In article , LouB
wrote:
wrote:
On Apr 3, 11:56 am, Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
"HeyBub" wrote:
Solar-electric anything is a bad investment.
Arguably true today, but you won't be able to say that for long. We're
working on the next generation of solar at work, as are others.
Efficiency of the collectors has gone way, way up, and prices keep
coming down.
A friend of mine had a system put on his roof a year ago. He has no
batteries, so the meter runs backwards during the day and forwards at
night. He spent $18,000, and he's saving $60 a month. Hardly a
respectable return, financially.
Within six months, we're planning to have a system of equivalent output
that's 1/3 the size at 1/3 the cost. That should be approaching
viability from an investment standpoint, particularly with the gov't
incentives now in effect.
What exactly is the big breakthrough that allows you to suddenly get a
3X improvement? Everything I've seen with solar electric panels has
been at a much slower pace over a long time. One would think if there
was some sudden breakthrough in efficiency it would be all over the
press.
If he told you he would have to kill you, but it is a good question.
Lou
Orders of magnitude, as opposed to incremental, advances in detector
efficiency in just the last few years are a matter of public record. The
detectors themselves are in mass production and available for sale.
Using those detectors to build ferociously better solar panels requires
overcoming some engineering challenges. We know how to do that. Of
course, there are many other people working on this, and likely all of
them have more money than we do. Sometimes that's a blessing, sometimes
it's a curse.
The popular press will perk up when the new stuff is out there
producing, I imagine.