Comments on: A Thin Film Solar Installation Revisited

By: Uncle B

Uncle B — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:17:09 +0000

The astounding devaluation of the U.S. dollar and the inherent hyper-inflation spirals about to befall the American investor may prove the Solar cells to be more valuable and more useful than the current “Gold Rush”. Interest rates about to soar on loans make fixed rate investments with a solid return relative to the price of fuel based electricity may be the golden opportunity America has to present to the lucky people to live here! Nobody has announced free Uranium give-aways just yet, and I don’t hear of hoards of volunteers trying to build reactors to save the nation either! With the devalued dollar and more to come, I don’t see the value of a Solar electrical output ever losing value! Long as they last long enough to pay off initial costs, everything after that is gravy! folks pure gravy! Don’t kid yourselves A decade from mow power will certainly not be cheaper! only in a fool’s paradise folks!

By: Uncle B

Uncle B — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:17:00 +0000

By: ECD Fan

ECD Fan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:43:17 +0000

Carlton: What makes you think that electric utility costs will increase over the next twenty years? Utility rates in Japan declined between 1985 and 2004.

http://www.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/japan.html

By: ECD Fan

ECD Fan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:43:00 +0000

Carlton: What makes you think that electric utility costs will increase over the next twenty years? Utility rates in Japan declined between 1985 and 2004.

http://www.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/japan.html

By: Carlton

Carlton — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:21:07 +0000

Do the ROI calculations take into account the average annual increase in electric utility costs over the next twenty years? That could change the ROI time frame considerably, especially as fossil fuels begin to decline and “conservation” forces the utilities to increase rates.

By: Carlton

Carlton — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:21:00 +0000

By: equitydr05

equitydr05 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:02:32 +0000

TruthSeeker neither speaks the truth or seeks it. He is hell bent to degrade Unisolar products and uses half-truths and inuendo to spread his vile interpetation of how things are. He lives on a Yahoo message board and has been put on ignore by most of the regulars there.

By: equitydr05

equitydr05 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:02:00 +0000

By: ECD Fan

ECD Fan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:17:45 +0000

A follow-up to this story has been posted at: http://ecdfan.blogspot.com/2009/06/thin-film-solar-installation-revisited.html

By: ECD Fan

ECD Fan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:17:00 +0000

A follow-up to this story has been posted at: http://ecdfan.blogspot.com/2009/06/thin-film-solar-installation-revisited.html

By: TruthSeeker

TruthSeeker — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:45:21 +0000

Reuben: Fair points, but remember that the dark blue laminates, glued to the metal panes, will actually heat up the roof in the A/C season. Thus, depending on how good (and expensive) insulation was used by Magco, airconditioning costs could have actually increased. This is quite different from regular glass solar panels, which cast shadows and improve air circulation, and thus, coll the roof.

By: TruthSeeker

TruthSeeker — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:45:00 +0000

By: Reuben Thonerfelt

Reuben Thonerfelt — Sun, 03 May 2009 03:30:33 +0000

For Ms. Bennet,

In order to make Magco’s claimed $9,000/yr savings and using just 10 cents per kwh they will have to generate 90,000 KWH; i.e. average 247 KWH/day. Assuming 10hr/day active insolation they need to average 24.7kw generation, with peak of nearly double that… 50KW, which is nearly double the inverter capacity. What is their utility cost?

However, Magco’s operational data shows 29,691 kwh after 11 months operation, which projects to annual generation of 32,390 kwh. To get their $9000 savings they must be paying their local utility as much as 27.8 cents/kwh.

I opine that to include degradation losses in this thread is only useful if we also include the beneficial effect of potential savings in HVAC systems loads, especially in A/C season; and the utility savings in load and demand shedding during peak hours, typically noon to dusk. These latter should overshadow degradation factors as they are economy sensitive variables.

Reuben Thonerfelt, PE, CEM

By: TruthSeeker

TruthSeeker — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:59:42 +0000

Yes, my initial estimates appear to have been too optimistic. Based on the data so far, it appears that Magco’s system will generate less than 35000 KWHs in its first year of operation, so the electrical energy “savings” will be less than $4,600 a year, almost 1/2 of the $9,000 Ms. Bennett was projecting. This project turned out to be a total disaster. No wonder she has been silent for quite some time…

By: TruthSeeker

TruthSeeker — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:59:00 +0000