PV Gap

Melanie Said:

Does anyone know if they will begin selling the compressed air car in the US?

We Answered:

should be out this century

Terrance Said:

Do solar energy panels for your home make sense?

We Answered:

As single home solution might not be cost efficient when you try to use the energy "1:1" in your home.

The concept is to use an array of solar panels on roofs and feed the energy into the grid.

Here is an article from CNN from today which shows how it is done in CA,
the article mentions companies which are active.

In NJ the concept is that solar panels are installed on roofs of buildings (schools, warehouses, private homes), the energy goes into the grid. There are different concepts: you buy everything and sell the electricity or companies "lease" your roof and pay you a certain amount.

The advantages of this is that the oil and gasoline prices do not contain the real cost, in economics this is called "externalized" meaning: you push the costs of the problems to somebody else.

Thelma Said:

How do I start my own photovoltaic company?

We Answered:

I don't think you can go directly to manufacturers until your company gets big, that is, larger than a distributor. A manufacturer is generally not set up to handle hundreds or thousands of little accounts. If they did set up that way, then prices would be higher, because they would be doing the work of a distributor.

If there comes a time when there's a glut of panels and inverters, possibly a manufacturer would be willing to deal directly with you. It would help if it was a large order, and if you had cash in advance. For now, manufacturers like Suntech are pretty much sold out for everything they can make this year.