Solar panel efficency

May 30, 2010 170 Replies

you will know when solar PV have "made it" (become economical) when you see the factory that makes them, has them on the roof and doesn't use much power from the grid..

Mark

That is an excessive requirement. It becomes worthwhile when the total energy payback on solar is 10-100x that of manufacture. At the moment it is around 6-8x for PV and rising so there is hope for it yet.

OTOH at my latitude where the sun barely makes 12 degrees above the horizon at midday in mid winter PV is pretty useless. The PV powered "warning bend - skid hazard" roadsigns tend to die a horrible death every winter if they are not totalled first by some speeding nutter.

Kind of sad really - they work brilliantly all summer when there is no frost and lots of sunshine and as soon as winter comes they run out of battery power about an hour after sundown even on sunny days.

Regard, Martin Brown

They should put little wind motors (generators) on them too then.

On Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:07:57 -0700, BlindBaby wibbled:

They do round here (southern England). PV + a little windmill to light up a sign that I have never seen lit in the 100's of times I have passed it. Could probably have stuck some lithium batteries in it and still have it good for 5 years!

Tim Watts Managers, politicians and environmentalists: Nature's carbon buffer.

Can we use them to sop up the oil then?

Those fools in Brussels should have never shut down their Energizer Bunny breeding farm...

Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

On Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:14:50 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" wibbled:

One got mixi, so Farmer Rumpey had the lot shot ;->

Tim Watts Managers, politicians and environmentalists: Nature's carbon buffer.

Idiot. There is only one Energizer Bunny.

He should have had that lead free solder bunch shot, too. Rabies makes people go insane.

Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

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And there are also slightly broken, chipped solar cells for sale on ebay or

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for about 73 cents a cell (about 1/2 watt each) or maybe $1.45 a watt if you buy 100. They all work 95%, just have small chips on the corners and sides. Each cell is about 1.2 amps at 400mV optimum load.

-Bill

.com/onetribe- Occult Talk Show

Best use of politicians i have heard of for a long time. Sounds even more useful than deep frying them.

Then, we could use them to surround the new Devil's Island we build to put the ones that survive the sopping around to keep the prisoners locked in.

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V

You've omitted "Doesn't absorb taxpayer dollars."

Thanks, Rich

Total average shipping loses are under seven percent. And not currently that big a deal.

Many thanks, Don Lancaster voice phone: (928)428-4073 Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552 rss: http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu.xml email: don@tinaja.com Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com

The numbers are rather scary.

-- Many thanks,

Don Lancaster voice phone: (928)428-4073 Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552 rss:

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email: snipped-for-privacy@tinaja.com

Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at

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The fastest way to drop the price is to eliminate the subsidies.

Many thanks, Don Lancaster voice phone: (928)428-4073 Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552 rss: http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu.xml email: don@tinaja.com Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com

nanosolar claim an energy payback time of 1 month

Dirk http://www.transcendence.me.uk/ - Transcendence UK http://www.blogtalkradio.com/onetribe - Occult Talk Show

There are some real PV bargains around for engineers who are into DIY solar.

Dirk http://www.transcendence.me.uk/ - Transcendence UK http://www.blogtalkradio.com/onetribe - Occult Talk Show

Not if it is economy of scale where the bulk of price dropping lies. I doubt whether PV manufacture exceeds (in area) the manufacture of LCD screens.

Dirk http://www.transcendence.me.uk/ - Transcendence UK http://www.blogtalkradio.com/onetribe - Occult Talk Show

A company listed at some reputable stock exchange must be very careful about the wording of press releases.

A company not listed can claim practically anything.

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