PV Gap

Tracy Said:

Has anybody tried "home made energy" or "earth4energy"?

We Answered:

They are both scams. Here is my analysis http://www.nlcpr.com/Deceptions6.html

It is absolutely unreasonable. First, you would have to minimize all electrical loads, switching heat/cooking/dryer to gas. Then you would need a system costing 20 to 30 thousand dollars to provide the rest of the power. Notice that we are talking about a factor of 100 times more expensive. That is one of the things that makes these "plans" so outrageous.

You can't make your own cells, but you could purchase them and assembled them into a frame and do some wiring. This like buying computer parts and putting them into a case yourself. You won't save much if anything and probably end up with an inferior product that is difficult to mount on the roof.

For a budget of $200, you could put together a complete system, that perhaps could keep your cell phones charged, and perhaps run a small CF bulb for a few hours.

Ross Said:

Should the United States adress its energy needs with something like this?

We Answered:

Space-based solar power will never be economically practical unless we can make them out of raw materials already present in space.

This is because of the ~$10,000/lb cost of placing anything into a medium altitude orbit. And your solar power satelites would need to be placed into a high orbit which costs even more.

Another issue to consider is that you also need technoologies that have not been invented yet.

IMO we are better off focusing on nuclear for the next 50 years while we develop fusion power.

BTW - here is the math on how much this project will cost:
Assumptions:
10 year construction time
10% of the $21 billion will be spend every year ($2.1 billion per year)
$2.1 billion is borrowed every year at an interest rate of 5%

Total cost once complete: $26,413,574,324.65

Assumptions:
30 year economic life for the power stations before they wear out.
Payments on the borrowed money coem from revenues provided by the sale of electricity and all money must be paid back in 30 years.

Required payments per year at a 5% interest rate: $1,718,240,915.42

Divide this number by the number of households using the electricity and you get a cost per year of $5,844.36. This produces a monthly electric bill of: $487.03

Conclusion: project is impractical because the electricity produced is too expensive for the consumer to afford.