Solar energy at $1 a watt
 

If you've been looking for ways to live off the grid cheaply, your time may have come.

http://solveclimate.com/blog/2007121...gy-has-arrived

$1 a watt FTW Let's hope this technology goes the way of CPUs--more efficient, more poweful, and cheaper as time goes by.:thumbsup

how many watts does the average home use?

Don't know excactly, but

Last power cut we had, we were running a 12v car battery with an inverter to power a lamp, the fan on the fire our satelite box and a tv.

Not sure on the wattage but if you take that into account it must be low.

Edit: it was a 20v deep cicle battery but still pretty amazing, lasted about 2-3 hours maybe more

I got one of those Kill-o-watt type meters that you plug into a wall socket, then your computer (or whatever appliance) into it. You can plug in your price per kwh and such and it tells you how much power the appliance uses. Even my pretty high-end pc with 8GB of ram, 3 HDDs, etc etc only uses 325w at max load on Prime95. That's not just the computer, that's the power bar with 2 20" monitors and speakers and desk lamp plugged in, too.

The microwave and electric kettle and toaster oven were all far worse.

5-7 kwt/month on average

Actually about 14k a year or rounding up 40 kw per day. That is national averages are at least.
I keep all my utility stuff in a spreadsheet that goes back 5+ years. Even though I have a lot of medical equipment and use a portable heater. (we do have AC, but gas hot water, gas stove, gas heat) and our house averages about 29.
I do have a small house though.

Err those are kilowatt hours.

What are the chances of this technology achieving an economy of SCALE? Maybe 10 cents per watt or less within 5 years?

Well not so good in 5 years, to many regulations and NIMBY crap.
However if we do not put all of our eggs in one basket (hello T. Bone), and stick with assorted types based on geography and resources. There have been some serious advancements in solar, yet still that is not for everyone in every place.

Collect your last 12 months of Electric bills, average the total KWH listed each month and enter the info in the calculator on this page:
http://www.affordable-solar.com/gt-estimator.htm

Then check out the site and get an idea what size system your home needs.
BTW this is for grid tied systems..off grid will be more expensive/longer payback due to batteries, larger system needed, etc.

Also a note, there is currently a federal tax credit up to 30% for the cost of the system or more depending on the state that you live in and also what your utility supplier offers in rebates as well. It could be as much as 50% of your total system costs.
state by state info here: http://www.dsireusa.org/

Don't forget that many utilities are required to buy back the excess power you generate. That can figure significantly in the return on your investment.

You also need to buy the equipment that allows it back onto the grid. Just a FYI since some forget that.

every roof should be solar panels and not shingles

so good
I like this product

Damn, a few counties to the west of me, the utility company will pay the entire cost of the system, then instead of paying you for the excess energy, they apply that to your equipment cost till it is paid off. My utility co are a bunch of greedy bastages, and they have no incentives at all.

actually they have roofing shingles that are...
Spanish Tile style:
http://www.srsenergy.com/Home.aspx

traditional style:
http://www.roofingnetworks.com/info/...roof-shingles/

woah, very cool!

My last power bill was almost 700.00

That article was dated '07. But, yeah, Nanosolar is an awesome company, and they've improved their panels greatly since then. Their new facility in Germany is just incredible:

Unless the appliance is very simple (ie a light or an electric cooking element) you'll need to take these figures with a grain of salt. For example, a microwave oven will turn the magnetron on and off to regulate cooking, which will reduce the average consumption.

If you want to go green it's often better to think about small changes you can make to reduce your overall energy requirements, rather than just building a bigger and more expensive system...

I'm just about to buy an Intel Atom CPU based motherboard that draws less than 20W of juice, which includes a 'green' HD. Its processing power is roughly equivalent to a low end Pentium 4 and as a bonus it doesn't need a PSU, just a 12V DC input. That's the future. :thumbsup

Good point. While $1 is a breakthrough, it definitely needs to go down much lower for it to make full economic sense (subsidy or no subsidy).

Kickass video. Almost fully automated/robot-driven.:thumbsup

In those lists people are also leaving out energy vampires. So damn many devices still pull when you have them turned off. Often the off function just means standby. Only real way to make sure your device is not pulling juice when off is to test each one or unplug them when not in use.

I know for example in our kitchen we have a power strip that has the coffee pot, electric kettle, coffee grinder, and spice grinder pluged into it. That strip gets turned off after each use. I have another strip that has the microwave, toaster oven, food processor pluged into that. It also gets turned off when done as I have no need for a clock on my microwave. The TV in the living room along with all of its componets are on a strip that is turned off too. The bedroom TV just gets powered down since we actively use the DVR, I suppose I could unplug the stero surround, as well as the actual TV but currently I am not.

We also have a timer for our hot water heater. Had a tankless but unfortunatly the contractor did not follow code, had to yank it and it needs lots of extra work to make code so I am back on a regular hot water heater. However it has no reason to heat all night long.

Lastly we are currently adding in some motion sensors to our lights in some rooms. I could do it now but I know our city is having an energy fair this month and they will be giving out some vouchers.

hmmmmm
 

Solar needs to go to .20 a watt to be viable. Plus, that $1 figure amortizes the cost over a life expectancy that may not bear out.

Unless you're using another system to measure power, you're wrong. Lights alone would eat up that in a mo.

I have kept all data for about one year, and we're eating up min 300 KWh a mo (includes AC in the summer). Cooking and stuff are on gas though. Winter, that's another story... using up to 1100 KWh a mo due to heating.

That's about right. between 700 and 1000 avg. KWh per month.

Also... at least in New Jersey it is about 6.50 a watt to have installed. Just some information... if your house used 800 KWh per month average, located in NJ with about 4 hours usable sunlight, you would be looking at about an 8 KW system with approximately 45 180W panels.

The cost would be around $52,000. With incentives and proper pricing structure you can see you money back within the 2nd year.

Anybody who is serious about solar options feel free to hit me up... I am very interested in people who have set up sites for alternative energy solutions and I think we could help each other out.