9 replies to this topic

[Hayden]

It might not be as expensive as you think.

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[Ecodisaster]

Interesting article. Thank you for sharing it with us.
I have been looking into getting solar power for my hot water in the house. However, the panels are still very expensive.
I decided to go ahead and try with something smaller, so I bought a small generator to charge phones and plug smaller devices.
I am amazed at the way it works, I honestly didn't see that coming. I believe it is all about the way it is portrayed for us in the media and other places.
Most people would walk away from solar power thinking it is not powerful enough. While some of it is true, it depends on the way you actually set up the equipment. Just like everything else, depending on the way you use it, you will be able to save more or less.

Another thing I have noticed, even though I still consider solar power a little expensive, it has considerably decreased in price in less than 3 years. In a few months, I will go ahead and get those panels for my heater.

[artistry]

This is very interesting information, which sheds a lot of light on the cost of solar energy. Thank you for the details you have provided. I really did not know that the cost had decreased so substantialy. I am certain that if one invests in solar panels, the savings will surely be well worth the cost of the investment.

[zararina]

So nice to know that such development about solar panels and how it becomes cheaper through the years. Hope a lot that could afford the current price would consider having their own solar source of energy in their company, home or community. It will be surely be worth it for the environment.

[NeilPearson]

I really hope it continues to get cheaper.  I really think the future of electricity should be solar with the majority of it generated off grid.  It is still expensive but that price is coming down all the time.  I believe it is moving exponentially too, like moore's law and how it governs the semi-conductor industry... which makes sense since solar cells have a lot in common with semi-conductors and microprocessors

[Eiza]

I love that this is finally starting to be in the price range for regular people, but I still think the price needs to drop significantly before new home developers will consider incorporating solar panels into their construction. I think many people consider it a niche market, appealing to only a few environmentally conscious people. If we start seeing large developments using solar power, then I think it will gain more widespread acceptance.

[Ecodisaster]

Eiza, on 22 October 2011 - 04:42 PM, said:

I love that this is finally starting to be in the price range for regular people, but I still think the price needs to drop significantly before new home developers will consider incorporating solar panels into their construction. I think many people consider it a niche market, appealing to only a few environmentally conscious people. If we start seeing large developments using solar power, then I think it will gain more widespread acceptance.

That's the thing. A few years ago it was horribly expensive. Now, even though it is getting better, it still needs tons of price decrease for it in order to be implemented in households. It is simply not affordable. More people are realizing they need to change their energy sources in order to help the environment, but only a few are actually doing it, usually the ones with the money.
Other alternatives are "build it yourself" solutions, by getting different pieces, separately, I am sure the savings are huge. You would need knowledge in order to build it, but it shouldn't be that complicated once you get to it.

[Julie]

This is definitely something that I am looking into - like Ecodisaster, I got a small panel for small devices and take great pleasure in using electricity stored in my battery rather than plugging into the mains to charge phones, ipod etc.

I got my small panel on eBay for €6 - all the other necessary pieces to build a bigger system of harvesting, transforming and storage are quite inexpensive.

[Phil]

It is very competitive if you DIY it.  It really is very straight forward if you know electricity and if you don't there's usually a neighbor who does.  There are some specific code issues with solar but they are easily researched on the net.  I did 10KW for $22k.  That's $2.20/watt installed.  The panels I used were $1.54/w and they've since dropped to $1.28/w so that makes it even more competitive.

[dziomek]

I think even if a person can't afford the big panels for whole-home usage, even using the smaller panels and packs for laptops and other devices makes a difference. I did not realize until today there were applications for laptops, cell phones and other electronics. I have a laptop with a bad battery; with a solar charger I could do a lot of my work outside and not have to worry about running an extension cord from my house.