PV Gap

Gail Said:

A couple questions about home made solar panels?

We Answered:

I have no idea the out put of the panel you plan to make, but $200.00 will not even come close to power much. You don't say whether you want to power your house straight from the solar panels (not possible, because the sun doesn't shine 24/7). That being said,you will need a very large array to power your house,going to battery's to inverter to get AC power. Your initial cost would be around $25000,00, but you might be eligible for a tax rebate and maybe a rebate from your state and power company. There is a lot more to be said on the subject,but this is enough to either get you started or discouraged.

Larry Said:

Why is the world so unfair?

We Answered:

Aha, it is very clear that you write of concepts greater than your understanding. Let me introduce you to a word, its called Philanthropy. It means to give to charity and to the poor. Bill Gates does a lot of it. You would think a man of such wealth, who's fortune exceeds $50 billion dollars, is obviously not giving enough money to charity right? Well, he did co-found The Giving Pledge agreement, which basically is a commitment made by the richest people in the USA to donate at least 50% of their wealth to charity. How's that for charity work?

As far as corruption in the government goes, the USA is probably the only country in the world where you see corruption as extreme as it is. When you speak of a government takeover, you dont know what you're talking about. A government take over is what's known as a revolution. Hundreds, maybe even over a thousand revolutions have happened in the history of mankind, many have been successful and lead to a better country, many have been unsuccessful and lead to a far worse and more twisted country.

Take your country for example. The great, United States of America. Your most recent revolution was very successful. The American Civil War took power away from the slave owners and gave the Liberals power to lead a country unlike no other. However, take a country like Iran. Once a great country that flourished with multiculturalism but the people grew arrogant one day, and stormed the streets in revolution. You know who took over? The monkeys ruling it today, who then declared the country be called "The Islamic Republic of Iran". The people have never been more miserable in the country's history. That is an example of revolution, and it ends like that all too often. So never preach revolution, unless it is a last case scenario, which in the case of the USA, it is not.

When it comes to these giant oil companies, you first need an understanding of what's known as Capitalism. "An economic system based on private ownership". This basically means that Capitalism is a system where people can freely open their own businesses, earn their own money, without being taxed or following any rules or laws. Obviously there is no such system, since every country has laws and taxes (well, except for anarchy based countries) but some countries are much more capitalistic than others. A country would be more capitalistic than another if it has less rules and laws restricting privately owned businesses.

Having said that, let's think about the USA. Major oil companies such as BP are privately owned, meaning that there is an owner. And if you're the owner of BP, what would you rather have? An extra 3 billion dollars in profit, or invest that money in creating environmentally safe procedures that will ensure that your oil resourcing causes absolutely no harm to the environment? I think we both know what the owner of BP would rather take. You might think that he's a sick person, who would kill the environment over money when you already have so much? Well here comes your first life lesson kid: EVERYONE IS LOOKING AFTER THEIR OWN POCKET. That's it. If you want to know why, ask the question, Why not?

Most people won't be able to answer that question, but I can. I want you to look away from this answer for a moment and think, why wouldnt you make more money if you're the owner of BP, considering that nobody is stopping you from making more money and that the environment is not an issue (because to the owner of BP, he clearly doesnt care). Go. Turn around and think for a moment. When you're done look back and read the next paragraph.

Tough isnt it? Well the answer is that Respect is the ultimate currency, not money. The problem is, major corporation founders dont understand this. They want to maximize profit no matter what the cost. And the US government is partly responsible, because the USA is now one of the most capitalistic countries in the world.

As for your other fuel solutions, they arent as profitable as petroleum, thats why nobody does it. And in theory, yes Congress could pass a law like that. In reality, Congress will never pass a law that goes against corporations because all politicians in the USA are bought out by corporate interest. What does that mean? It means that Lobbyists pay politicians to vote in the favor of big corporations and against what's best for the country.

This is why the American political system is so corrupt and why nothing productive ever gets done.

Anyways, I hope you learned a lot in this answer, and I'm pretty encouraged by your question. We need more kids like you exploring the world of politics from a "what's good for the world" stand point. I hope you keep trying to learn.

Terrence Said:

solar power?

We Answered:

I live in Calgary. there are solar powered communities near here, that actually send power back to the grid on most sunny days, even in the middle of winter. you would need a large solar collector to collect enough for your home, though costing about $25,000 just for the panels. I think the houses in those communities are costing about $100,000 more than in surrounding communities.