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SOLAR ENERGY ?

LETS DISCUSS ABOUT SOLAR ENERGY?
BENEFITS OF SOLAR ENERGY ?

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May not be lower cost overall but definitely lower emissions and better for the environment

fact: the sun gives us more energy in one day than the entire world uses in one year.

SOLAR energy is long term investment this will return your money within 5 years and the warranty of solar panel is 25 years

we are using only 30% percent energy other 70% percent energy is wasted every day

In future new technique will come that we can absorb moon energy

Solar is a great form of renewable energy.  It won't meet all of our needs, but it's good in combination with other sources.  In the past, typical solar cells have only been able to capture about 10-15% of the energy of the light that hits them.  But with increased interest in recent years, scientists and engineers have been able to design much more efficient cells.  I think I've read that they've been able to make some that are over 40% efficient in the laboratory.  If they can mass-produce those, then solar energy will probably become a lot cheaper.


Cheese?  :P

incorrect. the earth has plenty of surface area to absorb energy, all we need is infrastructure. it won't be cheap, but planning and building current infrastructure wasn't cheap either. it can be done but big energy companies don't want it to happen.

From what I read and heard, it is not an efficient way to save electricity due to the cost of the panels.

It is a shame because it sounds like it would make the world a better place and it would be cheaper electricity bills for all!

You aren't making yourself really clear. There is no known way for us to do it right now, but is it possible? Yes it is.
The problem is that not enough money is being put into researching this. Imagine if 99% of the worlds energy was Solar energy.  ;)

yes, but not impossible. we have money to develop nuclear powered war ships and fancy jets that fly faster than the speed of sound. we can afford it but the energy companies don't want it and lobby to prevent it.

I use unpressurized solar water heater 150 liter with evacuated tubes. Is cheap and work OK.

http://image.made-in-china.com/4f0j00dMyTIRCHCDuk/Solar-Water-Heater-Sunpower-Sun-Energy-CE-SABS-Solar-Keymark-ISO-certification-test-Passed-New-Popular.jpg

Expensive??
My solar water heater cost €350, if self installed.

i'd love to install solar pads on my home, but for now, it's really not cost effective.

Tell me cost of hot water for 5 Years in Your Home  ;D ;D ;D

I have now 150 liter of water at 71 C° for free. And in Summer is normal 90-97 C°.

That's the main reason that we aren't using that much solar.
Or that they are thinking about is ROI and profiting.

We have a solar panel installed on the roof of the house - this is in England of all places. It's alright, heats up the water nicely for showers. Obviously not enough to rely on but works well. It was installed on the property before we bought it, not sure if I would have taken the plunge personally.

Part of it is the initial investment cost.  Another part is that your weather and longitude matter.  You can't power a city on solar power when half the days of the year are cloudy, or if the sun is low on the horizon a good part of the day.  I've heard more like 20 years ROI, but it depends on where it's located, how efficient and expensive the panels are, etc.

Hydro is the big green energy resource.

Solar and Wind are minor.

This site has a Free Clean Energy movement that actually makes practical sense and they list lots of major countries that are over 50% Hydro now. China has a lot of Hydro plants under construction. Green Clean and Free may be the future of Energy. They go by GREPA

www.Grepa.org (http://www.Grepa.org)

Cool concept, that we support 100% like Bitcoin. Bitcoin and Grepa may be two pivotal movements in human development.

What about those people around here talking about those solar-streets? I guess that's nothing new, though... Those things also still need to be developed further. I mean, they'll have to endure great stress over a long time - something you can't just simulate in a lab. Also, they get dirty. Very dirty. There's a reason why streets are black  :D

I've also heard of something like solar cell paint.  You can just apply the stuff to whatever you want to turn it into a solar collecting source: walls, roofs, etc.  If they could make that cheap and efficient, that would really be something.

any site which is accepting BTC that we can buy solar products

Bullshit.

