PV Gap

Edward Said:

Should all Hawaii residence have a solar panels for their electicity and water heater?

We Answered:

Water heater is a big yes. Electricity is a maybe. The local electric company has to be able to balance the solar with reliable sources of power. When most people think of solar they don't think of the expensive batteries and noisy inverter that is required to store the power. Without long term storage the electric company would get hit with big swings in power need as people switched from solar to the grid and back again as storms moved overhead. To handle this rapid shift the utility would have to have more units on than it would take to power the island anyway. For example if you had an island with a load of 100MW and during the day a series of clouds were going to block the sun as they passed over the island the electric company would have to have 20x the amount of generators online (but backed down) to handle the customers switching back and forth. Having 2000MW of generation backed down but online is not as economical as you would like.

Maria Said:

How many solar panels could you buy for $2B? What would be the power output?

We Answered:

Well the largest solar power plant in the US creates 30 million kWh annually. That cost 100 million to create so if we had a system that cost 10 billion then we could create a 30 billion kWh (or 30,000 Giga Watt hours) solar power plant.

If we wanted to take another route of giving people financial breaks on home solar systems the US government could pay for 400,000 home solar arrays that created 3,000 watts-dc.

Obviously the US government wouldn't pay for the entire cost of home solar arrays but I just wanted to give a number.

Ernest Said:

Should we not be offered massive discounts to all fit solar panels now..what is the Blair waiting for?

We Answered:

I'm afraid the revenue from electricity companies and the like make governments reluctant to encourage people to use FREE energy. They would lose too much money.....
However, here in Spain the new law is that every new house built from next year will HAVE to have some form of solar energy panel or you won't get a license to build!! Pretty good huh?

Brent Said:

Ordering 250$ solar panel on Amazon. Any promo codes?

We Answered:

http://www.couponowl.com/coupons-for-Boo…

Alfredo Said:

Need help with Solar Panels (FAQ's and opinions)?

We Answered:

That's a serious panel, but the price is ridiculous. If you're going to spend $549, who not get something like this http://www.solartown.com/store/product/t… ? Also crystalline silicon, but almost triple the power.

I would suggest that you have a lot more research to do before just buying a panel. A single panel like that isn't immediately useful unless you have a device that takes exactly that voltage, and is not critical. A solar water pump might fall into that category. For anything else, you would need additional equipment, such as a battery, charger, and inverter.

Even at these prices, a single panel is unlikely to save you money over the electric company in the long run, unless your electricity is very expensive. There is economy of scale, so larger systems can and do save money, at least for people located in the right place.

If you have a remote cabin where there is no electric company, then this could be worth it.