On Sun, 29 Feb 2004 07:37:29 +0800, Old Nick wrote:
On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 20:48:35 GMT, "Ed Huntress"
vaguely proposed a theory
......and in reply I say!:

What is the source for the claim that solar electricity has a 2-5 yr. ROI,
Larry? The figures I've seen show a payback period of...never.

There was one claim here, I can't remember by whom, that solar power
actually had a negative _energy_ valkue, in that it took more energy
to make a solar cell and the associated batteries etc than it
generated in its life.

Used to be true. Current generation cells achieve energy breakeven
in about 7 years. Throw in the batteries, regulators, inverters, etc
that make up the complete power system, though, and the claim might
still be right.

Gary