I am expecting solar panels and products to become cheap and affordable with in a few years. With the current US governments emphasis on green energy and the European countries tests with green and solar sources I could only expect that these things should have happen before.
Do you think that solar appliances would become cheap with in a year just like me.
Only a significant increase in production will lower prices of solar technology. there may be some of this however with government offering tax credits for those who install solar systems. What that really means is you and I will help pay for the panels via taxes.
We went through a similar event years ago and it had little effect on actual cost of the technology then. I suspect little has changed!
The only thing that is going to help the popularity of solar is an increase in efficiency. Some strides are currently being made in this area. I don't think it will happen in the next couple years. 5 maybe, 7-10 more likely, and then only if they are in fact able to increase the efficiency to usable and affordable levels.
For example a typical Solar water heating solution costs $4000 - $6000. In addition a person still needs a conventional water heater to help when the sun isn't shining. And it requires additional maintenance.
By comparison, a typical electric or gas water heater costs $400 - $600. It's just not economically feasible to use solar.
In addition a person still needs a conventional water heater to help when the sun isn't shining.
By comparison, a typical electric or gas water heater costs $400 - $600. It's just not economically feasible to use solar.
Did anybody catch thisthis on Nat Geo last night? It costs a lot to build, nothing to run, once built..... And, BTW, convection happens year round. Running at 80% is enough to power 500,000 homes.
Once again, it's not the USA coming up with ingenuity....
Looking for peace, and finally getting it...... 
I caught that program and also noted the cost and number of units required to meet just our nations demand for energy. great idea and application of nature and technology. But what they didn't address is the environmentalists and their endless litigation which will add substantially to the costs. They will have issues simply based on the size and impact on the environment.
Fremen I think you are forgetting the time before use of carbon based fuels - they depended entirely on solar - that is why fire was used to heat the caves - it is far more comfortable and controlled!
I caught that program and also noted the cost and number of units required to meet just our nations demand for energy. great idea and application of nature and technology. But what they didn't address is the environmentalists and their endless litigation which will add substantially to the costs. They will have issues simply based on the size and impact on the environment.
Not in Australia they won't. What issues could those be? I makes less noise than a windfarm.
Looking for peace, and finally getting it......
Energy is more than electricity. It will be like Bradbury's There Will Come Soft Rains, wherin our electrically-powered homes will run after we are dead. Who cares if we have lights at night when we won't be able to feed ourselves? Energy is a huge issue because our population reflects the amount of stored energy we have had access to over the past two centuries. When that falters, we will still have the population with no teat.
It will take so much energy to build such things as these towers, and to do what? Produce electricity? Big deal. For the same price, couldn't they make every one of those 500,000 homes and their families more self-sufficient?
Well, we could debate amongst ourselves, thereby killing the process and INSURING that nothing will get done, eh? 
Many power plants cost that much already, yet none offer NO cost of producing electricity once built.
Looking for peace, and finally getting it......
I think the truth is humans need to change their use of energy, no matter what. I'm tired of competing with cars and Ziploc™ bags and your mother's boiler for oil. I can choose to not play this game. I'm learning how right now.
Well lets see how about displacement of the indigenous populations, the kangaroo, and the wallaby. Oh then there is the Tasmanian devils to consider! Not the fishing lure mind you, but that fierce little creature that is endangered!
Damn these things have a footprint of like 15 square miles!!!!Not to mention the height! A question I have is will this method not also work to warm the planet?
more and more innovation is needed for making solar energy affordable to everyone.
Well, we spend the equivalent on public stadiums, and they don't give us energy. And all of the hot air that comes out of them doesn't raise the temperature of the planet. Convection happens naturally. We're simply harvesting it here.
But, as i can see, you'd rather spend time bitching about it rather than actually embracing a self sustaining system that works!
Looking for peace, and finally getting it......
The question for me is (as I learned in H.S. Forensics) Solvency - does the system actually perform as needed for the cost in resources and fossil fuel to get it up and online? Is it worth that offset? What will it take to maintain it? If it can actually sustain itself with the electricity it generates, that's progressive.
Yes, and yes! ... and Yes!
Looking for peace, and finally getting it......
Let the Aussies build a few and prove them before we start tearing up ground and putting these monstrosities in our backyards.
Yup. No more innovation from the innovators. What has our country become? Just a bunch of whining complaining morons who get more kicks out of drama than they do from actually succeeding anymore. 
I disagree, AO. Sitting back and questioning everything doesn't accomplish either. This solution is a great idea that merits more consideration than what you've said here.
