[Rhodes22-list] Going green

[Brad Haslett]

John,

I like the guys attitude, "better to ask forgiveness than permission".  He
may wish he'd done so, however, if the committee decides to play hardball.
I've read similar accounts of homeowners making drastic cuts in their
electric bills using solar panels.  My own employer installed a vast array
on our Oakland hub but I haven't read an analysis of the economic payback on
that project.  Of those I have read, the payback was in the 7 to 10 year
range, same as geothermal.  That is far enough down the road that most
consumers won't adapt the technology unless electric rates go much higher.
I like solar.  I'd like it a lot more if the price of the panels came down.

Brad

On 6/21/07, john Belanger <jhnblngr at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> brad
>   ive got a scene for your perusal. we have a guy in one of these highly
> regulated gated type communities who has installed a solar array, (10-12 3'
> x 5' panels) on the mansard flat type roof of his house. the housing
> committee is requesting that he remove it, though it is not visible from the
> street. i presume they have a document in hand that he signed when he bought
> the house accepting the rules as set down by the committee. he's got a bill
> from the electric company for $37.00 for a months electricity.
>
> Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>   Slim,
>
> The problem with solar (and wind) is the same old "there's no such thing
> as
> a free lunch" issue. The manufacture of the panels themselves, and
> especially the batteries to store energy, pose their own environmental
> issues. Right now, nothing can compete with coal price wise. Nuclear can
> but we've made it so difficult to build one that none have been in thirty
> years. Natural gas "peaking" plants were added to the nation's power
> supply
> as a bone to the enviro-nazis late in the Clinton administration, but
> these
> aren't competitive either. The next time you have to wait for a train for
> more than five minutes, look at the cars. Chances are it is a 'unit train'
> of roughly 140 cars of Western coal headed for Eastern power plants. The
> ultimate solution is so obvious it is painful to even hear it being
> debated. N-U-C-L-E-A-R-! Were it not for using it for a bomb for its first
> application we wouldn't be having this discussion. Once you have cheap
> electricity available, all kinds of energy conversion options open up;
> electric cars, coal-to-liquid, tar sands, hydrogen, etc. The problem with
> nuclear energy is mostly one of perception. From an environmental point of
> view, nothing can compete.
>
> BTW, we've run our business on the Gulf Coast for almost two years now
> with
> a hybrid system of grid power and off grid power incorporating generators,
> batteries, and solar panels. Off grid is a major PITA but doable. Our
> water
> system is a cistern off the shop roof that we feed to a plastic gravity
> header tank exposed to the sun. This time of year the water is so hot you
> can barely stand to take a shower. In your part of the world, geothermal
> is
> the way to go if you have the land or a deep well. Most people won't spend
> the money on the front end because the payback is so long (about seven
> years). The only thing that makes people change their ways in the
> aggregate
> is pain (market prices).
>
> Brad
>
>
> On 6/20/07, Steven Alm wrote:
> >
> > How about solar panels? Convert your hot water heater, stove, furnace
> and
> > electric car all to electricity and power them all with solar
> > panels. What
> > would it take?
> >
> > Slim
> >
> > On 6/20/07, R22RumRunner at aol.com wrote:
> > >
> > > Rik,
> > >
> > > It became a no brainer for me when I figured out how many 100 watt
> > > incandescent's we had and how much it was adding to our air
> conditioning
> > > load. Time
> > > will tell, but so far I'm pleased. I even replaced the 40 watt bulbs
> in
> > > our
> > > outdoor lights. I find my self walking around the house looking for
> > bulbs
> > > that
> > > haven't been changed out yet. I have spot lights on the top of the
> > garage
> > > which
> > > I haven't changed out yet, but then I haven't seen them at the
> hardware
> > > store.
> > >
> > > Rummy
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ************************************** See what's free at
> > > http://www.aol.com.
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