House of sun: Professor builds solar-powered home to catch rays

[eppur_se_muova]

Another solar success from tropical Toledo...

http://utnews.utoledo.edu/publish/article_2332.shtml

House of sun: Professor builds solar-powered home to catch rays
By Deanna Woolf

Dec 5, 2005
***
The Uni-Solar photovoltaic shingles
used on Collins' house in Maumee
dispel several myths about solar
panels. First, they are barely
noticeable — gone are the days of
large, bulky solar panel units in one's
yard. "Developers who build with
them like them because they blend
well into the roof of the house,"
Collins said.

Second, they can work even when
there is some close natural shade.
"People ask why we have so many
trees nearby the house," Collins said.
Solar cells work best when picking up
direct light from the sun. But the
solar shingles are "effective at picking
up scattered light — that is light that
hits clouds or filters through the
leaves on trees."

The third myth is the expense of solar equipment. "They are commercially
available at a reasonable cost," he said. "There is assistance available ... a state of
Ohio grant can pay $5 a watt up to $25,000 of the system's cost." Collins added
there is a $3,000 federal tax credit available for solar systems brought online in
2006. The Collinses' 4.5 kilowatt system cost $37,460 total — but that was
without an Ohio grant because "this system was too advanced" to fall under the
current state guidelines. He believes the cost will go down as roofers and
electricians become more experienced in installation and as advancements are
made in the solar materials.

This solar technology also can work in conjunction with other energy-saving
innovations. Collins' house is part of the Decker Homes' Energy Star Deer Valley
subdivision, where each house conforms to specific energy guidelines. His home
has argon-gas-filled wood windows with heat-reflecting glass; a high-efficiency gas
furnace; fluorescent lighting; and high-performance insulation.
***

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. They should start with something small that we can all purchase

and support, like a solar battery that juices up every day, and can run basic household items, like small garden fountains, driveway lights, other sensor lights, pond filters...

THAT would be a quick seller. But I've looked and there is nothing out there that is reaonsably priced, or functions well enough for commercial use.

[Dead_Parrot]

2. They are around...

I've seen solar powered lights, fountains, battery chargers... They are a world away from a 2-ton sheet metal press, though. A totally different beast...

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Nothing I've seen has had good consumer reports.

YOu would think they would start with something small and work their way up. Christ, this is an economy whose time has come. Where are the entrepreneurs in this country? A Bill Gates should be offering a million dollar donation to the school that comes up with the best solar powered garden item.

[Dead_Parrot]

4. I've had a few that worked quite well...

...but only in the low-power range. The solar fountain was wonderful - if you need a fountain and have $200 to spare, that is. It's just too damn expensive to scale up.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Was it an American company?

If not, why not? What are all those engineers without a job waiting for? Get together and come up with something that will make yourselves all rich!

[Dead_Parrot]

6. Don't think so - this was the UK

Probably made in taiwan, to be honest...

It's a limited market - dumb rich people are pretty much plumbed out.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. I don't know about being rich, but I have been known to be eccentric.

[skids]

8. These work well.

I own some. They work fine.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001ZZIU6/qid=1140503065/sr=8-5/ref=pd_bbs_5/104-4402433-7785553?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=284507

Shop though you can get them cheaper than that.

And there are of course these for camera/gadget charging:

http://www.cetsolar.com/b111.htm

A step up from that are these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009WLUCQ/qid=1140503139/sr=1-9/ref=sr_1_9/104-4402433-7785553?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=284507

...they don't gen much power but they save the life of the battery which ands up saving you money. There's a whole range from 15W down to only a watt or less, depending on your needs.

Gate and garage door openers are also popular items as a tiny panel can store power up all day for those
few times the motor is activated.

Finally if you want something to hook up a more serious amount of juice to there are things like these, though you might have to bodge it to charge off solar with a separate charge controller:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B8GBCC/104-4402433-7785553?v=glance&n=228013

(the invertor on that particular model is a bit wimpy, though.)

Beyond that, if you want a cheap system that doesn't mess with AC, a medium sized 48V panel and modest battery bank can power a good amount of Power Over Ethernet equipment which includes clocks, wireless LAN, automated locks, and even some small lamps. PoE individual devices are limited to 14W per device, however.