Comments for Home Solar Panel

Comment on What impact does solar energy have on the politics? by justbumin1

justbumin1 — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:21:59 +0000

Oil is a very political tool. Run by OPEC.

Solar power can be produced 100% domestically in a capitalistic manner. When you have no foreign governments dictating our energy policy, you create an independence that is very important for security. We don’t have to rely on anyone but ourselves. Foreign governments want us to "need" them.
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Comment on why does solar energy extraction NOT take place at the equator? by Grade Line

Grade Line — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:37:59 +0000

Cost is the restricting factor that don;t allow people from installing solar panels. Government should subsidize corporations to lower the commercial price of these panels
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Comment on why does solar energy extraction NOT take place at the equator? by Nata T

Nata T — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:21:59 +0000

and how much expensive cooper wire would it take to get the energy to your home? And how much energy would be consumed to make that cooper?

The number of people living at the equator is almost nil.

Solar panel have reduced output and can even stop making power if the temperature gets too hot.
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Comment on why does solar energy extraction NOT take place at the equator? by virtualguy92107

virtualguy92107 — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:34:59 +0000

The equator isn’t the hottest place on earth, it just gets the most direct sunlight at the top of the atmosphere. Near-tropical desert areas are hotter and get more sun at ground level due to less cloud cover. In addition, there are the questions of local demand for energy and local economic surplus to build solar power installations. There are some solar power installations in equatorial countries.
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Comment on If my solar panel is to replace my roof, does it make my home less hot? by Joe

Joe — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:45:59 +0000

check out and vote for http://tinyurl.com/votereticulated
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http://tinyurl.com/votereticulated

Comment on If my solar panel is to replace my roof, does it make my home less hot? by Joe

Joe — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:03:59 +0000

From a purely theoretical standpoint, the solar energy that your panels convert to electricity can’t make your house hotter.

From a practical standpoint, the solar panels will shade the roof somewhat, especially if they are mounted on some kind of support a couple of inches above the roof plane.

Hard to say how much of an effect this would have.
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Comment on If my solar panel is to replace my roof, does it make my home less hot? by Irv S

Irv S — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:41:59 +0000

Solar panes usually do not repalce a roof. They do shade it, and thus reduce the heat from the sun.
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Comment on solar panels in space part 2? by Keith

Keith — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:25:59 +0000

Well, after doing the math and crunching some numbers, I have to admit the difference is a lot more than I thought it would be.

Lets suppose your panel further from the sun receives 1000 watts of power from the sun.

1000 = x / 150000000^2
x = 2.25 * 10^19

Decreasing the 150 million by 20, instead of 1000 watts of power reaching your panel, you now have

Power = 2.25 * 10^19 / 149000080 ^2 = 1013.4 watts.

A difference of 1.34%

Lets suppose your panel is 25% efficient, and your voltage out is regulated to 100 volts.

The two panels would produce
1000 * 0.25 / 100 = 2.5 amps
and
1013.4 * 0.25 / 100 = 2.5335 amps

… a measurable amount, but not what I would call signifficanty more.
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Comment on How do places with wind and solar energy sustain their power? by Jerry Lee

Jerry Lee — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:35:59 +0000

Small places, like a remote house or an island, might have batteries. A large place, like a city, would be connected to a "Grid", or electrical energy transmission system. If the wind stopped blowing, deep in the night, they would pull energy off the grid, from a nuclear plant, or coal-burning generation station, or hydroelectric project many miles away. A town on an island might have a large diesel generator.
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Comment on How do places with wind and solar energy sustain their power? by campbelp2002

campbelp2002 — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:28:59 +0000

Basically a big battery. Or a bunch of big batteries. But almost no place actually relies 100% on only wind and solar, because the batteries are expensive and not really green (full of toxins like lead and acid or whatever). So most places rely only partly on wind and solar, and use regular power company power when there is no wind at night.
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