PV Gap

Mildred Said:

question about gas prices etc.?

We Answered:

What you rarely hear about is that the oil still left in the ground is not going to be as cheap to harvest. The days of drilling a relatively shallow well and the crude oil come gushing out are over.

Much of the oil that's left is locked in shale and has to be forced to the surface with steam. That oil won't cost anywhere near $100 per barrel.

Other sources are in hard to operate locales like in deep ocean waters or in the desolate areas of the arctic.

Fossil fuels that are cheap enough for the average person to afford will soon be a thing of the past. When gasoline is selling for $7 or $8 per gallon, entrepreneurs will provide us with numerous methods of alternative energy because it will be profitable. Some methods already are at today's fuel prices.

We'll switch to solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear, etc. because we will have no choice.

Tommy Said:

Connecticut Solar Lease Program?

We Answered:

According the the nrel map http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/old_data/nsr… for an ideal installation (oriented due south, titled at latitude), Connecticut gets about 4 - 5 equivalent sun-hours per day. That means the 5 kW array would produce between 600 and 750 kWh a month, averaged over the year. That puts the cost of the electricity produced from 16 to 20 cents per kWh. That's probably more than you pay today, but bearing in mind that the price never goes up, it could be a winner over the life of the lease. I doubt it will be a huge moneymaker, and I would think it returns less than just buying a full system, outright. Also, having such a system does not mean that your monthly electric bill would be zero. If you use more than that 600-750 kWh in a month, you'll have to pay the power company for it. The power company may also have some miscellaneous fees just for reading the meter - fees which are not normally noticed on an electric bill that is larger.

You will also need to check whether your electric company will allow net metering. That is, will they buy electricity at the same rate that they sell it to you? If they say any excess can be sold to them, that suggests that they may buy at wholesale, and sell at retail.

If this is a private company, and not the government, I'd look carefully into what happens if the company goes bankrupt, or is sold/merged. Could you pay your 20 cents a kWh for the next 5 years, then have the panels yanked from your house by creditors if the company goes bankrupt?

Also consider what happens if you sell your house. Can the lease be transferred to the new owner? Without even considering the $2000 removal fee, it would be disruptive and possibly damaging to the roof to take the panels off.

See if you can get a local reference, that is, a site near you where such panels were installed, and talk to the owners about how it's working out.

Beth Said:

Saving money on electricity.....................?

We Answered:

Salam Alaikum,
thanks for sharing this info ..
and also, we must save electricity to help save our planet.. we humans are seriously wasting away our resources.

another way of saving electricity is:
once you turn off the computer ( at home or office ) to turn off the main power also.

=)

Terrance Said:

tired of high gas prices????

We Answered:

bravo! yeah, it is getting old really fast. yes: gas is getting very expensive. yes: we have oil under U.S. soil. yes: no matter what, some day we will run out, probably sooner rather than later. but it seems like we're all arguing about the best course of action rather than trying different options and finding which one works best. that's the only way to really move forward. that's why i was so excited that Honda is offering a hydorgen powered vehicle. yeah, good luck finding a place to fill up, but at least they're trying.

Linda Said:

What would you think of a law that required all new buildings to have alternative engery sources built -in?

We Answered:

I think the concept is great. However you are going to run into problems if you make it mandatory though because some people can't afford the cost to upgrade to alternative energy. But I do believe that business factories etc, should incorporate these alternatives in their plants as they are the ones that do cause the most pollution and use lots of energy.