Why Go with Solar Panels Now . . .
Commenter SW who has a background in Solar Panels technology talks about them in response to a posted commentary First generation of solar panels is wearing out – A recycling industry is salvaging them. SW gives a good perspective on why we should go with Solar Cell powering our needs now. Exploring this website, https://lowenergysupermarket.com/product/150-1000w-solar-panel-electricity-generator-kit/, will give you knowledge on using solar power.
As we continue to witness the effects of climate change, the importance of sustainable living practices has never been more apparent. Among the most effective measures homeowners can take is the transition to solar power, a clean, inexhaustible, and increasingly affordable energy source. To learn more about harnessing the sun’s energy to power your home, check out solar power installation solutions for a greener future. This resource is packed with essential information to help you make a difference for the planet and your pocketbook.
~~~~~~~~
I worked as a researcher at SERI and then NREL for nearly thirty years. I worked developing Photovoltaics (PV) technologies (solar panels). Lots of folks were involved in economic analysis. In the eighties and nineties that analysis showed that a major government investment would be required to drive down the cost and make PV cost effective. The U.S. declined to make that investment. The Chinese went ahead and followed the roadmap.
I am retired now. I have a modest three-bedroom ranch on a marginal lot because of heavy tree shadowing. I went and put a 10 KW system on my roof sighted as best I could. In the summer it pays my bill. In the winter not so much although it makes a major contribution. Was it cost effective? Probably not. But there is more to this decision than dollars and cents. Having built an entire career from the technology I felt a particular imperative to support it by adopting it. There is the environmental element many consider worth a premium.
We are headed towards a model where instead of relying on the grid and the grace of the power companies you can have your own storage bank in the form of an EV. Two-way charging will allow you to use the grid when the rates are low and run your home from the EV during power outages and peak hours. Smart charging stations will do all the calculations. But we aren’t there yet. The Nissan Leaf and maybe the Ford lightning are the only options at this point. You can look at Tesla but you can’t drive a power wall and they don’t seem all that interested in integration. In the meantime the power companies are passive aggressively doing all they can to discourage adoption with pointless fees and delays.
Oh and my advice, don’t wait for Perovskites. Their primary problem is long term stability. All the cost analysis of PV depends on a long lifetime. Without that it doesn’t really matter what sort of performance you are able to squeeze out of a sample in the lab. Don’t believe the PR. There is a ton of research money, probably the only really sizable chunk going to this area. Mostly of what is generated are press releases. Stick with high quality crystalline Si. At least for the next twenty years I should think.
We only decided to get our 22 panels because Ameren paid half and there was a 30% tax rebate on the remainder. No way this would have made sense otherwise. In the event, we didn’t even save the nominal cost after nine years when we moved. Maybe panels and labor have gotten much cheaper in the last decade, I don’t know. Or if you plan to live in the house another 20-30 years, it might make sense.
I’m OK with our decision. I knew we wouldn’t pay of the real cost for 12-15 years unless electricity got much more expensive. But at the time of purchase, 80% of electricity in Missouri was generated with coal, so I felt like I was doing my part for the environment as well.
As I said in my earlier post, do the cheap stuff first–attic insulation, sweeps and weather stripping on exterior doors, caulking cracks, etc.
The point being made here is that you need to think about the cost to the environment of not going solar (or wind). It isn’t just about your personal ROI, because we’re all in this together
@Carol, The point being made here is about installing rooftop solar at your own expense (even if subsidized). The author of the post explicitly mentions his investment.
There are multiple, nonexclusive models for solar. The rooftop solar model that SW and I invested in is a distributive model, but it isn’t the only model or even necessarily the best. Ameren was directed by the state to obtain a percent of its energy from renewables, and to satisfy that direction it not only subsidized rooftop solar in St. Louis (for institutions as well as homes), but it also built solar farms.
I agree about the cost of not going solar, and I explicitly mentioned the offset in coal burning above. Yes, it isn’t *just* about personal ROI, but anyone who considers rooftop solar and isn’t wealthy will be weighing their personal ROI. If you want more solar, you must address the ROI.
Carol:
The point being made here is that you need to think about the cost to the environment of not going solar (or wind).
[ This is an important argument, but collectively or through government there needs to be an obligation make the cost of acting for the environment as widely affordable as possible. James Hansen of NASA, argued just this. ]
Carol:
It isn’t just about your personal ROI, because we’re all in this together.
[ Suppose though, that the cost acting for the environment is made artificially high. What then?
