PV Gap

Brittany Said:

Isn't this a feasible power option?

We Answered:

Yep, that is a good idea. Right now, though, it is hard to find solar panels to put on your house that are affordable. Most of the ones made are custom jobs and very expensive. There are a few manufacturers in the US. I heard a report on NPR a while ago about a company that is working on a new manufacturing process for cheaper solar panels but they don't even market them here because there is not enough interest. They sell them in Germany and Japan.

I was in the CN tower in Toronto and they had a neat display. There are solar panels on the roof of that and they showed the electric meter for the observation deck. When I was looking at it, there were clouds overhead and the meter was churning forward. Then, the clouds moved and as it got brighter outside, the meter slowed and slowed and then started moving backwards and the solar panels started producing more electricity than was being used by the observation deck.

Penny Said:

Need a new roof!?

We Answered:

Tiling over the old tiles will put a lot of weight load on a roof. ..very bad idea.

Photo-voltaic (direct conversion of sun light to electricity) solar panels can add up to a lot of cost, but if one is in a place where there a lot of sunny days, it may be worth it. Also, if you live in an area prone to heavy hail storms, insurance and replacement cost for panels would have to be taken inti account.