I have an important project to finish this weekend, so I’ll be offline much of the weekend.
Here’s some pictures of what I’m up to.
BTW global warming and CO2 reduction did not figure into my decision to do this again (we downsized our original home that I first put solar on) one bit. The economics and out of control regulations that will make electricity prices “necessarily skyrocket” starting this fall were the main impetus.
Details next week, along with instructions how how you can get one easily and put your own sweat equity into it and save a bundle…and have it paid off quickly and fully own it…unlike those lease programs that require 20 year payoffs…and by that time the company may be gone and the panels fading.
Photovoltaics is a cheap parlor trick hiding a molecular erosion process that is low yield, one-time and NEVER produces even 10% of the total investment energy. This is described in “Green Prince of Darkness”. A semi-pure grid of Silicon cubic crystal with 4 outer shell atoms is embedded with Boron, having 5 outer shell, and Phosphorus with 3 outer shell electrons. Sunrays ‘liberate’ one ‘excess’ Boron electron resulting in a 1.5 volt, 1.5 watt (average) DIRECT CURRENT flow. For residential use this must go thru a transformer to boast to 115 volts and an inverter to convert to ALTERNATING CURRENT. Both of these processes involve Carnot cycle losses. After 20 years the erosion process stops and these used cells become JUNK, hence the pay-off and warranty period limits. In areas with snow, dust and pollen there is further maintenance and output reduction. Carbon climate forcing, peak oil and green energy are the triad of government funded Faux Science created to enforce universal Carbon slavery and bondage. If the energy from solar cells was the only method of mining, refining, manufacturing, distributing and installing photocells….then there would be NO photocells. Photovoltaics exists as a parasitic loss of Carbon based fuel use, hidden by government subsidy….so much for this ‘free energy’ magic.
A good first step to some energy independence. Adding wind will help. Storing heat via solar heated water (with glycol to prevent freezing in winter). Going low voltage for lighting, And an array of 4D batteries for low voltage storage. Invest while you can.
Colin Porter & Mickey Reno bring out an interesting point.
I live in California and have considered solar in the same manner as Anthony. Our prices will skyrocket due to State mismanagement and making plans to budget for that are entirely sensible.
What will happen is that those that have a roof, the money and wherewithal will attempt to protect their income.
The result will be that folks like Anthony and myself will stay on an even budget and the rest will get poorer and become even more dependent on the State increasing the rich – poor divide.
Welcome to California……
For those who missed it, solar powered attic vent fans mount on the roof and evacuate up, not out.
Kelvin Vaughan says:
July 22, 2012 at 8:57 am
Coffee on my screen after reading this! Good one!
That’s a pretty good sized PV array Anthony is installing, I’d bet a donunt against it’s hole it’s bigger than anything the hockey team has installed.
Has anyone bothered to calculate the average “effective” warming due to Americans moving south? I suspect the temperature increase nationwide in the US between 2000 & 2010 is much less than the average temperature increase experienced by people due to the population shift to warmer states – as revealed in the difference between the 2000 census and the 2010 census.
Dang, that was hard to word. Did I make it clear? I would be fun to compare the “voluntary warming” to the “involuntary warming.” People vote for global warming with their feet.
“It would be fun…”
Greens: “Obama Filled His White House with Wall Street Lobbyists”
Dr. Jill Stein is the “officially selected” Green Party presidential candidate.
“Voting for either Wall Street candidate — Romney or Obama — just gives a mandate for four more years of corporate rule. Every vote we receive is a vote for democracy, for the 99%, and for the survival of the planet,” Stein explains.
Interesting short read. The Greens are the party to fight against the corporate interests, the powerful elites that control government and unfairly dominate over we who are under their oppressive control. The Greens are the champions of democracy. Oh, and they’ll also Save The Earth, from those powerful monied interests of course.
They are now The Green Tea Party.
An assertion in contradiction to field data/observations; All the home improvement stores down here carry them, as does Walmart, I’m currently a user of a couple, and they are invaluable for use until a central air unit can be repaired … are you aware of the improved SER ratings that window units now posses?
.
Smokey says:
July 21, 2012 at 5:02 pm
“What’s your point, Alvin? Turning down free, legal money would be pretty stupid, no?”
Smokey,
When I was 18 years old and attending a 2 year Tech institute, I was urged to accept Social Security money to offset my tuition. I apparently was ‘eligible’, as my father was partially disabled with a heart condition. I told the counselor that I would neither apply for or accept funds from Social Security. That money was intended for the old folks and the truly disabled and I was able bodied and could pay my own tuition. The counselor told me I was ‘nuts’ to not take the money.
Today, the faux environ-mental subsidies are contributing to the bankrupting of our country, as is a Social Security system that is no longer self sustaining in part because too many able bodied people have tapped it for ‘free, legal money’. I’m neither stupid nor nuts. I am a principled individual who thinks and acts accordingly.
I respect and applaud Anthony’s efforts to reduce his energy usage and his energy costs. I respect your contributions here and on other blogs. We share many common perspectives, my friend, but this is one I cannot agree with.
