Even at the correct and higher 14.4 kWh/day it will not make an appreciable
difference to the world, most of which is outside the southwest deserts anyway.
On the scale of the energy cost to make, install and maintain the panels, this
would be fad for the rich if the rest of the U.S. tax- and rate-payers did not
cover the better part of the investment. Why do you think you pay 0.24 $/kWh -
almost twice the going rate? A part of it goes for all those panel subsidies.
We in CT would soon pay more yet if the panels proliferate here.
This trend sounds to me as follows: First we have to make electricity expensive
(aka CA) and than renewables will pay for themselves. The higher rates will, of
course, make the panels or wind mills also more expensive, so the rates must go
higher yet. And so on. I guess, that is the ultimate goal of some - make it so
expensive so as to revert back to the pre-industrial age.
Remember the solar panel analysis in Austin TX - a 150 $/W home-owners
investment if without other people's involuntary contribution and still with
the utility having provided "free" wires, ......
----- Original Message -----
From: Harry Wyeth
To: jak...@snet.net ; USMA Disc
Sent: 09 Sep 21, Monday 05:05
Subject: Solar panels (maybe off topic a tad....)
But 600 W (rounded off) of consumption, 24/7, is 8.64 kWh per day, or 259
weekly. At California rates of $0.24 per kWh (which many people pay at only
the third of five tiers of rates) that is $62 per month. Or $745 per year.
With tax credits and rebates, it doesn't take that long to amortize one's net
investment. Also, 14933 kWh from two sets of panels over three years seems
pretty puny. With one set of 20 panels we generated 4400 kWh in one year--but
I realize that this is not Connecticut either.
This won't change the world, but it saves money and if everyone did it, it
would make a worthwhile change.
HARRY WYETH
Stan Jakuba wrote:
Jim:
Interesting hobby you have, collecting all that weather info.Your
conclusion of:
average insolation 165.02 W/m2 (10 min average)
has not persuaded your relatives?
I suspect, they have relatives in this town then. The insolation here is
160W/m². Some time ago I published this observation:
<West Hartford's solar panels installed on two highschool roofs produced
14,933 kWh of electricity in about three years. This means that the panels
generated average power of 570 W, enough to keep almost six 100 W lightbulbs
lit.>
Amazingly, the flood of disapproving responses ignored, all of them, the
basic fact that powering six lighbulbs for 3 yeas is not going to make any
difference to anybody, not even the schools, nor the U.S., nor will it
impoverish the sellers of "foreign oil." Impossible people to deal with. I
guess it is a religion with them. Do not take our faith away with just plain
facts.
Well, not all of them are idealists. Many entrepreneurs I know are in it
because "someone will spend the budget anyway" a budget approved by ignorant
politicians. "So why not me."
Stan
