Comments for Solar Energy Blog http://www.sunelec.com/blog Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:20:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on I almost brainwashed myself. by Where2 http://www.sunelec.com/blog/renewable-energy-2/ive-brainwashed-myself/#comment-37784 Where2 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:20:22 +0000 http://www.sunelec.com/blog/?p=1897#comment-37784 Living in South Florida, and having to deal with the same issues as Dennis, I've considered building a panel rack on a used aluminum boat trailer and installing a permitted 20A 220V outlet on a power pedestal next to where I'd park the solar trailer. Panels are UL approved, inverters are UL approved, I could get a UL approved junction box built by a UL facility, and install a 220v 20A plug. At that point it's basically a UL rated appliance which could be plugged into any appropriate outlet. If a storm comes, it's easy to take panels off and store them inside for 5 days while FPL gets their grid fixed. Living in South Florida, and having to deal with the same issues as Dennis, I’ve considered building a panel rack on a used aluminum boat trailer and installing a permitted 20A 220V outlet on a power pedestal next to where I’d park the solar trailer. Panels are UL approved, inverters are UL approved, I could get a UL approved junction box built by a UL facility, and install a 220v 20A plug. At that point it’s basically a UL rated appliance which could be plugged into any appropriate outlet. If a storm comes, it’s easy to take panels off and store them inside for 5 days while FPL gets their grid fixed.

]]> Comment on I almost brainwashed myself. by Rahul http://www.sunelec.com/blog/renewable-energy-2/ive-brainwashed-myself/#comment-37760 Rahul Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:37:51 +0000 http://www.sunelec.com/blog/?p=1897#comment-37760 at the Megawatt scale the price of solar for installation( you can buy good quality modules the best brands for as low as 0.6$/watt when you buy a 100MW or maybe even less. inverters only cost 0.15$/watt when you order a quantity like 100MW , commissioning etc can be brought down to as low as 1000$/KW even in the united states using prefabricated structures etc. So all those numbers you see are just bloated up almost 200% by a bunch of people who already get cheap loans and would like to bleed the govt and therefore the people dry and make solar energy look like a pipe dream. Its as simple as this you get me a 100MW order in any of the sunny states I can supply power for 25 years at 14 cents kw-h or less for the next 25 years and still give the shareholders decent returns. And the complete project cost would just be 1500$/KW or less of installed power. at the Megawatt scale the price of solar for installation( you can buy good quality modules the best brands for as low as 0.6$/watt when you buy a 100MW or maybe even less. inverters only cost 0.15$/watt when you order a quantity like 100MW , commissioning etc can be brought down to as low as 1000$/KW even in the united states using prefabricated structures etc. So all those numbers you see are just bloated up almost 200% by a bunch of people who already get cheap loans and would like to bleed the govt and therefore the people dry and make solar energy look like a pipe dream.

Its as simple as this you get me a 100MW order in any of the sunny states I can supply power for 25 years at 14 cents kw-h or less for the next 25 years and still give the shareholders decent returns. And the complete project cost would just be 1500$/KW or less of installed power.

]]> Comment on NORTHERN ARIZONA WIND AND SUN solar commentary group lose on 78¢/w by Mike Jones http://www.sunelec.com/blog/renewable-energy-2/northern-arizona-wind-and-sun-solar-commentary-group-lose-out-on-jk/#comment-37733 Mike Jones Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:52:36 +0000 http://www.sunelec.com/blog/?p=1792#comment-37733 I purchased 10kw of the Evergreen panels to go with my 10kw of my Canadian Solar panels, Yes, I have a 20kw system. I love both sets of panels, but I do like the Evergreen panels better. They are heavier and seem to be built a little bit better. They both work fine with the Enphase 190 Micro inverters and I will most likely purchase an additional 20kw by the end of the year for a planned Mini Solar farm I have in the works. I purchased 10kw of the Evergreen panels to go with my 10kw of my Canadian Solar panels, Yes, I have a 20kw system. I love both sets of panels, but I do like the Evergreen panels better. They are heavier and seem to be built a little bit better. They both work fine with the Enphase 190 Micro inverters and I will most likely purchase an additional 20kw by the end of the year for a planned Mini Solar farm I have in the works.

