All content Copyright 2011 by Jim Bonner.. No use is permitted except by permission of the author.
Well folks, the content of this site for the next few weeks is going to be boring.. I mean really boring. Even more boring that my usual self introspection and grandiose promotion.
I simply intend to use this space as a notepad to gather facts and data regarding the installation of a Solar Power Cogeneration site. So if you are reading this you are privy to the notes intended for students and interested or disinterested parties as the installation progresses. As the tombstone says, No Les-No More.
Feel free to go to the restroom at any time.
A few weeks ago Northwest Shoals College and Lowes Corporation put together a package of 180 watt solar panels. At this point I don't even know if they are polycrystalline or Monocrystalline cells.
Poly is cheaper but less efficient. Monocrystalline - meaning single cell, is more efficent but the cost are greater.
Not meaning to plug any supplier but one might find a system very similar in the $10,000 price range at:
http://www.solarpanelstore.com/solar-power.large-solar-panels.andalay.andalay_2275.info.1.html
Or just look up Andalay solar which should get you to the general space. Our system is intended to highlight the methods of installation of the electrical interface. The actual nuts and bolts of putting panels on the roof is outside our trade. As such we choose a ballasted mounting system that we can just toss on the roof. The part that keeps electricians in the loop is that we have to follow codes. Conduit to the outside, proper interconnection to the breaker panel since the system generates power instead of uses it.
Even special consideration to the size and type of wire since losses in the system must be kept to the absolute minimum.
I told someone yesterday that I can explain Solar Power to a four year old in a few words but I can't explain it to you because you know to much about it. As Will Rogers said, "it ain't what we don't know that gets us into trouble. It's what we know that just ain't so" .
Discussion of solar power with most people gets into the issue of costs, green energy, break even points, and just plain aesthetics. But no matter what your political bent and your opinion on Global Warming the fact is; solar is hot. It is also a fact that the Middle East, Egypt, especially today, the price of gasoline and the number of degree days are all factor in our energy costs. If the trends hold the cost of electricity could double or treble.
When it does you can bet the cost of solar will go up as well.
We will be posting more as the system is unpacked and installed. I hope to present some things to consider, maybe some things you knew and some things you didn't.
As I said, the cost of solar is likely to go up instead of down in the short term. The only way to beat the system is to buy cheap and sell high.
I think it might be time to buy.
Well folks, the content of this site for the next few weeks is going to be boring.. I mean really boring. Even more boring that my usual self introspection and grandiose promotion.
I simply intend to use this space as a notepad to gather facts and data regarding the installation of a Solar Power Cogeneration site. So if you are reading this you are privy to the notes intended for students and interested or disinterested parties as the installation progresses. As the tombstone says, No Les-No More.
Feel free to go to the restroom at any time.
A few weeks ago Northwest Shoals College and Lowes Corporation put together a package of 180 watt solar panels. At this point I don't even know if they are polycrystalline or Monocrystalline cells.
Poly is cheaper but less efficient. Monocrystalline - meaning single cell, is more efficent but the cost are greater.
Not meaning to plug any supplier but one might find a system very similar in the $10,000 price range at:
http://www.solarpanelstore.com/solar-power.large-solar-panels.andalay.andalay_2275.info.1.html
Or just look up Andalay solar which should get you to the general space. Our system is intended to highlight the methods of installation of the electrical interface. The actual nuts and bolts of putting panels on the roof is outside our trade. As such we choose a ballasted mounting system that we can just toss on the roof. The part that keeps electricians in the loop is that we have to follow codes. Conduit to the outside, proper interconnection to the breaker panel since the system generates power instead of uses it.
Even special consideration to the size and type of wire since losses in the system must be kept to the absolute minimum.
I told someone yesterday that I can explain Solar Power to a four year old in a few words but I can't explain it to you because you know to much about it. As Will Rogers said, "it ain't what we don't know that gets us into trouble. It's what we know that just ain't so" .
Discussion of solar power with most people gets into the issue of costs, green energy, break even points, and just plain aesthetics. But no matter what your political bent and your opinion on Global Warming the fact is; solar is hot. It is also a fact that the Middle East, Egypt, especially today, the price of gasoline and the number of degree days are all factor in our energy costs. If the trends hold the cost of electricity could double or treble.
When it does you can bet the cost of solar will go up as well.
We will be posting more as the system is unpacked and installed. I hope to present some things to consider, maybe some things you knew and some things you didn't.
As I said, the cost of solar is likely to go up instead of down in the short term. The only way to beat the system is to buy cheap and sell high.
I think it might be time to buy.
More tomorrow.
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