solar power?

I've seen in traveling across the midwest windmill power plants, don't know the pros n cons of them. None here in my part of SC, not enough wind. I have heard of solar power plants which makes sense because we usually have plenty of sun. Anybody know of solar plants being set up? Leasing arrangements? Pros and cons?

KEH

Here in NH there are a lot of them going in. Many capped landfills are growing them and many home owners are getting them under lease arrangements. Something like the elec. savings pays the lease payment, and it is paid off by the time it needs to be replaced or you die. many say that solace makes no sense here in the north, but our elec. rates are SOOOOO high.

Minnesota is in the game. See link. The tax breaks and incentives are in place, and installation of multi megawatt systems is happening. Jim
forbs.

Pretty good size on just north of Roxboro NC. on rt 501 a little before you get to Va. line. Fenced in with sheep, maybe goats and water for them to drink. They graze under the panels and keep it clean.

They're in a bubble right now because the main part of the federal subsidy ends next year, vendors are pushing to install as many as they can before the market dries up.

Lots of Solar Power around its what keeps us all on Earth from freezing to death,
makes plants grow etc.

Here in central North Carolina there are at least two "solar farms" under construction,and one or two applications pending. Last fall I was traveling I-40 around Asheville, NC and spotted a large solar farm perched on a mountainside. I asked my son, who lives there, and he said, "Oh, that is the Biltmore estate." G.W. Vanderbilt came from a rich family, and built the huge mansion known as Biltmore, but he was also a conservationist who believed in making the estate self sustaining. Although he has been gone for many years, I guess his legacy lives on in the manner that the estate is cared for.

I see more and more of the huge solar arrays going up. It may depend on subsidies and tax breaks etc etc a lot of money and politics are involved. However, alternative energy like wind and solar and tidal and geothermal are sure worth investigation depending on the supply of fossil fuels.

On a small scale for 2 of us living in a 29 Ft RV 5 to 6 months a year, I have enough solar to supply all my energy needs. I can capture enough energy in the day to make up for what I use day plus night for the most part. If I were to ever build again, Id have passive solar heat and solar electric and earth sheltering and super insulation etc. Some don't like solar (fine that's their free choice, I wont make them use it if they don't try to stop me lol) ) but I'm (an Engineer) a HUGE fan.

To each their own

John T

Political brownie points with voters. If we stopped making 64 million cars a year (globally) we'd have more energy than we knew what to do with. But we can't do that because no one wants to figure out how to support the standard of living we've become accustomed to without all those good high paying jobs that are involved. Creatures of comfort. (And of course everyone wants a new car.)

I was really disappointed last year when we visited Kitty Hawk NC and there were no windmills. The Wright Brothers knew that it had the most consistent wind over 100 years ago. It must be the (not in my backyard) scenario! You can spent more on clean power or you can spend it on health care, take your pick! They just said in the paper today that that air pollution cased 2000 extra deaths in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area per year.

I just was reading in today's paper, they are getting windmill farms now. Some agreements were made, and they decided if the tower is taller they can put them up in lower wind areas down south. Listed about 5 states that will be getting them.

I presume some deals had to be made to get some votes for something in Congress, and so make-work program is set up to bring a few jobs to that region, even if there isn't enough wind.

Paul

I guess you're setting an example for the rest of us to follow by walking everywhere
you go?

(quoted from post at 20:40:29 07/13/15) I just was reading in today's paper, they are getting windmill farms now. Some agreements were made, and they decided if the tower is taller they can put them up in lower wind areas down south. Listed about 5 states that will be getting them.

I presume some deals had to be made to get some votes for something in Congress, and so make-work program is set up to bring a few jobs to that region, even if there isn't enough wind.

Paul

Click to expand...

ots of wind farms in Texas.

A lot of windmills in my area but due to stupid laws being passed there will be no more. Some factories have their own windmills as also some schools. Also my town has built a solar field and as I understand it is working very well. Northwest Ohio

stopped by stupid laws ?

How do you like paying higher electrical rates to subsidize the wind or solar's guarantied rate above grid wholesale price. How do you like paying for a duplicated generating system on spinning reserve . To pickup the load 2/3 of the time with wind wind and 3/4 of the time with solar .
If it wasn't for the ratepayer paying higher rates to green .The only place you would see solar and turbines is at remote locations where the electrical grid is not available .
Do you like padding corporate pockets? Remember the carbon credits from wind and solar sell for big bucks too.

Indianapolis airport claims to have the largest airport solar farm. Impressive size.

