If you really think solar power can replace nuclear power, you can always do it yourself.

[LoZoccolo]

I've heard that some people can generate enough to start selling it, but that other people found that it won't pay for itself for a long time. I don't know much about it because I live in an apartment, but I've heard about people who like it and people who were disappointed. I think you may even get a tax break from it.

[Ozymanithrax]

1. I think that we should set up exercycles hooked to electrical generators...

A family of four could run their TV and lose weight at the same time.

If they have at least one person on the exergenerator 14 hour a day, the household could save electricity.

[peacebird]

2. we put solar on 6 years ago, and we sell our excess back to the power company

We got a tax break when we installed, and another when we added more panels.
We have a battery backup system for power outages and in the summer our meter runs backwards during the day.

Our plan was to help keep utility costs lower when we retire (about 6 years from now for me)

[LoZoccolo]

3. That's good to hear.

It seems like the do-it-yourself trend is coming back with things like Make magazine and people are taking up technology for themselves. It will probably get cheaper as more and more people set it up as well.

[Courtesy Flush]

6. When you say "sell" what do you mean?

I assume you mean that you are credited against times when you need to use the grid.

I think you can't sell power to the utility company for the same price they charge you to buy it. In other words, you buy it at a retail price, but sell it to them at wholesale. From what I've read (which may only apply where I live), you couldn't actually get a check until you close out your account. And you wouldn't want to, as you'll need to apply it to future bills.

[peacebird]

10. the excess energy we produce is purchased by the power company.

We are at work m-f during peak hours, so our energy usage is lower than our production. The power company "buys" it from us, which gives us credit toward the times we use their power. We also get a check every quarter from a company that has bought "carbon credits" for the amount of power we generate... Strange but true and worth about $300 a quarter.

[Starboard Tack]

4. My wife and I live completely off the grid

At present we live on solar and 6 golf cart batteries, with a backup diesel generator running 1-2 hours a day. Next project is to add a wind generator and hopefully reduce generator use to 1/2 hour per day max (mostly for heating water). I have a friend in Austin, TX, who installed solar panels on his townhouse/condo and his meter was running backwards in January. Feels good!

[NYC_SKP]

5. I'm something of an expert on solar, if I do say so myself...

Just got responses from five major contractors to a Request For Proposals for a total of 750kW over two parking lots (as PV shaded parking structures), for example.

Also went on a tour of the Solyndra plant this month with another two gentlemen. Awesome technology, awesome plant.

In California's Central Valley, it's a no-brainer in so many cases but we need to reauthorize the CSI incentives (the PG&E share for non-residential PV ran out on December 24, 2010).

There's still an investment tax credit available, at least for commercial.

Generating enough to sell is a tough row to hoe, but putting in enough to offset your bill does eventually recover the cost of installation, after which the deferred cost is like money in the bank.

What's more, the investment increases your home's value.

Whomever was disappointed might have worked with lousy vendors or they just don't understand the benefits or the technology.

Solar rocks, solar works, and for a great many homes and businesses in California it can generate more than your annual demand...

AND take a hell of a lot of stress off the infrastructure!

:hi:

[Zorra]

9. I've used solar since around 1980. Yes, solar totally rocks.

:hi:

[Cleita]

7. If I could afford the solar panels and a back up

generator, I could live off the grid and not give up a thing as far as electricity is concerned. btw there are generators that operate on bio-fuels. Also, we have electric power outages pretty regularly, especially after storms, so we have somewhat learned already to live without it for hours or even days.

[Johonny]

8. easy to do yourself is conservation

when Dick Cheney laugh at California during the fake energy crisis that we could never conserve enough energy and that was a fantasy solution... he turned out to be wrong. Conservation always the easiest first step.

[WhiteTara]

11. I had a stand alone system before and I liked it and didn't

I needed more battery storage than I had. This time, it will tie into the existing 110 system and can have the grid as back up instead of a generator.

[Luminous Animal]

12. I rented a house near Tulum Mexico in a community of 10-12 houses that were completely off the grid.

All of the vacation rental houses ran on solar except ours which had a generator and gas refrigerator and a gas stove. We didn't like the sound of the generator so we only ran it when we were cooking dinner (to power the lights to see what we were doing) so we went with no lights for 22 hours in a day. Which was great, by the way.

I was curious how the solar people, who were also vacation renting, were doing and visited with a neighbor. They showed me that their house had a meter to indicate in real time how much power they had in reserve. One of their biggest energy drains was that their kids were used to turning on lights every time they entered a room (and then not turning them off), so they taped the light switches down. Once they did that, they had energy to spare for some TV watching and computer use. They did tell me that there were some other vacation rental neighbors who were not fairing so well and were running out of electricity nearly every day.

We are so used to having lights on or the TV or computer on (even watching it or using it) with no thought to how much energy they use. My neighbors installed solar panels on their roof and also a reserve monitor on a 3 unit building with the determination that they were going to be electricity independent (their stove and heat are gas - you don't need much heat in San Francisco). There was a learning curve at first but they became totally off the electric grid within 3 months. That's about 3500 sq ft powered by 1100 sq ft of solar panels.

A lot of it comes down to discipline. Poor people practice it all of the time.

[Quixote1818]

13. The technology gets better ever year. With a big budget for research it could improve ten fold

If there is a great need then it would get to the efficiency needed if it's not already there.

[grahamhgreen]

14. Cool. Can i get 36 billion in loan guarantees like the nuke industry?