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Old 14th May 2008, 02:44 AM   (permalink)
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Man the article's reporting sucks:
Quote:
generating power even under low-light conditions.
Due to the construction of the cells, comparatively high yields can be obtained even under partially shaded or overcast conditions.
Duh. ANY solar cell still produces power as long as there's light. Just less.
This article is woefully lacking in any usable objective information of any sort.
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Old 15th June 2008, 09:58 AM   (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bryan1 View Post
Hi Trevor,
Those claims of super efficient PV panels at this moment are just snake oil salesmen trying to gleen $$$ out of unwise investors.

To give you an example of what it costs to a fully RE house going

1. Soler panels 14 kanela thin film @ 65watts $6500
2. one mppt the top of the range @ $2500
3. The batterybank 12 2 volt 600 amp/hr sonnenscheins @ $11,000
4. Selectronics SA32 inverter @ $4500


As you can see it aint cheap to get into RE but my system has been going now for close to 5 years. So For the blokes on the grid cost out your bills over the last 5 and next 5 years as my investment in RE will I reckon pay off cheap than living on a crappy over-charged prone to cutout grid anyday. Oh and by the way I'm in Oz.

Cheers Bryan
I beleive you can get the stuff a bit cheaper now but I don't think it s a case of saying its exspensive NOW its a case of saying what will electricity cost in a few years and won't solar equipment sky rocket in price too as more and more people get it ?
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Old 16th June 2008, 01:27 AM   (permalink)
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Originally Posted by Thunderchild View Post
I beleive you can get the stuff a bit cheaper now but I don't think it s a case of saying its exspensive NOW its a case of saying what will electricity cost in a few years and won't solar equipment sky rocket in price too as more and more people get it ?
I don't think so

as more people will get it the price will come down as production costs (big part of it development cost) will be going down

we have examples enough with other products

i am not saying that it goes as quick as for example a television set but eventionaly the price will go down

it's more intresting what goverments do in giving tax cuts on the equipment

because to be onest the whole alternative energy equipment buisness is not competative with the fosil feul buisness without the help of tax cuts

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Old 17th June 2008, 04:53 PM   (permalink)
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Originally Posted by rjvh View Post
I don't think so

as more people will get it the price will come down as production costs (big part of it development cost) will be going down

we have examples enough with other products

i am not saying that it goes as quick as for example a television set but eventionaly the price will go down

it's more intresting what goverments do in giving tax cuts on the equipment

because to be onest the whole alternative energy equipment buisness is not competative with the fosil feul buisness without the help of tax cuts

Robert-Jan
alternative energy is competitive with fossil fuels over time the fact that we have running wind farms proves it they are run by private company's in the business of making money so its quite competitive. I think there will be a hype on solar panels in the future and prices will nt be as low as they coould but may well be lower than today. it depends on where you buy I know of 2 retailers selling panels that differ in price by 3 times.
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Old 17th June 2008, 09:13 PM   (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thunderchild View Post
alternative energy is competitive with fossil fuels over time the fact that we have running wind farms proves it they are run by private company's in the business of making money so its quite competitive. I think there will be a hype on solar panels in the future and prices will nt be as low as they coould but may well be lower than today. it depends on where you buy I know of 2 retailers selling panels that differ in price by 3 times.
I think it's mainly viable because of government subsidies, and artifically high prices paid for 'green' electricity. Cost and maintenance of wind farms is very high, and generation is only patchy, obviously depending on the wind.

I do think it's a good resource though, and a step in the right direction.
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Old 17th June 2008, 09:23 PM   (permalink)
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Renewable energy can be competitive, geothermal and hydroelectric spring to mind as forms of energy that don't need to be subsidised to make money. Look at China for example, they use hydroelectric power and I can't see their government giving it extra funding because it's good for the planet.
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Old 17th June 2008, 09:45 PM   (permalink)
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Originally Posted by Hero999 View Post
Renewable energy can be competitive, geothermal and hydroelectric spring to mind as forms of energy that don't need to be subsidised to make money. Look at China for example, they use hydroelectric power and I can't see their government giving it extra funding because it's good for the planet.
Hydro-electric is obviously very good, but has rather specific requirements - China only generate a small amount of their power by hydro-elecric though. Isn't Denmark (or one of the other scandinavian countries) the world leader in hydro-electric? - simply becuse of their geograthy.
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Old 17th June 2008, 11:10 PM   (permalink)
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Wasn't hydro-electric invented in America? Think we still lead in that area...

Solar panels do seem to be coming down in price. I think they will continue to drop. There are government incentives right now, and pretty sure more to come in the future, to get more people interested in going solar.