ROI is 10+ years.

its 5+ years if you use with care

Wrong. I've calculated ROI multiple times in multiple areas. The only way you can even get close to 5 years is without including any sort of land cost or extra equipment. 5 years if you ONLY calculate for solar cells and building panels yourself. Just the cells and panel materials. No extra kit that converts the 12 volt DC to 120 volt AC is included in that ROI.

More then 7 years unless you can get it dirt cheap..

You guys know the Solar Roadways concept right ? https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=619852.0

I heard from news that there is a new and more efficient solar energy, hopefully it is cheaper also and it would bring the ROI close to 3 years if my calculation is right.

Whoa, really? Got any sources? That's sick! Where do you harvest the actually collected energy? Just plug in the wires at some point of your painted area? Is this safe for people and the environment at all?

I'm not sure of all the details, but yes, I think you just attach a couple wires to key points.  I'm not sure of how toxic the chemicals would be.  I think the biggest obstacles have been efficiency and cost.  But they're working on it.  Just google something like "solar cell paint," and you'll get a whole bunch of articles.  For example:

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/05/15/caution-wet-solar-power-new-affordable-solar-paint-research/
http://www.cnet.com/news/new-nanotech-quantum-dots-to-make-solar-cells-lighter-cheaper/

IMO solar energy can give a boost to the bitcoin mining - it's environmentally-friendly and quiet cheap.

If you are talking about solar panels on your roof or something, it's certainly cleaner than oil and may be price competitive depending on your electric rates.

It's not so great as a power source overall, as far as powering a nation. Panels need replacing, and creating the panels themselves create a lot of toxic materials.

Thorium plants longterm is likely a better choice.

free bitcoins (minus cost of equipment obviously)?

Well, yes, but the up-front equipment cost is huge.  Solar energy systems only pay off over many years of use.  One example I found with a quick Google search said $6-$8/watt installed, which led to a 10-year ROI for the system.  So you could install solar panels or buy an equivalent amount of electricity for a decade.  Do you think you'll be mining that long?

I am pretty SURE my electricity meter is connected to a Stratum 0 devices, and is nuclear powered ... how can we audit it ? I mean how to know my meter is really showing the proper measurement ?

I would be enlightened by the sun with a miner device 99.999 sun's nuclear fusion ( Our star, the Sun, makes up 99% of all the mass in the Solar System.) powered.

Solar energy shouldn't even be in the convo at the moment.  It is far to expensive up front and doesn't return your investment until way later of in the years.

I often see this posted on social media about how we need to convert roads to solar panels.  It is a great idea....however if we were to do that to just 1 state(larger state) the country would probably double in debt and its already hard to see us getting out of this whole(USA).  Think about redoing the world...

If I would try to do that I would have 150 litres of ice for most of time ;D

Unfortunately, if we stick to "we can't afford this now," then it will never happen.  Solar energy is not the full answer anyway.  It's just one of a number of clean energy sources that needs to be developed.  Like many technologies, the more solar is used, the more incentive there is to research improved cells, which will further bring down the cost.  Additionally, it's very likely that fossil fuel energy sources will continue to increase in price.  Solar may be more expensive now, but further development will make it cheaper in the future.

what if gov rise charges on non-green energy ... what the impact would be ?

You know what? I once saw satellite picture of Sahara Desert. There were staged solar collectors on like 1/10 of that desert and descriptions: If you put solar collectors on part of Sahara Desert it will generate energy sufficient to power whole world. Now I am wonder why people does not do that?

That would help green energy.  But the government won't do that, at least not in the US.  There would be a huge public outcry if they tried.  Plus, the government is in bed with the oil companies, so there's no way they will anyway.

Edit: It is noteworthy that while I don't think the US government would raise the cost of non-green energy, they do have a lot of incentives that promote green energy, like grants for research, tax breaks for building and installing green energy infrastructure (like adding solar panels to a home), etc.

