Solar Power for home (1 Viewer)

[Eric_L]

So while surfing the web I come across this website:

http://www.solar.philips.com/en/wtb/index.htm

I am not very knowledgeable about electric power. I am wondering if anyone knows much about this. How much power does it create? How much power does the typical home use? Will it be available in the US? Is there another system available from a competitor? What are the costs? Is it efficient/cost effective? And most important - will it be compatible with my HT system?

 

[Todd Hochard]

Is this the link you were going for?

http://www.solar.philips.com/en/index.htm

It's tough to follow without spending some time reading up on all of it. Generally speaking, though, you're not getting more than 2Kw peak power generation for less than about $10000 installed. Meaning, over the course of a day in FL, you may generate 10-15Kw hours, tops. Look at your last electric bill, and figure the Kw-hr/day (if you have a 2000+ sq ft. home and electric appliances, you're probably at 40-50kw-hr/day average here in FL). So, if you take 15kw-hrs/day off of your 50Kw-hr total, you can see that this $10000 is only going to cut 25-30% from your bill. That's a LONG payback.
In fact, I think the "life-cycle" cost of most solar equipment is still in the 15c-20c/Kw-hr range, meaning there is no payback, financially speaking. YET. Look for solar costs to come down, along with power generation costs likely rising, to help even the score.

This is why conservation MUST MUST MUST be a key component of successfully reducing your power consumption. I'm not talking about significantly cutting into your comfort to save a couple of bucks, three trees, and a red-headed, blue tailed, Bewildebird 7000 miles away, but simply cutting the waste from your energy budget.

You can start your search for info local- http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/

Look what they built in Lakeland. My next home, should I build one, will incorporate MANY of these features.

http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/bldg/active/...land/index.htm

I could go on for days. I'll stop here, for now.

Todd

 

[Todd Hochard]

One more thing- if you want to start "solar," start simple-

1. If you have a pool, solar heat it, instead of gas, to extend your swimming season.
2. Solar water heating for your home.
3. Minimize the solar "infiltration" of your home, by covering the East and West facing windows, and/or tinting them with low-E film.

I recently put a white-roofed porch on the back of my house (the west facing side), that covers 3 windows, one small glass door, and one eight foot slider (and all these were already tinted), and it reduced my summer AC use by 150kw/month. About 12% of the total bill, and about 25% of the AC usage! Just from shade. Solar heat gain is brutal here in FL, and is really the majority load on your AC, not the temperature.

Ok, really- I'll stop.

Todd