PV Gap

Dwayne Said:

do you think the power companys will try to recoup there lost profit from all the people going to solar power?

We Answered:

If the demand for electricity from the power company decreases, the law of supply and demand states the price will also decrease. If demand goes up and up, they can pretty much charge what they want, except most if not all states regulate the power company. So the theory that they will recoup lost profits from those customers who don't switch to an alternative form would run counter to current economic theory. If they tried to raise rates in a market of less demand, those customers will also try to find a lower priced alternative to meet their energy needs.

This would also work for gas prices if us American's would learn that if we reduced demand drastically, the prices would also reduce drastically because supply would inevitably go way up and supply sitting in a tank somewhere isn't making anyone any money so the price has to drop to bring balance to the equation.

Oscar Said:

If oil companies owned the sun, would we get solar power?

We Answered:

If the oil companies owned the sun, the art of harvesting solar energy would be perfected and solar energy would probably be the only energy choice we have....and it would be expensive. They would have all the copyrights and it would be illegal for people to build their own.

Kimberly Said:

Why don't more people use solar or wind energy, especially since power companies keep raising their rates?

We Answered:

Fossil fuel companies have paid renewal energy companies to not overdo the renewal energy.. this is the result of high costs for windmills and other things. My Uncle Laurie has a car that runs on Water!.. Well hydro comes from Water doesn't it? Also my Uncle uses a pyramid to collect solar energies to a battery. these energies go to an air tank and his cabin is heated by air! He says the initial setup costs are high but his current heating costs for summer are around $10-$19 but winter time is around $36 monthly. Cheap for a cold area like Timmins Ontario. Or rather just outside of Timmins! Timmins colder than Thunderbay Ontario! I will be using renewable
energies as soon as I can manage to get my own place and not have to pay rent to a landlord! One Realtor company was gonna go to Renewal energies but they were substantial paid by Hydro not do renewal energies! ...Century 21 check it out if U want!

Peggy Said:

Solar power ???

We Answered:

Hello There!

In order to figure out if you could be entirely self reliant for your energy needs using solar power, a whole study would have to be done. This study would include the projected "radiation gain" from your location, the number and position of panels, your normal energy usage, etc. It is unlikely to be free of the "Big Companies" with just solar panels.

You also could consider many small windmills as an addition to the Solar Panels. Another thing to consider is the way your house, with it's main large windows faces, it is north, east, south or north?

One thing that is incredibly cost effective is Geo Thermal Heat or cooling. If you have the land, you can dig up an area and place pipes in the ground a few feet deep. . .again, it depends on where you are located. The piping system gets connected to another piping system that runs throught the floors of your house. The temperature in the ground after you go down a few feet should be about a constant 50 degrees. With the pipes connected to the ones in the ground, you use a small pump (that can be powered by solar or wind) to move the water throughout the floors of your house. In the winter, heating the water from the pipes outside to 70 degrees from 50 degrees is much cheaper than any other way of heating your house. In the summer the coolness of the 50 degree temperature water running through the pipes in the floor will really help keep the house cool.

Ideally, a house that is going to be energy efficient should be built with these ideas in mind, but it still can be done to a good sustainable amount in an older house too! Enlarging some windows, shrinking others, etc can also really help to make your house more energy efficient.

There is another source of geothermal energy, but I don't know if you will require permits, but that is to dig a fairly small hole, way down into the Earth. In many places of the Earth there is a tremendous amount of Steam that could be tapped. Just one small pipe, put in the right place could be harnassed to supply you with enough energy to power your house for many decades.

In many places on Earth the Energy Companies MUST buy any excess energy from you.

Many countries will actually subsidize the purchase of all these types of Alternative Energy Systems.

So, depending on how you place the Solar Panels, and how many you can put on your property, it can be well worth it. And keep in mind that the other methods combined could make your house totally independent, but incase of failure of one of your systems you should always remain a 'customer' of you local energy company.

There are also many other things you can do to reduce your usage of Electicity!

Have fun with your project!