Comments on: Solar Panels

By: sblackb

sblackb — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:35:52 +0000

Maybe “glamorous” is a misleading term. I mean glamorous as in “exciting,” not Hollywood style glamorous. To me, the idea of having a place far from the grid where I can get away from the rush of the city, pollution, and my next door neighbors is a wonderful notion. Until the next technology comes along, a battery bank is the only way I know to make this happen. I’m a huge fan of grid-tied solar and while I don’t think it makes sense in a lot of applications, I am fascinated with the notion of distributed micro power production. I’m learning that here in Arizona, power is the least of our concerns. Most wells are over 1000 feet deep in our high country making the process somewhat impractical. Many people haul in water to tanks, but that doesn’t seem glamorous by any definition – does it Thanks for reading.

By: Beagle Desert

Beagle Desert — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:46:25 +0000

I would like to get your perspective about why “The thought of being totally off the grid is glamorous”? If you are on grid, you can send back the electricity to the grid and get credit for; and you don’t need a battery.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 09:57:09 +0000

I read similar article also named Solar Panels – WattHackers | Save Power | Go Solar | Live Green, and it was completely different. Personally, I agree with you more, because this article makes a little bit more sense for me

By: - WattHackers | Save Power | Go Solar | Live Green

- WattHackers | Save Power | Go Solar | Live Green — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:02:59 +0000

[...] Solar Panels [...]

By: » Understanding the True Cost of Installing Solar Panels in 2008 - WattHackers | Save Power | Go Solar | Live Green

Tue, 13 May 2008 19:47:01 +0000

[...] Reated Articles: Solar Panels [...]

By: René

René — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:19:38 +0000

Hey Scott,

I knew you’d love it if you hadn’t seen it before. I highly recommend you go to each projects home page. I’ve only gone through the Maryland one and found it highly informative and exciting. It’s here:

http://www.solarteam.org/page.php?id=1

Here is a couple other sites I’ve found that I like a lot, in case you haven’t seen them:

http://www.metaefficient.com/

http://www.builditsolar.com/index.htm

http://www.passivehouse.us/passiveHouse/PHIUSHome.html

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/02/07/the-top-ten-electric-vehicles-you-can-buy-today-for-the-most-pa/

Cheers,

By: René

René — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:04:03 +0000

Hey Scott,

I didn’t know if you were aware of it or not, but I found it so amazing I had to reference it in case you hadn’t seen it. I highly recommend that you go through the University of Maryland’s Home Page at http://www.solarteam.org/page.php?id=1 for their house, as it is highly informative. I haven’t gone through the other projects’ web pages, but I’m sure most of them are good.

Just in case, here is a couple of other sites I have found interesting:

http://www.metaefficient.com/

http://www.builditsolar.com/index.htm

http://www.passivehouse.us/passiveHouse/PHIUSHome.html

I also googled “electric cars” on a whim and was expecting to just see a bunch of stuff about the Tesla, but was amazed to find these guys:

http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/zap-alias

and these guys:

http://www.universalelectricvehicle.com/spyder.html

and these guys:

http://www.hybridtechnologies.com/products/cars/rush

and several others:

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/02/07/the-top-ten-electric-vehicles-you-can-buy-today-for-the-most-pa/

I’ve probably given you stimulus overload now, so I’ll stop.

Cheers,

By: sblackb

sblackb — Tue, 13 May 2008 02:11:13 +0000

Rene,

I can’t thank you enough for the link to the DOE’s Solar Decathalon. I have spent hours today going over plans for the various houses. Great stuff. Of course all the plans I had just changed

Scott

By: René

René — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:29:50 +0000

I’m hoping to end up with something like last year’s entry in the DOE’s Solar Decathalon by the University of Maryland. There were a few other entries that I found appealing as well, but Maryland’s really looked great to me.

http://www.solardecathlon.org/homes_gallery.html#marland

By: sblackb

sblackb — Mon, 12 May 2008 04:54:19 +0000

Rene,

We are still in the dreaming stage too, but our first solar panel system might just be grid tied on our current home. We have a southern exposure that cooks in the sun and I might design an awning system out of solar panels to not only shade the wall (reduce passive solar,) but generate power to boot. We are also doing research on how growing vines up the wall might reduce the heat load on that wall. The thought of being totally off the grid is glamorous, but I think I have a lot to learn before that happens. Hopefully when we are ready, the technology will be even better.

As for Evergreen, I have not been able to find an efficiency rating for their solar panels. I may need to give them a call to see what the deal is there. I know Evergreen makes a top notch products and is one of the “greenest” manufacturers of solar panels, so I’m sure there is a reason it’s not listed. When I find out more, I’ll post an update.
Hope you get that place in South Florida off the grid. Let me know what you end up with.

Scott