When the hell will we be able to get an affordable solar electricity system?

I live in S. Calif. and am dying to use our excessive sunlight for energy but the damn systems are still horrendously expensive, will take a decade or more to pay itself off, and only supplies a small percentage of your power.

I have been hearing for years about reasonably priced systems but nothing, NOTHING! is on the market.

Will it EVER be available to help take away some of the need for this goddamned OIL!?

Even paranoids have enemies. So long as DWP is the most powerful local public agency in California, will they resist cheap solar.

Also, I guess building photovoltaics is environmentally dirty. But Boy! would I love to have an affordable PV system. Been lusting after it since the 70's.

Think of the number of Americans who have died, since the 70's, because this country could not shed its dependence on fossil fuels.

1: Solar isn't going to get you off of oil until you have an electric car.

2: Solar configurations have dropped in price and increased in efficiency. Perhaps the place you're getting quotes is not giving good pricing. A friend is outfitting his whole house and was able to get his equipment at much less than he budgeted for.

3: As far as the decade to pay it off goes, check into what tax rebates and credits are available to you in California, since you might get a lot of it paid for by the Feds/State.

Don't lose hope, solar is always improving. When I'm employed again, and buy a house again, I will be going completely off grid. Can't wait.

Also: Something you can do now is to ensure that you're using as little power as possible, since the #1 way to keep cost down on a solar set is to not need as much power.

This is interesting. I wonder if it is legit?

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/02/72752

to run on solar during the day the need an aweful lot of land and infrastructure. and once the sun is gone.....

the grid is the problem.

As it stands, there is little if any mass production capacity of these things to achieve economies of scale. Most people and corporations don't have the money for start-up costs of building manufacturing plants of such size, but the federal government could if it provided subsidies in the form of X cents per kilowatt/hour or something.

the economies of scale of the large producers are just not that easy to beat. Even for solar, wind, etc, they can do it cheaper than you can do at home.

So, why aren't they? Because the cost per megawatt of building and operating a coal/gas plant is still cheaper than most other types. And, btw, photovoltaics are horrendously inefficient compared to other alternatives. They work, but the technology has to improve before they become cost effective enough to be universally accepted.

But, things are changing, even if not that fast. Depending on your state and local utility rebates and deals, you can get an installation in some areas for under 5 grand cash and start selling juice back to the grid almost immediately.

We have friends who just built a beautiful big new house on lots of land and they didn't put in solar or wind. They are good people, but I don't understand their thinking because if you have the money to do all that, why not spend the bit extra-or shave off a bedroom-and help save the planet? :shrug:

p.s. Did you see this thread on wind power?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x95513

Solar is limited by clouds and nighttime. I don't expect ever to see a competitive system in my lifetime. Maybe some day...

They make low-interest loans to install solar power and pay homeowners for surplus power. They have homeowners making a profit on their solar panels.

http://www.wind-works.org/FeedLaws/Germany/GermanSolarPVforfreeSaysWalterFischer.html

I've been looking into this for awhile. Googling around alot.

From http://www.partsonsale.com/ ---



Remember, once you spend that money, you are not only using less off-the-grid electricity, but after the back-up batteries are fully charged, you sell power back to the electric company.

Here's another site, http://www.oksolar.com/n_cart/search.asp?cat=Solar%20Systems&subcat=Off-Grid

It's all still a bit confusing what with the various companies and configurations. Also, it's hard to find reliability track records. We're still in the pioneering era, but if you really want solar on your roof, it is possible.

When the energy companies get together and figure a way to get taxpayers to pick up the tab, they will move to some sort of "eminent domain" to acquire the needed area in Nevada (10% of the states desert) and the solar panel fields will generate enough electricity to supposedly take care of the entire United States. Ahead of this, energy company mergers may be necessary to avoid in-fighting among them.

Let's remember who really runs the policy of this country.

Then if the wealthy invest in it, it will be mass produced, centralized, and then cheap enough for everyone, just like everything else. Then we'll protest Big Solar.

At the bottom of this tread is an ad for www.FreeSolarPanels.com.