Looking for peace, and finally getting it......
You sound like a progressive, MF. I am all about the trying stuff, but scaling way down and meeting needs on the community level. 
That would be me! Is there any such thing as an independent progressive?
Looking for peace, and finally getting it......
A Progressive is just that a Progressive - just another label for liberal!
I prefer to have real science behind the commitment - run a test with a control then gradually expand the project. Weigh all options objectively and when the real world supports it with real data then expand. Otherwise you run a risk of blowing it not just on your project but for others who may have a unique unconventional approach and potentially viable solution to a problem.
Shoot your wad right out of the gate and the bitch is more skeptical and no longer interested!
I'm completely agreeing with your assumption that the solar panels and products will become cheaper in the future. I had read the information that the scientists created the solar panel of the new generation and that it can produce much more energy than existing panels.
Rumor has it that the Sun is going to over produce this years energy quota and therefor will be lowering its rates substantially!
Whew, barrels of solar are going for cheap, eh? I bet all but a few refineries get shut down so as to jack the price...
Some one should really consider busting up the big SunCo monopoly.
Some one should really consider busting up the big SunCo monopoly.
I suspect Qeen Nancy P. will introduce a solar tax and everyone must pay it or be fined an equivent or greater amount than the tax itself. After all the suns rays warm the air we breath!
How is this productive???
This is EXACTLY what is wrong with America and Americans today. The fact that you mimick here, albeit maybe out of fun, is disappointing.....
Looking for peace, and finally getting it......
Oh please.....
Here's some somewhat promising Solar good news.....
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE58K4CY20090921
When we stop laughing we have a "REAL" problem!
i think the solar appliances will become common within an year or less
because all the other sources of energy are getting sucked up and will terminate in some more years
So the reamining few alternativs are the only way for energy saving
i think the solar appliances will become common within an year or less
because all the other sources of energy are getting sucked up and will terminate in some more years
So the reamining few alternativs are the only way for energy saving
No way in hell that solar will be common in a year. It's still way too expensive and inefficient. Other forms of energy are abundant and cheap. 20 years....maybe.
i am not saying about the usage as a bilk one
we are getting solar enabled lights and fans
we are getting them for 50-60 dollars
this package includes 3 lights and 1 fan which will be working with hte solar energy
it uses the solar energy in the mornig and works for about 12 hours in teh night
i am not saying about the usage as a bilk one
we are getting solar enabled lights and fans
we are getting them for 50-60 dollars
this package includes 3 lights and 1 fan which will be working with hte solar energy
it uses the solar energy in the mornig and works for about 12 hours in teh night
How does that work when they are inside the house during the day?
they work using a panel that is provided with the system
the panel is placed on the roof or somewhere where is adequate sun light and its charging a battery which is placed inside the house and the panel charges the battery and the lights and fan uses the stored electricity
The big issue with solar is not availability but storage of the energy gathered for subsequent use. Batteries are so inefficient given present technology.
W have plenty of oil to burn so lets get drilling!
In the Philippines, solar panels are already being eveloped by top schools. I believe that it would be affordable over the coming few years but not next year.
Actually I'm pretty stoked that Solar Panels are coming down in price. My goal is to buy some land in S. America and build a home. But with the infrastructure of where I'm looking to live is pretty scarce. I'm going to have to go with drilling a well, building a septic system and for electricity I'm going to need Solar Panels. Now if I buy the land where I can hook into the grid the land is much more expensive and the power isn't all that reliable. The most beautiful land is well beyond the "grid" so Solar is a must.
It's not that we cannot have a easy solar energy producing equipment at everyone's home, but the cost of making it prohibits mass production. Already there may exist an invention to produce cheap solar power, but in today's profit making world, business community with their Intellectual Property protection and even governments running behind business, which literally cannot ask any private research lab to make public their innovation on solar energy will take many years before you and me and everyone can have a solar panel installed on our roof top like having a television at our home.
I want to annouce to the world, I purchased two solar spot lights for the outside of my house. Harbor freight had them on sale for $30. At that cost they were the same as regular fixtures. No need to pay the additional electric to power them or bother running the wires for the same price. They work well. Motion activated and everything!
Solar Energy is the only one reliable resource available and will be available for many years...
So the govt might take steps to reduce the costs of solar utilities, to increase use of solar energy and save other energies for future uses...
I had a solar water fountain... problem is too many firs all around and the fountain rarely ran. I guess if I could stick the cell in the middle of my street, not very practical.
