On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:49:17 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

Seamus J. Wilson wrote:
I live in Phoenix AZ and I plan to install photocells on roof to help
environment.
My house is 11 years old with original ceramic tile roof. I know
ceramic tiles have very long life and problem is the limited life of
the underlay. Before the tiles are ripped out I would like to know
what the life of the underlay is for the hot desert. Some have said
ten years max. How do I assess the underlay life? Should I have the
underlay
replaced during the photocell install?
Thank you,
Seamus J. Wilson

While Phoenix is a good location for solar power, be advised you will not
generate as much energy as it took to manufacture the things in the first
place.

I can believe it. I'd quite like to see something for all these
"green" solutions - PV panels, CFLs, wind turbines (the "home sized"
stuff, not commercial) etc. analyzing the real "cost" (materials,
processing, manufacture, shipping, disposal etc.) - I suspect a lot of
them do far more harm than good.

Heatpumps seem to genuinely work, so does solar heating, so does properly
insulating buildings - but I think there's probably a lot of horsecrap
technology out there, too. Very difficult to get past the political spin
to the truth though (and to recognise the truth is when you're told it :-)

cheers

Jules