Sad, we live in aan(?) information society ... well I need to get back to some academic papers now. (wow IBM)

http://www.pimagazine-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ibm-smart-grid.jpg

Three reasons: up-front cost, inability to transmit electricity very long distances, and cost of nighttime energy storage.

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_energy_consumption) says that worldwide electricity consumption in 2008 was 20,279,640 GWh.  Even if you  make an optimistic assumption of 12 hours of perfect sunlight per day and $3 USD/W installed in 2013 (so 365 x 12 / 3 = 1460 Wh/yr/USD), that would still be 20,279,640,000,000,000 Wh/yr / 1460 Wh/yr/USD = $13,890,164,383,562.  So $14T.

You can transmit electricity for a number of miles, but the farther it goes, the more you lose due to resistance of the power lines.

And you need a huge amount of electrical capacity (batteries) to store such large amounts of power for nighttime use.

I thought you might find this December 2013 article interesting: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9244836/Solar_power_installation_costs_fall_through_the_floor

Particularly this part: "The cost of installing photovoltaic solar arrays has dropped to $3 per watt of electricity they produce - about the same as coal-powered plants cost to build ..."

So it sounds like the cost is quickly becoming less of a factor.

Solar energy is environment - friendly.

Well that is pretty darn interesting, I didn't know that!

If it keeps going like that it would be great, although I live in a crappy part of the states where I don't know if we could successfully use it because we don't get enough sun!  Stupid Minnesota!

The costs are getting much lower per year, I'm not sure what everyone is waiting for.

Oh, man, how can you bash Minnesota like that!  I love the north woods! :)  But I don't live there, so it's a treat to go for me. ;)

Anyway, there are a lot of places, of course, where solar is not as cost-effective.  You really need dry, desert areas.  The southwest part of the US would likely be the best place in the country.

Oh, man, how can you bash Minnesota like that!  I love the north woods! :)  But I don't live there, so it's a treat to go for me. ;)

Anyway, there are a lot of places, of course, where solar is not as cost-effective.  You really need dry, desert areas.  The southwest part of the US would likely be the best place in the country.
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I love the north woods too:P 

Its been a rough year this year, 8 straight weeks where the high temp was 0 degrees, up to -30 degree lows during that with windchill of -55 degrees...

Then to follow that up it snowed until May, afterwards it rained for 2 months and flooded every river and we were still unable to go outside...So far we have had 1 day where it reached 90....Now Summer will be coming to an end very shortly and you can barely enjoy it!

I don't think anyone is waiting around.  From that article: "As a whole, the U.S. installed 4.3GW of PV solar arrays this year, a 27% increase over 2012."  A 27% increase is a lot.  It takes time to ramp up manufacturing.  You can't just increase solar cell production by 100x in a year.  Besides, there's only so much demand.  It's not cost-effective (yet?) to replace existing power plants that work with solar plants, so demand is mostly going to come from the need for more electricity and from the need to replace old power plants that have reached the end of their useful life.  It also takes a lot of land area and of course the right climate to build a solar plant, so you can't just do it anywhere.

Ok, yeah, I can see that.  I'm sorry it's been so crappy.  That's one of the biggest reasons that I don't actually want to live in Minnesota: the winters.  I'm in Illinois, and our winters are bad enough.  Of course this last one was one of the most brutal I can remember.

Help the environment for sure!

How much is the price for PV or a mixt PV+Wind solar system in the USA or EU countries? In Romania is around 3 Euro per watt. However, there are better ways than just buy expensive photovoltaic systems; we work on this now. After testing I will be able to come with the results so pls let me know if there is someone interested. You also can PM me. We use them for our eco energy efficient houses built in RO and in some EU countries.

its good , for everone , and you can earn on it :D

Actually, unless you're doing a huge amount of work yourself, you'll lose out on it. Installed solar panels are ~$3-5 dollars per watt on property you already own. ROI is over 20 years at current electricity prices (averaged out priced throughout the entire USA). Solar panels have a 15-25 year life-span, so you're playing the numbers game, and odds are against you.