MtK
Anthony –
A June 28, 2012 article in the http://www.seacoastonline.com website by a Deborah Mcdermott raised concern about an east coast of US “hot spot” for abnormal sea level rise.The article goes own to quote several folks about this hot spot being proven “irrefutable” by a Cameron Wake of Uni. of New Hampshire. It appears town’s folk along the NH seacoast are being made to worry about sea level increasing and are spending time and possibly money to prevent flooding from elevated storm surges in part due to global warming. Are there any individuals that frequent your site that live in the New England area that couldbe called upon to fight this nonsence. Apparently Town’s have been holding meetings on this subject! People need to be made aware of the skeptics side of this argument and come to know that there are serious arguments made by knowlegeable people that run contrary to what they are currently be told.
best wishes ….from a pt lurker
I have poolmats on the roof to heat the swimming pool and a solar geyser to give me hot water. The solar geyser has electricity back-up in case the weather is bad. Obviously I am the biggest sceptic around hEre a WUWT but I agree: why pay for energy, if you can have it for free?
I noticed a count of 24 solar panels on the roof. Check with google, Home Depot advertises panels at $399 per panel. So that represent approx $9600 in panel cost before other costs. My house in Nevada consumes about $100 in grid electricity per month on average. So this would represent a 96 month or 8 year ROI before subsidies. I wonder how much the California subsidies are ? Also I wonder how much AC power these panels generate and if there is a plan for storage and later reuse of power ?
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-top-150-conservative-websites-july.html
Mac,
I was defending Anthony against what appeared to be the launching of an attack. Personally, I don’t worry about such ethical conundrums, because I am not a taker; I’m the guy who always pays the freight. And it’s not voluntary.☹
When are you going to build the windmill ?
Frederick, I voted to ‘warm my world’ decades ago when I came to Texas … I even moved back once to the ‘home’ state and returned to Texas again a year later … I don’t miss slosh covered streets or white-salt-dust colored streets due to the use of salt to melt ice and snow nor do I miss the constant rust-out of one’s vehicles due to salt either …
.
Is there somebody who knows how to generate electricity in big quantities with a bicycle? My wife wants to lose some weight.
If it works I could even open a gym , open 24/7.
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-top-150-conservative-websites-july.html
WUWT is number 45 in that top 150 conservative websites. 🙂
At Uxbridge, Massachusetts there is a huge solar system owned and operated by Constellation Solar Net Metering, LLC that appears to be a real oddity. There is a private shooting range next door where the shooters point their guns at their targets and shoot maybe slightly below but right at the solar system! Looks really smart! There is a fairly large stack of broken solar panels on a pallet but I didn’t unstack them to see if they had been hit by bullets and could not determine what had broken the one on top.
Right beside the solar system is a large dirt lot and all the dirt is covered by what looks like lint, like what comes out of your clothes dryer vent. I guess this lint is put there to keep down dust. But it actually makes more dust at times of lack of rain, like last year. The reason I know that is because I was looking for a place to park my big rig for the night and drove across the lint field stirring up a huge cloud of dust that settled on these solar panels, that at the time I didn’t know was there. It was dark, there were no keep out signs. Oops! I didn’t mean to do that!
So before I was given some type of parking ticket or citation I fairly quickly moved and found another place to park nearby.
Anyhoo, be very cautious up on the roof. Loosing a couple of inches of a leg from a fall like I did when the 2009 ice storm dropped a tree on my house is certainly an experience to be avoided. Or worse… be very careful.
How to ruin what would otherwise be good news.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18875385
20 July 2012
Vast aquifer found in Namibia could last for centuries
Flows under the border between Angola and Namibia. Water is estimated at over 10,000 years old. High quality, and under pressure which will make extraction easier. (Artesian wells perhaps?) There’s a smaller saltier aquifer over it, needs careful drilling to prevent contaminating the fresh water.
The nod to the “sustainability” catchphrase:
Then the kick to the crotch:
Yeah, that’ll do it.
RobertvdL says:
July 22, 2012 at 11:39 am
“Is there somebody who knows how to generate electricity in big quantities with a bicycle? My wife wants to lose some weight.”
To lose weight, avoid carbohydrates and eat as much protein, fat and fiber as you like.
For bike generators:
http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/05/bike-powered-electricity-generators.html
or search bicycle on their site, they have many more articles about pedal power.
DirkH says:
July 22, 2012 at 1:12 pm
“To lose weight, avoid carbohydrates and eat as much protein, fat and fiber as you like.”
And if cycling, make sure your pulse stays in the normal range, not much above 100/min; as long as that’s the case you’re running in fat-burning mode.
Smokey says:
July 21, 2012 at 5:02 pm
What’s your point, Alvin? Turning down free, legal money would be pretty stupid, no?
Smokey, it is principles. It’s the difference between a Republican and a Conservative
Alvin
The Republican Creed
I do not choose to be a common man.
It is my right to be uncommon.
If I can seek opportunity, not security,
I want to take the calculated risk to dream and
build, to fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for dole.
I prefer the challenges of life to
guaranteed security, the thrill of fulfillment
to the state of calm utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence,
nor my dignity for a handout.
I will never cower before any master,
save my God.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and
unafraid. To think and act for myself, enjoy the
benefit of my creations; to face the whole world
boldly and say, “I am a free American.”