]]> Comment on I almost brainwashed myself. by Dean http://www.sunelec.com/blog/renewable-energy-2/ive-brainwashed-myself/#comment-37725 Dean Sun, 19 Feb 2012 18:16:55 +0000 http://www.sunelec.com/blog/?p=1897#comment-37725 Nuclear capacity factor is over 90%. Solar capacity factor is about 4.5hours/24= about 19%. So about 4.7/1. So $3/watt solar times 4.7 = about $14.70 for the same installed capacity. Nuke is not intermittent, and has a 60 year design life compared with about 30 years solar, so nuke is much, much cheaper per kw. That said, the solar is mine, and once paid is paid. No middleman profiting for the rest of my life. See, nuke is cheaper, but for the power company, not me. I am better off when I own my own power. Nuke may be 1.5 cents/kw or so, but that is not what I pay for it, I pay 16 cents, likely to increase over time. So solar for me can be a better deal. You can't count on the future being the same as today. Eg if social security ends, I'll still have electricity and maybe double the chance of paying my property tax. For me solar PV is a sort of retirement investment. Nuclear capacity factor is over 90%. Solar capacity factor is about 4.5hours/24= about 19%. So about 4.7/1. So $3/watt solar times 4.7 = about $14.70 for the same installed capacity. Nuke is not intermittent, and has a 60 year design life compared with about 30 years solar, so nuke is much, much cheaper per kw. That said, the solar is mine, and once paid is paid. No middleman profiting for the rest of my life. See, nuke is cheaper, but for the power company, not me.

I am better off when I own my own power. Nuke may be 1.5 cents/kw or so, but that is not what I pay for it, I pay 16 cents, likely to increase over time. So solar for me can be a better deal. You can’t count on the future being the same as today. Eg if social security ends, I’ll still have electricity and maybe double the chance of paying my property tax. For me solar PV is a sort of retirement investment.

]]> Comment on I almost brainwashed myself. by John Sanford http://www.sunelec.com/blog/renewable-energy-2/ive-brainwashed-myself/#comment-37721 John Sanford Sun, 19 Feb 2012 17:33:00 +0000 http://www.sunelec.com/blog/?p=1897#comment-37721 John, it has always been about money. That is the reason Detroit went bankrupt. The automobile manufactures created inefficient cars that consumed large amounts of gas which the oil companies loved (and investors). Same thing with energy, we could be leading in alternative energy, but politics says support (subsidize) the oil industry no matter what the cost! As oil becomes less available the poor will be priced right out of living and the middle class will become the "new" poor or has that already happened? We are now being held hostage by the people who hate us (Middle East) and we have learned nothing! Ask people who have large amounts of wealth if they have any investments in the oil industry and you might come to a conclusion that I came to many years ago. Alternative energy and (energy efficient transportation) will cut oil profits and as an investor I can't allow that! I live on an Island where the price of electricity is almost $.40/kwh and fossil fuel is the only game in town. The government goes thru the motions of supporting alternative energy, but gratuities and taxes on fuel are too "sweet". John, it has always been about money. That is the reason Detroit went bankrupt. The automobile manufactures created inefficient cars that consumed large amounts of gas which the oil companies loved (and investors). Same thing with energy, we could be leading in alternative energy, but politics says support (subsidize) the oil industry no matter what the cost! As oil becomes less available the poor will be priced right out of living and the middle class will become the “new” poor or has that already happened?

We are now being held hostage by the people who hate us (Middle East) and we have learned nothing!

Ask people who have large amounts of wealth if they have any investments in the oil industry and you might come to a conclusion that I came to many years ago. Alternative energy and (energy efficient transportation) will cut oil profits and as an investor I can’t allow that!
I live on an Island where the price of electricity is almost $.40/kwh and fossil fuel is the only game in town. The government goes thru the motions of supporting alternative energy, but gratuities and taxes on fuel are too “sweet”.