If I could I get myself a lot of pannels.

Here's an example from a quick google search:

http://www.wholesalesolar.com/gridtie.html

It looks like you can buy the equipment for $1.50 to $2 per watt, depending on the size of the system, and it comes with a 25-year warranty.  I'm not sure how much installation would cost, but I have a hard time believing that it would cost more than a few thousand.  It looks like federal tax credits can also knock off up to 30% of the installation cost.  Let's say you get the system that produces about 866 kWh/month for $10,300.  Let's even say it costs as much to install as the panels cost.  So let's figure $21,000 total for the system, which would be a little less than $15,000 after tax credits.  I hate it when they say "up to" 866 kWh/month, so let's round that down to 800 to be conservative.  Over 25 years, you should get 800*12*25=240,000 kWh out of it.  Let's say you pay $0.08/kWh, which is also fairly conservative.  You'd save $19,200.  So you're already up at least $4,000 over the cost of the system, and that's not even taking into account rising electricity costs over time.  So if you have the cash, it's probably worth it even now, but the savings isn't huge yet.

Great job, but no. During winter months, your "up to" 866 kWh/month goes down to ~100-200 kWh / month. Also, as the solar cells age, they become less efficient.

"Monthly Output based on 5 sun hours per day" - Wow, that's a LOT of sun time every day. My town has a solar array installed, and all the statistics are available publicly, so it helps quite a bit estimating my ROI. Here's the current stats on a 2 MW solar farm:

https://i.imgur.com/GmWzXPx.png

July is one of the best months, so we're just hitting 5 hours a day. But look at months like December / January. That's around an hour average of sun per day!

Your math also doesn't include maintenance of kit, replacing failing kit (sure, the equipment is under warranty, but the labor to remove it, ship it back, get a new piece isn't), any fees your carrier has associated with tying your solar system to the grid.

As opposed to a decent stock portfolio in which I have a 10% ROI per year. Hmm.

what about the amount of land required for each watt produced?  Land is not by any means cheap

Ok, fair enough.  I was hoping to compensate for overestimates by being conservative in my calculations, but apparently that's not enough.  Thanks for sharing actual stats.  It's so hard to know sometimes.  Where do you live?  And do you know how efficient those solar cells are supposed to be?

There's still a chance that a solar array would be worth it if energy prices go up significantly, but it does look like it's a gamble, at least until efficiencies double or so.

Well indeed you're right. But I want a higher growth actually. There is just not much being invested in it in my perspective.

Land cost is not an issue if we're talking about putting solar panels on your own roof.  In fact, doing so increases your home's value.

Obviously land cost matters for solar plants, but I think remote sites are usually chosen where land is good for little else and is thus cheap.

I've done some research of my own in the solar energy solution looking to find a good way to save money but it seems it would only save me money in 20-30 odd years in the future which  is quite hard to believe.

Solar energy , Hydro energy are the best methods to save energy

you can buy solar set panel online

http://www.amazon.com/SHARP-Solar-Panels-Watts-Cells/dp/B00BBJUFHC

http://www.amazon.com/Grid-tie-Inverter-On-Grid-system-suitable/dp/B008E4GLL6

and many other site you may find on Google search but i suggest to use amazon website because its secure

Its great, but those panels cost a lot to be put on the roof of a house just to save money etc.

Search for local

It doesnt cost anything to opperate.

low operating cost

ROI is 10 years

i think if you have enough money and you want to save for the next years by reducing costs than you should put some panels, it works well and save a lot of money for you by the time, if you have patience you should try

I was pleasantly surprised that there are a lot of solar panels in Italy. Everywhere!

