How many people agree to turn their roofs into solar panels

[Mayfield]

Lets be honest about this!!!!

 

Most of these panels will be made in China & be utter rubbish! How much guarantee do you think they will have on them. It will be about 10 years at most but you need 50 years to break even!!! If they gave 50 year guarantee then I'd consider but not to shell out every 10 years or so & never break even what's the point? Hope they are better made than all the poor so-and-so's with their Toyotas & their Chinese outsourced parts! (accelerator pedal boxes).

 

Then you've got the feral yobs who will think it is funny throwing stones or snowballs at them!

 

Just a load of pie in the sky all this solar technology!

 

Lets face it most items are made in China now because it's cheaper to produce. Just because it's made there it doesn't mean it's rubbish either - unfortunately.

 

Renewable energies are the way forward but the cost and the scepticism of people is slowing the installations of such systems down. The government should be doing more in the way of grants as well. Instead of building all these new power stations wouldn't it be better to install PV systems on peoples roofs, charging a small amout for the electricity used for doing so and supplying the grid with the power that isn't used?

[Rupert_Baehr]

...so expect to see systems become a lot cheaper quickly and efficiency to improve as manufacturing standards improve. ...

 

More importantly, expect efficiency to improve and prices to fall as new technology (which also involves less-toxic production processes) is introduced. There's a great deal of research going on into solar panel production, but it will probably be 5-10 years before the new-style panels (possibly including thick-film flexible panels - almost stick-on panels ) are on the market.

[peter691]

Rupert,

Is there any research going into making existing panels more efficient with some sort of retrofit film? Would be a great product if it can be created!

Peter691

[Mayfield]

Germany has been developing solar panels for over 20 years and we are now benefiting from their research. There is a film version that can be laid on curved roofs, I believe some BP stations use this, but it's not very efficient.

[Sketty24]

There are schemes available to enable to have solar panels fitted for as cheap at £500, but you don't make any profit on the generational or export tariff, but you DO get cheaper electricity bills as you're using your energy provider less.

 

I've recently researched a company selling this scheme, and for those who want cheaper solar panels and cheaper bills, while sacrificing the profit, it's worth it. (It's my job to ensure my advertising is legal and honest!)

 

If you're willing to pay thousands, then you'll get the profit.

 

It's swings and roundabouts.

 

As of 2011, there are new schemes in place: http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Solar-electricity

Edited April 22, 2011 by Sketty24

[kev12]

Have a look at this ashadegreener.co.uk

[Rupert_Baehr]

Rupert,

Is there any research going into making existing panels more efficient with some sort of retrofit film? Would be a great product if it can be created!

Peter691

 

 

Here's what CalTech are doing.

 

And here's an article on SoloPower’s Flexible CIGS PV Panels

 

But How Clean is Solar Energy? " Many skeptics point out that solar modules are comprised of a number of toxic chemicals: arsenic, cadmium telluride, hexafluoroethane, lead, and polyvinyl fluoride, to name a few...

In truth, toxic solar panels may be more hype than reality. During the manufacturing process, solar modules are encased in glass, which prevent leeching of chemicals and other toxins. However, as the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition pointed out in a 2009 report, issues arise during the beginning and at the end of a solar panel’s life-span. When solar panels are manufactured, some employees can be put at risk; at the end of their life, disposal raises new questions."

 

If you Google 'Toxic chemicals PV panels' you will get a number of articles.

[Rupert_Baehr]

I would consider fitting Solar PV panels (not in Bavaria - where the amount of direct insolation is reduced by mountains both to the East and West of my house (We get daylight early enough, but it's scattered light. The sun doesn't clear the mountains to the East until about 8am and goes behind the mountains to the West at about 5pm)

 

In Florida, the length of the day from about 10 hr 45 min to 13 Hr 45 min so there's plenty of daylight even in winter.

 

I would consider fitting PV panels if they were cheaper (and the price will come down) but I will probably fit water-filled solar panels to provide domestic hot water.

[lizelard]

i would love solar panels.........

[Vague_Boy]

There would be no downside to this really..

 

Sadly, as with many things in life, the reality is more complex.

 

Solar panels don’t come falling out of the sky – they have to be manufactured. Similar to computer chips, this is a dirty and energy-intensive process. First, raw materials have to be mined: quartz sand for silicon cells, metal ore for thin film cells. Next, these materials have to be treated, following different steps (in the case of silicon cells these are purification, crystallization and wafering). Finally, these upgraded materials have to be manufactured into solar cells, and assembled into modules. All these processes produce air pollution and heavy metal emissions, and they consume energy - which brings about more air pollution, heavy metal emissions and also greenhouse gases.

 

LINK

 

(Solar panels are also made out of plastic. All plastics are derived from oil. No oil = no plastic.)

 

A further problem is that some panels are manufactured in countries with lax environmental policies, or at least enforcement of those policies. China is cited as an example:

 

In March 2008, the Washington Post reported that at least one plant in China’s Henan province is regularly dumping extremely toxic silicon tetrachloride (a corrosive and toxic waste product of polysilicon manufacturing) on nearby farmland. [...] Silicon tetrachloride makes the soil too acidic for plants, causes severe irritation to living tissues, and is highly toxic when ingested of inhaled.

 

LINK