When I invest my money I expect to get a good rate of return. If you get 5.75% compounded annually, at the end of 12 years every dollar you invest will double.

So if you invested $15K in a solar or alternative heating system, $15K will become $30k in 12 years. Another 12 years later, $60k. Another 12 years, 36 years later, you will have $120k. Now you will have to pay taxes on earnings, but get my point. If it's really a good investment, it needs to pay you a good rate of return on top of the initial investment.

Use a compound calculator, put in a reasonable rate of return. Your investment must not only pay for itself, it needs to make you money.

If you don't believe me, talk to a financial adviser and see if he would tell you to invest in solar panels.
solar farm

Solar or wind energy is still just a pipe dream. The manufacturing, installation, maintenance and replacement costs are never exceeded by the value of the energy produced, not with the current technologies and how they are implemented. Take away the government subsidies and you pull the rug out from under the whole business.

I live in an area where there is no electrical service; so I installed a solar system. There are some drawbacks to this technology, but on the whole, I prefer it as I don't depend on a politically riddled system for my electrical needs. My county is currently debating the installation of a solar farm near where I live. Most of us are in favor of it, but there are a few with the not-in-by-backyard frame of mind who are putting up a real resistance. They have brought in the Sierra Club and a few other environmental groups to stop its installation. The solar company must fight through a constantly growing list of imposed environmental studies. It is a mystery to me why the Sierra Club would fight this as solar is non-polluting.
A while back, this county had a real fight over allowing fracking. There is a great concern over the possible contamination of our aquifer. As it turned out, fracking was outlawed here.
Solar technology is in its infancy, and if there is a growing possibility of profit, the technology will grow to a point where solar can compete with oil. I have heard that one research company has made panels that will convert electromagnetic static into usable current. That means these panels will produce electricity day and night, rain or shine. Before these things can happen, there must be the promise of a profitable business. That is how technology evolves.
Whether or not today's solar industry is a profitable investment is beyond my knowing, but I do hope those who do invest in it will profit handsomely.

(quoted from post at 13:16:15 07/15/15)
Solar technology is in its infancy, and if there is a growing possibility of profit, the technology will grow to a point where solar can compete with oil. I have heard that one research company has made panels that will convert electromagnetic static into usable current. That means these panels will produce electricity day and night, rain or shine. Before these things can happen, there must be the promise of a profitable business. That is how technology evolves.
Whether or not today's solar industry is a profitable investment is beyond my knowing, but I do hope those who do invest in it will profit handsomely.

Click to expand...

Solar is only profitable in areas where electricity is extremely costly or "green" is subsidized.
There are no gains in solar efficiency per square foot of area. There is no practical way to store commercial amounts of solar power.
Outside of 9:00AM to 3:00PM solar is either rapidly dropping due to weak sun. There is no practical solar for 2/3 of a 24hr day. Solar doesn't work at night or during storms. Production is low during short winter days.
Solar and wind require fossil power operating in spinning reserve to provide backup. That is $$$. Ain't "green" either.

My panels are only about 15% efficient; in other words, given the area of each panel, only about 15% of what they can produce is converted to electrical current. If I were to buy new panels today, I could get them at 35% efficient - that is more than double what they use to be. That is the direction this technology is going. Today, storage is its greatest problem. Tomorrow, can be a completely different story - it all depends.

I was born and raised in California's Silicon Valley. My whole carrier was centered on the emergence of our information age. I saw the beginnings of a mass of relays grow to a palm sized device that can do things we could not have imagined back then. I know what a technology can do if grown in the right environment. Solar energy has a great deal of potential, but it all depends on what we want. What do we want to invest in - oil - solar? Solar doesn't work, you say? That situation can be ephemeral. The real problem with solar is that many of us have an invested interest in the oil industry. Solar is its competition. Computers didn't have that kind of competition. It doesn't take much imagination to see what could happen to the growth of solar technology.

Re-check the PV efficiency and cost per watt. Just as in batteries the various combinations of elements have been tried. There are power limits that can not be over come . There has been a reduction in cost per Kw due to large scale manufacture in China . Where employee welfare and environmental concerns do not impact cost of production.
There are many people who think that existing electrical power generation can be 100% replaced with just solar and wind turbines. They don't want to hear anything else.

I'm not saying solar power won't happen in the future. The technology will definitely get there some day. Heat generated power from solar could be the better source than current from silicon panels.

These mirror sites are not producing as much as expected. The animal lovers are upset about the light concentration units because of the fried birds.
What do you do for power the other 2/3 of a 24hr day ?