]]> Comment on I almost brainwashed myself. by Neptune Srimal http://www.sunelec.com/blog/renewable-energy-2/ive-brainwashed-myself/#comment-37717 Neptune Srimal Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:28:50 +0000 http://www.sunelec.com/blog/?p=1897#comment-37717 from Wikipedia: "..For two new AP1000 reactors in Florida, Progress Energy announced that if built within 18 months of each other, the cost for the first would be $5144 per kilowatt and the second $3376/kW - total $9.4 billion. Including land, plant components, cooling towers, financing costs, license application, regulatory fees, initial fuel for two units, owner's costs, insurance, taxes, escalation, and contingencies, the total would be about $14 billion...." As compared to this my 7.75KW grid tied system (installed by Sun Electronics) cost less that $3/ watt installed or less that $3000 per KW. That is less than what it will cost FPL and much less disruptive to the environment. With FPL rebate and Federal Tax credit I am hoping my final cost would be close to $0.75 per KW. how can you beat that? the most polluting part of solar installations is the manufacturing of the solar panels. But fortunately, the Chinese are shouldering that and are supplying us with good panels at a cheap price. Of my installation cost, only $0.78 per watt was the cost of the panels, the rest $2.25 per watt went into supporting local industry, contractors, installers, permit fee to the city, fee to engineer for the plan, inverter and rack and cable and swtich box manufacturers. I don't see how anyone can not like it? Even after all the rebate and tax credit -- this perhaps the best and least expensive way to add additional, clean generating capacity in USA and at the same time help the local economy. from Wikipedia:
“..For two new AP1000 reactors in Florida, Progress Energy announced that if built within 18 months of each other, the cost for the first would be $5144 per kilowatt and the second $3376/kW – total $9.4 billion. Including land, plant components, cooling towers, financing costs, license application, regulatory fees, initial fuel for two units, owner’s costs, insurance, taxes, escalation, and contingencies, the total would be about $14 billion….”

As compared to this my 7.75KW grid tied system (installed by Sun Electronics) cost less that $3/ watt installed or less that $3000 per KW. That is less than what it will cost FPL and much less disruptive to the environment. With FPL rebate and Federal Tax credit I am hoping my final cost would be close to $0.75 per KW. how can you beat that?

the most polluting part of solar installations is the manufacturing of the solar panels. But fortunately, the Chinese are shouldering that and are supplying us with good panels at a cheap price. Of my installation cost, only $0.78 per watt was the cost of the panels, the rest $2.25 per watt went into supporting local industry, contractors, installers, permit fee to the city, fee to engineer for the plan, inverter and rack and cable and swtich box manufacturers. I don’t see how anyone can not like it? Even after all the rebate and tax credit — this perhaps the best and least expensive way to add additional, clean generating capacity in USA and at the same time help the local economy.

]]> Comment on Need a nice job? We need people in Hawaii. by Jason Burton http://www.sunelec.com/blog/renewable-energy-2/need-a-nice-job-we-need-someone-in-honolulu/#comment-37651 Jason Burton Sat, 18 Feb 2012 04:40:49 +0000 http://www.sunelec.com/blog/?p=1826#comment-37651 I have being researching solar energy for about ten years now, I have no hands on experience but a good knowledge of the system and how it works. My area of study is Electronic Engineering and have being working in the field for the past fifteen years. I would welcome the opportunity to work in the field as I have always being interested in solar energy. I have being researching solar energy for about ten years now, I have no hands on experience but a good knowledge of the system and how it works. My area of study is Electronic Engineering and have being working in the field for the past fifteen years.

I would welcome the opportunity to work in the field as I have always being interested in solar energy.