You also need to pay for the land that the solar panel is located on.

most solar panels go on rooftops though. it would be tough to get panels if you're living in an apartment complex, and there is no land to put it on in that case. so it's usually limited to homes, though i know there are some apartments that have panels.

i wonder if you could put the panels in your backyard, and use it as a rooftop.. that would serve two purposes, kind of like this:

https://i.imgur.com/fW7u9ov.jpg

If you can figure out how to install the panels yourself and then just hire an electrician to hook them up to the grid, you would save significant money.  Otherwise, if your numbers look like bluefirecorp's measured data, it will be a lot harder.

i had someone quote me 30k for enough solar panels to provide 700 KWH per month. they are vastly overcharging, because they were trying to convince me to buy a brand that they approved.

i was browing around a bit, and it sounds like you can get a system installed for under $10k.. so your ROI should be less than 20-30 years.

That does sound like overcharging.  700kWh/month at $0.08 per kWh would only save you $672/year.  That's only $13k in 20 years.  Unless your electricity is much more expensive than $0.08/kWh, that's a terrible deal.  How much are they charging per installed watt?  Like $10?

And if someone says you'll get so many kWh/month out of the system, make sure they tell you how many you'll get per year (is 700 a good month or bad?), and make sure you have a way of keeping them to that promise.

depends where you are living, really. where i am, 700KWH/month costs more than $200. that's $2,400 per year in minimum savings.

tier 4 costs 33 cents per KWH. the number fluctuates, but i believe you get out of tier 1 after using 180 KWH.

Wow, where are you?  From what I've read, 14 cents/kWh is on the high side, at least in the US.  33 cents sounds insane.  But that sure would make solar panels a better deal.

Well, we are going to have to turn somewhere eventually when fossil fuels run out. We also have to evaluate which alternatives are better both for the short and the long term. If we pick the wrong thing, we might just dig ourselves into a bigger hole.

Heard it from someone that if you own a Tesla and have Solar Panel installed in your house, you can literally get your car to run with energy from the sun!

While I have mentioned costs, this came up recently: http://www.techspot.com/news/57578-start-up-company-developing-a-new-adaptive-material-that-could-cut-solar-power-costs-in-half.html .

if i remember correctly, tesla's re-fill stations are completely powered by the sun.. and it doesn't cost you anything.

That's really cool. Hope they build more recharging station like this worldwide. (I'm not living in the US.)

I always think solar energy for my summerhouse but investment price is too high :(

you mean diesel fuel?

subsidized diesel fuel in my country already will be deleted, as it will save money solar enormous volume of his

It won't just be one technology.  It will have to be several.  Solar only works well in some places.  Wind only works well in some places.  The same is true of hydro and geothermal.

My personal opinion is that algae will eventually be one of the biggest sources.  Unused land like deserts with lots of sun would be great for growing algae.  It's supposed to be very energy dense (it doesn't take a lot of land to grow a lot of algae under the right conditions; it would be much more efficient that growing corn or other crops for fuel), and you can feed it sewer waste.  As the algae matures, you harvest it and squeeze the lipids out of it, and voila!  You have oil.  I think they're even trying to genetically engineer algae strains to produce end products like diesel fuel.  Cost has been the biggest problem, but time and research keep bringing it down.

All the saving in Solar usually end up in companies selling the over price products.

End users gets little to no benefit with all the hassle of inconvenient.

For now it is but in long term is cheap. Currently price is stable seen on some news that in some countries price will go up for 15% meaning for electrical current, if u invest now for solar power u will be in plus in 1 year max.

Can you recommend a solar system that let user ROI in 1-3 years?

For now i cant am currently reading something about it cuz im considering install it on my house so when i have some info and consult some college on department for energetic i will post here what they have told me.

Its the future along with geothermal

So how much does it cost to install a solar panel in your country?

For private still dont now we set this on our company building ass some test for government in some project.

Only think that i know that i have 2x4 solar panels no other info i and now that i power 3 floors and rest is kept by national electrical company.