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I think it will be used as a backup mostly.
I am intrigued by the idea of distributed power generation with solar playing a big part of it in places where it is viable:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_generati…
http://www.solarbuzz.com/DistributedGeneration.ht…
Considering how much we lose in the transportation of power, and the security issues with centralized power generation, this could potentially work. And best of all, it can be done step by step on a business by business and home by home basis. I love talking about this topic with my progressive friends because it's one of the few things where we can really agree on. Solar is very possible, but only if it's adopted by home owners as a distributed power source, not so much simply as large scale solar farms.
Unfortunately for Sir AndrewClunn, the prohibitive costs of adding solar power to the individual home makes it a rich mans power source – mass distribution of electrical power will be around for a very long time indeed.
I looked into adding a wind turbine or photovoltaic panels to my home here in Arizona and just could not justify the extreme cost of either of those things (well over $60,000.00 total including permits and construction costs) – even with the input into the grid of generated power I do not use.
However, out here in Northern Arizona, there is a solar power plant that will be under construction for about the next three years before it goes online, and that generated power will be put into the general grid. You can learn all about it at;
http//www.hualapaivalleysolar.com
It is going to be built on open range private property – we are a cattle ranching area – and it will be constructed with not one penny from local, state, or federal government money. It will initially create several hundred jobs locally during construction and will eventually have a full time round the clock operation and maintenance crew – most to be employed from our local area.
This ought to give Sir Andrew something to discuss with his "progressive" friends since not one penny of Obama's stimulus money will be used in the construction or operation of this plant.
Much like our battery technology for electric cars, solar cells really aren't quite where we need them to be. However, using government credits and local power suppliers cash incentives you can have a solar systems that powers your home for around $5-10k. Interestingly enough the newest Nobel Prize in Physics gives us a relatively short term solution for increasing our solar cells output above the Shockley limit of 32% while doubling it's current capability. It apparently will also make them quite affordable. Solar will be a viable source of electrical generation well within many of our lifetimes.
It is not the cost of materials that is the problem, it is the cost of construction. In order to add solar power generating capabilities to your existing home (in some of the United States) you first have to provide your local political – city, county, state – entities with the following; EIR (because you will be adding hazardous materials), You then have to hire a licensed and approved contractor that is approved to perform that type of construction, You have to pay the local, county and/or state fees to get the permission to do the construction, then during each phase of the construction you will have to pay the inspection fees in order to continue on to the next phase, and then once construction is complete you will have to pay for an independent testing contractor to run all the listed tests on your power generating and storage (if you opt for that capability) devices. As you can see, this is the problem with adding you own power generating devices to your existing home. No matter how cheap it may be in the long run, the local political vultures will bleed you dry. One of my neighbors did just what I had been planning to do and he told me that he would not live long enough to reap the financial benefits from what he did.
Again it is not the cost of materials, but the rest of the expenses that make individual power generation cost prohibitive.
[...] saving measures like better insulation, solar water heating and ground/air source heating/cooling.Which one can give you more electricity???? I know that in a sunny day the panels gives yuou energy …o not, most "home turbines" never repay the carbon invested in them. If, however, you live [...]