]]> Comment on I almost brainwashed myself. by Dennis Fowler http://www.sunelec.com/blog/renewable-energy-2/ive-brainwashed-myself/#comment-37636 Dennis Fowler Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:20:11 +0000 http://www.sunelec.com/blog/?p=1897#comment-37636 Boy - this all is very interesting. Grid tie is the way of the future. With grid tie, the power grid becomes your batteries, allowing you to get max bennifit from every watt you produce. My biggest concern is cost associated getting permits and meeding sometimes crazy codes. Example, my county wants an engineer to certify my roof can handle PV modules. They also want a certified Florida Engineer to certify the mounting system and they want this in the form of a sealed packaged same as they do someone putting up a sky scrapper. This means to put PV pannels on my roof I will have to hire two engineers just to get a permit. Now I realize that permiting is necessary in the interest of public saftey, but this is overboard. First, the national building code for over 30 years now has required all roofs be capable of handleing an addittional dead weght load of 5 lbs sq ft. - so if a house was built in the last 30 years, is not decaying from rot or insect infestation, and has only one layer of composite shingles on it then it cannot fail. This is because PV pannels weight in at about 40 pounds for a 40" x 60" pannel, with a distributed wright of 1.4 lbs/ sq ft. is way under the dead load allowance. There are more requiremets to be considered, such as the point load on rafters where the pannels are attached, zone of placement on a roof, etc. All these are covered by the mounting system or PV manufacturer. Then all mounting system parts have to be certified also, like the mounting systems must be make just for Florida. Forget the online tools that allow you to input wind speed and other perient information to build your own system. Forget off the shelf, nothing is good enoutgh unless an engineer says it is. Well I am building mine anyway, it'm just not installing anything permantly. That's right, my pannels will not be attached to the roof, they will just lay there. Should a storm come in, i'll just bring them in and store them in the garage. Electrically, I will not hard wire inverter to my house electrical system. I have found inverters with standard A/C plugs on them that can be plugged in anythere in the house. I should be able to put up a 2 to 3 kw sysyem at an affortable price. Got any suggestions on how to deal with an un-reasonable county permit office? I would love to here what other options I have, if any. Dennis is Marion County Florida Boy – this all is very interesting. Grid tie is the way of the future. With grid tie, the power grid becomes your batteries, allowing you to get max bennifit from every watt you produce. My biggest concern is cost associated getting permits and meeding sometimes crazy codes. Example, my county wants an engineer to certify my roof can handle PV modules. They also want a certified Florida Engineer to certify the mounting system and they want this in the form of a sealed packaged same as they do someone putting up a sky scrapper. This means to put PV pannels on my roof I will have to hire two engineers just to get a permit. Now I realize that permiting is necessary in the interest of public saftey, but this is overboard. First, the national building code for over 30 years now has required all roofs be capable of handleing an addittional dead weght load of 5 lbs sq ft. – so if a house was built in the last 30 years, is not decaying from rot or insect infestation, and has only one layer of composite shingles on it then it cannot fail. This is because PV pannels weight in at about 40 pounds for a 40″ x 60″ pannel, with a distributed wright of 1.4 lbs/ sq ft. is way under the dead load allowance. There are more requiremets to be considered, such as the point load on rafters where the pannels are attached, zone of placement on a roof, etc. All these are covered by the mounting system or PV manufacturer. Then all mounting system parts have to be certified also, like the mounting systems must be make just for Florida. Forget the online tools that allow you to input wind speed and other perient information to build your own system. Forget off the shelf, nothing is good enoutgh unless an engineer says it is. Well I am building mine anyway, it’m just not installing anything permantly. That’s right, my pannels will not be attached to the roof, they will just lay there. Should a storm come in, i’ll just bring them in and store them in the garage. Electrically, I will not hard wire inverter to my house electrical system. I have found inverters with standard A/C plugs on them that can be plugged in anythere in the house. I should be able to put up a 2 to 3 kw sysyem at an affortable price.
Got any suggestions on how to deal with an un-reasonable county permit office? I would love to here what other options I have, if any.
Dennis is Marion County Florida

