PV Gap

Linda Said:

how can solar garden light solar lights be rejuvenated ... have tried cleaning the panels with negative result?

We Answered:

isopropyl alcohol can be purchased at your drug store. not very expensive. about the solar lights . they all do have batteries of one type or another and eventually need replaces with like type solar batteries which can be found at lowes or home depot and some drug stores. have you tried a lime remover spray on the light panels. sometimes there is sediment built up from the rainwater and air pollution.

Walter Said:

How do you figure how many solar panels you'll need on a house?

We Answered:

First of all, Running a washer and Dryer would require a very large system alone. Electric stove is also probably out of question.
Most people have an unrealistic expectaion of a normal Solar system. One panel (About 3X5 ft.) only can supply about 70 Watts of power for 6-8 hours on a nice sunny day. One panel costs about $400 dollars, then you also will spend several thousands of dollars for your Inverter / controller. One panel will supply enough power for maybe 1-2 light bulbs. Each panel will only provide about 500 Watt-Hours a day on a sunny day.
An average electric house may use like 50 Kilowatt-Hours a day. That is 50,000 Watt-Hours. It would take 100 Panels. This kind of system would be very costly and impracticle for most users.
If you want to go completly solar, you must forget dryers, frost free frig, electric heat, Air conditioning, Pumps or any other large electrical loads.
I help my friends work on their systems. It is a community that has no grid power. Everyone is completely independant. Most have 12-16 panels, a large bank of batteries, and at least a 10KW Generator. These systems cost $35,000-$40,000, and still cannot provide any heat or air conditioning without running the generator.
If you want to help the environment, just buy what panels and inverter you can afford, and supplement your power needs, unless you are willing to radically change lifestyle when you go totally solar.

Another option is to get your system free from someone like the link below. Here you just pay for the power it produces and are guaranteed for something like 25 years the rate will not change.