Please notice the date of the following stunning article on Maui. Before the tragedy, but foretelling the tragedy. For the sake of resort owners, at the expense of islanders:
https://www.sfgate.com/hawaii/article/hawaii-resorts-worsen-maui-water-problems-18210790.php
July 25, 2023
‘Hurting for water’: Hawaii resorts worsen Maui’s water shortage
By Christine Hitt
Popular among visitors to Hawaii, the hotels and resorts lining the South Maui beaches in Kihei and Wailea are lush and green, with many pools, water slides and fountains. But this is all a facade.
The coastline is actually dry, receiving less than 10 inches of water per year. It gets the majority of its water from Central Maui — the area of Kahului and around Wailuku — where residents are sometimes urged to conserve.
“The fact is that the people where the water originates are hurting for water,” Lucienne de Naie, chairperson for Sierra Club Maui Group, told SFGATE. “There are definitely shortages of water from overtourism, and those shortages of water are impacting an area we call Na Wai Eha.”
In English, Na Wai Eha means “the Four Waters.” It refers to the four streams and rivers that flow out of the West Maui Mountains to Central Maui. Hawaiians used the abundant resource to cultivate taro farms and farm fishponds for subsistence living, but that changed following colonization and the sugar plantation industry. Today, much of the water is diverted, and Central Maui residents continue to dispute its allocations.
Maui’s biggest water users
Hawaii’s law, including its constitution, declares that water be held in a trust to benefit all people. “The government is the entity that controls water and there are public trust uses that it’s supposed to provide for before providing for private commercial uses of water,” Jonathan Scheuer, co-author of “Water and Power in West Maui,” told SFGATE…
The house I share in New England is not compatible considering aspect of roof slope to south, rating was lower than we would want. We have beautiful oaks and maples and their lives matter.
One consideration I had is to store excess in a battery rather than sell it.
Battery storage seems to be appealing in some instances, even as it might lessen payback.
Charged battery could be used for EV or to use whenever output is low.
To be realistic New England has winter, which I continue to enjoy as I age.
@paddy,
Intermittancy is the challenge for wind and solar. Some sort of storage (batteries, molten salt, hydro pumping) will be required to bridge the dark/windless intervals. While batteries seem obvious, they are *not* cheap. So like solar panels, batteries will have to be subsidized for now in order to be realistic.
I’m in New England as well. There are many homes in my neighborhood with rooftop solar, which is subsidized here. Our roof has too much shade from tall trees, and anyway we’re too old to realize a ROI and not rich enough to have the luxury of ignoring the ROI.
“We have beautiful oaks and maples and their lives matter….”
“Our roof has too much shade from tall trees, and anyway we’re too old to realize a ROI and not rich enough to have the luxury of ignoring the ROI.”
Again, James Hansen had an answer to such common problems individuals may have in taking climate action. Paul Krugman rudely disagreed. But, the point of Hansen was that individuals need not be penalized for being climate “responsible.”
@ltr,
There are many ways to be climate responsible besides rooftop solar. Just turning your thermostat up in the summer and down in the winter is one. Drive less and take public transportation or walk more. Drive a subcompact or hybrid that gets better mileage than an SUV, van or truck, and combine trips. Make sure your tires are fully inflated all the time. Replace meat, especially beef, with locally grown fruits and vegetables.
And vote for politicians and policies that support green energy and alternatives to cars.
laddy:
It is pretty there.
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/opinion/07hansen.html
December 7, 2009
Cap and Fade
By JAMES HANSEN
The Clean Energy Future Is Arriving Faster Than You Think
NY Times – August 12
The United States is pivoting away from fossil fuels and toward wind, solar and other renewable energy, even in areas dominated by the oil and gas industries.
@Fred,
And yet nearly 80% of new vehicle purchases in the US are SUVs and trucks.
https://www.marketplace.org/2023/04/06/whats-driving-car-prices-ever-higher/
If I were to get a new vehicle, it would have to be electric or a plug-in hybrid.
I would hope that Mrs Fred would do likewise, and my two adult kids.
(My son has a non-PlugIn hybrid he bought about 2 years ago, before he had sufficient access to outside electricity to run a charger. My daughter has a high-mileage conventional Honda Fit that no doubt will be similarly replaced when the time comes. Mrs Fred, who does most of the driving, has a high-mileage conventional Honda.)
BTW, one notices the prevalence of small SUVs on New England highways. Mrs Fred’s is such. They get good mileage, if you consider 35 mpg good. Far more of them than the Yukon/Tahoe class SUVs, even though we are said to have a thing for big vehicles.
Used to be what drove the US economy was people replacing autos every two or three years. I managed to average six, but I’ve had my favorite Saab for 15.
(My family, growing up, never owned a car. My father made use of ‘company’ cars always; my mother did not drive. We were unusual in suburbia.)
Still, an awful lot of vehicles are sold, and we remain obsessed with them.