]]> Comment on I almost brainwashed myself. by Rahul http://www.sunelec.com/blog/renewable-energy-2/ive-brainwashed-myself/#comment-37632 Rahul Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:47:35 +0000 http://www.sunelec.com/blog/?p=1897#comment-37632 when you say grid parity is a dream I hope you put things into proper perspective, in India where I come from a French PV installer has signed a deal to supply power at a price of 16 cents a kw-h, commercial buildings in India already purchase power at 13 cents a kw-h. during the peak hours power companies buy power at 20 cents a kw-h. As for the intermittency issues we have to remember that the sun shines all the time on earth(one half of it). the plan eventually is to construct huge solar PV powerplants across different time zones and link them all just like the internet(smart grid) so that they are always steady power everywhere it is mutually beneficial for all nations of the world. Huge grid tie powerplants are here to stay whether we like it or not. when you say grid parity is a dream I hope you put things into proper perspective, in India where I come from a French PV installer has signed a deal to supply power at a price of 16 cents a kw-h, commercial buildings in India already purchase power at 13 cents a kw-h. during the peak hours power companies buy power at 20 cents a kw-h. As for the intermittency issues we have to remember that the sun shines all the time on earth(one half of it). the plan eventually is to construct huge solar PV powerplants across different time zones and link them all just like the internet(smart grid) so that they are always steady power everywhere it is mutually beneficial for all nations of the world. Huge grid tie powerplants are here to stay whether we like it or not.

]]> Comment on I almost brainwashed myself. by Bman http://www.sunelec.com/blog/renewable-energy-2/ive-brainwashed-myself/#comment-37628 Bman Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:54:52 +0000 http://www.sunelec.com/blog/?p=1897#comment-37628 There's no getting around the politics. Being a "liberal" or a "conservative" means accepting a large package of beliefs of varying palatability. Off-grid solar does enjoy the advantage of being apolitical. Here are a few counter arguments to the posting: (1) New solar is 20 cents per kWh, which is 4 times (not 10 times) new natural gas (at 5 cents per kWh). (2) Solar farms have driven down the price of solar panels for all users. An off-grid DIY homeowner can now have an ample system for $10K, versus the $30K cost of 10 years ago, when the PV market was mostly off-grid. (3) Higher electricity prices are a major concern, but the marginal cost of solar is still quite low in many states (except California, which is screwed anyway). The goal is grid parity, and the largesse indirectly drives investment in new technology, hopefully towards the "Sunshot" target. At $1.00 per watt all in, and 5% over 20 years, PV electricity can sell for 5 cents per kWh, with 90 cents per kW per month for operating expenses. (With panels approaching 50 cents, inverters approaching 10 cents, and racks approaching 10 cents, 100 cents is doable.) (4) Comparing solar panels to flags is unfair. The debate over energy is about land and money and power, which are more than symbols. There’s no getting around the politics. Being a “liberal” or a “conservative” means accepting a large package of beliefs of varying palatability. Off-grid solar does enjoy the advantage of being apolitical.

Here are a few counter arguments to the posting:

(1) New solar is 20 cents per kWh, which is 4 times (not 10 times) new natural gas (at 5 cents per kWh).
(2) Solar farms have driven down the price of solar panels for all users. An off-grid DIY homeowner can now have an ample system for $10K, versus the $30K cost of 10 years ago, when the PV market was mostly off-grid.
(3) Higher electricity prices are a major concern, but the marginal cost of solar is still quite low in many states (except California, which is screwed anyway). The goal is grid parity, and the largesse indirectly drives investment in new technology, hopefully towards the “Sunshot” target. At $1.00 per watt all in, and 5% over 20 years, PV electricity can sell for 5 cents per kWh, with 90 cents per kW per month for operating expenses. (With panels approaching 50 cents, inverters approaching 10 cents, and racks approaching 10 cents, 100 cents is doable.)
(4) Comparing solar panels to flags is unfair. The debate over energy is about land and money and power, which are more than symbols.

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