to CFL's, and make sure all of your windows and doors seal properly. Preparing your home properly will save you money on your bills and earn you energy star tax credits to help pay for the system once you are ready.

Remember, solar energy is not free energy, it is just cheaper, but like anything else, it needs to be optimized for you to get those big buy back checks from the energy comanies.........which they are obligated by federal law to pay. Wouldn't it be nice for them to send you the check each month instead of the other way around.

One piece of very serious advice I will offer. In the name of total energy consumption, there is no need to take a perfectly working water heater, lamp, or any other oil, CNG, or electric appliance. Wait until it goes bad. Your total energy finger print and financial outlay will be smaller in the long run if you wait until it is appropriate to replace them based on their service life.

-Tim(secretly a hippy) lol

[SparkyJJO]

Solar works great.... when it isn't night or cloudy.
As far as "green" energy goes I'd prefer hydro. Very consistent and produces more energy than solar or wind in a smaller space.

[djsanchez2]

They need to SERIOUSLY take a look at these puppies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMnx5...eature=related

[NJSPDER]

Originally Posted by SparkyJJO

Solar works great.... when it isn't night or cloudy.
As far as "green" energy goes I'd prefer hydro. Very consistent and produces more energy than solar or wind in a smaller space.

Solar produces all the time, just a matter of how much. Even on a moonless night, there is a system positive from solar, it is just small.

Private hydro is not very scalable and it is an environmental mess by comparison.

-Tim

[dvboard]

Someone new taking office has nothing to do with how well solar power works.

[httrdd]

Solar water heating and domestic water hearting is not as expensive as you think. I could price out the average system installed at $10,000-$20,000 that would heat your hot water and your house through the spring, summer, and fall and aid in the winter. If you look at how much you spend on heating your water or house based on a 20 year period at minimum of $200/m @ 20 years could equal $48,000 and you have to include the price of the gas, oil, or electric system installed you are saving a hell of alot of money. $10-$20,000 is less than a new car and in reach for alot of homeowner with or without a loan. These systems are proven to last 20-30 years with minor problems.

[jimmyblue]

Solar PV is just way out of line, price vs payback.
Even leaving aside the ancillary gear (batteries,
charge controllers, intertie and so on). The cell
technology is just not appropriate to cheapness.
Not until you are seeing thin film, ribbon processed.
I mean, you're talking $10/W vs $0.10/W for a
gas or diesel genset. If you need your 100A service
and a 4:1 service factor for the sunlight situation
that's $40K of diesel, which is a lot of run time.

But the good news is, you always have a population
of early-adopters and green kooks who'll buy with
small regard to economics. These are your customers.
Thing is, kooks need a lot of stroking and feel-good
stuff, validation of their worldview and they will
flake out on you before or after things go wrong.

Because you are not really dealing with the technically
astute for the most part, I bet you're better off with
good-to-go, packaged systems than components.
People who buy components are price shoppers.
People who buy systems are the easy check writers.

I think the main thing is, how to make the sale work.
Like any retail business, only this one is so far from
making economic sense that you have to sell like
a jet-ski (or a Prius), not a Honda Civic. Emotion,
belief, wishful thinking and not science or payback.

When you're living on 20% APR credit, it's hard to
get happy about a 10-year or 20-year payback.
This year's bills have to be cut by this year's energy
savings. Forward looking assumption-based accounting
may have worked well for Wall Street but here on
Shady Lane we gots more immediate demands on
the checking account.

You're probably going to get a lot of help with the
blue sky sales material and not so much on how to
get a sensible return, from your upstream suppliers
(who already know this market). Which is fine as
long as you can make it work.

I'd definitely try and get a "reasonable"-cost, reliable
point-of-use package or three figured out and
marketable. Like say for "solar shed", "solar garage",
"solar irrigation", "solar cabin", "solar RV", stuff that
plays to the hassle of hanging a remote load off the
main line. This is a fringe market though, I think.
But it's easier to get people to pop for the point
system than a whole-house one, number of zeroes.

Probably need a nice tight relationship with some
financing outfit. You have to facilitate the impulse
purchase, and keep them out of the bad place
(cost / benefit short term).

[ponygt65]

Originally Posted by httrdd

Solar water heating and domestic water hearting is not as expensive as you think. I could price out the average system installed at $10,000-$20,000 that would heat your hot water and your house through the spring, summer, and fall and aid in the winter. If you look at how much you spend on heating your water or house based on a 20 year period at minimum of $200/m @ 20 years could equal $48,000 and you have to include the price of the gas, oil, or electric system installed you are saving a hell of alot of money. $10-$20,000 is less than a new car and in reach for alot of homeowner with or without a loan. These systems are proven to last 20-30 years with minor problems.

LIke I said........most people dont' want to invest 15k and have a payback of 10 years.

ANd where the heck do you live to pay $200./ for water/heating?...Dang. my pg and e bill is only $130...tops....then again, I know how to operate an efficient home. LOL

[RickyMartinZ28]

My electric bill in me and my roommate's went from $380 to $58 with the loss of that dumbass girl roommate...

Get rid of girls, done.

-Rick

[httrdd]

Originally Posted by ponygt65

LIke I said........most people dont' want to invest 15k and have a payback of 10 years.

ANd where the heck do you live to pay $200./ for water/heating?...Dang. my pg and e bill is only $130...tops....then again, I know how to operate an efficient home. LOL

You cannot compare east coast to west coast for heating or water heating costs. And I did the numbers based on an average.

[NJSPDER]

10-20k, while less than 10% of the average home in the northeast, is still a substantial investment that most people are not prepared to take on. It really doesn't matter what part of the country you are in, it just remains an amount of money that most people won't put up.

For individual home based renewable solar, wind, and solar water/home heat have about a 10 year cost recover best case scenario. That is not counting on any weather related damage or system failures that add to the cost.

The government can't put up a big enough tax credit or rebate to make this a decision that more than the tiniest percentage of the citizenry can afford.

-Tim