Last month, I put up a 12w panel, got a charge controller and 5 Ah 12 volt battery, all for around $100. Seems to be working well, need a larger battery though (wish I hadn't given my spare car battery to my brother). Plan to install a 12v LED light in every room, for emergency light during hurricanes. Want to see how well it holds up, before getting into something I can run an inverter off. Could really use about 1000 watts for the coffee maker...
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Old 18th June 2008, 01:24 AM   (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hero999 View Post
Renewable energy can be competitive, geothermal and hydroelectric spring to mind as forms of energy that don't need to be subsidised to make money. Look at China for example, they use hydroelectric power and I can't see their government giving it extra funding because it's good for the planet.
geothermal energy is a form that might be costwise better than fosil fuels

the hydroelectric power generation in china is doubtfull if you take in consideration that if they did (they didn't) compensate all the lively hoods affected by the dam like we use to do in the west (and that already is a hard fight)

the dam wouldn't be build in the first place and if build it would have to operate 150 years+ to get a break even

if i see here in cambodia that is now developing in the fastes spedd in the last 25 years (so energy hungry)

they talk about coles plants for power generation
no wind farms no solar
if i see the prices here for these forms of energy (if availible) than are that prices without subsidies and believe me the fuel price can still double from todays rate before you will come in the range of a break even

things change a bit if your handy and do the majority of the work your self (but how many % of the population is able to do that)??

the best way to handle the lack of enegy problem is in my opinion to use it more efficient (still the least investment is needed to acheive the biggest impact)

i suport the alternative energy and make use of it my self and do things my self becuase i think we should do something about it but i know also that i am just one of the few

and if i realy make up the balance of cost/benefit for a average persone than it is still not realy intresting without stimulance in the form of subsidies or tax cuts

Robert-Jan
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Old 18th June 2008, 08:59 AM   (permalink)
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Originally Posted by HarveyH42 View Post
Wasn't hydro-electric invented in America? Think we still lead in that area...
No idea where it was invented?, but percentage of power generated in that way is obviously completely dependent on the local geography, which is why scandinavia is good for it.

Quick google:

Quote:
The first industrial use of hydropower to generate electricity occurred in 1880, when 16 brush-arc lamps were powered using a water turbine at the Wolverine Chair Factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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Old 18th June 2008, 02:06 PM   (permalink)
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I thought it was Tesla, and Niagara Falls... I grew up in Oregon, and we were 100% Hydro-electric until the 70's, when we got the Trojan Nuclear Plant. Never understood why we needed it back then, but I was just a kid. Oregon was selling power to most of the northwestern states and part of California. I just remember all the talk and propaganda about how safe nuclear power was...
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Old 18th June 2008, 04:25 PM   (permalink)
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Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin View Post
I think it's mainly viable because of government subsidies, and artifically high prices paid for 'green' electricity. Cost and maintenance of wind farms is very high, and generation is only patchy, obviously depending on the wind.

I do think it's a good resource though, and a step in the right direction.
I live not far from a wind farm and rarely they are stopped they are not totaly dependable but I hate the silly exsvcuses made about them about the birds not liking them, I was round there taking pictures and the birds were flying around them not bothered at all and they are said to be unsightly with I don't think: Simon's Photography Gallery - Burton Latimer Wind Farm/Wind Farm aren't they graceful ?
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my site:www.simons-photography.com
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see also
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http://www.redbubble.com/people/simonsphotography
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Old 19th June 2008, 01:38 AM   (permalink)
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Originally Posted by Thunderchild View Post
I hate the silly exsvcuses made about them about the birds not liking them

I feel the same as you

since when do we consult birds about wind turbines

I never heared an ara chit chating with people about these things

i know that some people complain about the noise it can make but that's manly in high populated areas and that's the result of bad urban planing

than we have the cosmetic complaines that they ruin the landscape picture

well about the picture thing, i can say it's amazing what you can do with fotoshop these days

the complains are also mostly made by people that don't want to have a restriction in there power consuming comfort that they have

so you can never satisfy these guys they will always complaine about something

poor guys

Robert-Jan
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Old 19th June 2008, 04:59 PM   (permalink)
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my pictue had no treating with photoshop (not in the sense you mean) that is exactly what the picture look like "in the flesh"

I did not find them noisy they turn slowly, they make a very low frequenzy sound I can just here but its not a disturbance to anyone, those little blighters they put on roof tops make more noise
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Old 23rd June 2008, 06:41 AM   (permalink)
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can we use a dynamo(which is used in bicycles) as our small wind tubine just on an experimental basis!!
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