Kick Starting the Solar Industry

The solar industry has been on the back burner for many years. It's time to get some one like Wal-Mart, Target, McDonalds or a similar worldwide entity to make the commitment to go GREEN. It would be a win win situation because of the free publicity and also the long term savings. The biggest problem with solar is the initial cost which would come down drasticly if we started manufactoring millions of panels and shingles instead of the limited number now being manufactored. If any of TBP Army has contacts with any of these large nationwide or worldwide Corporations we need to put pressure on them to step up to bat.

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Permalink Reply by David Smith on July 19, 2008 at 10:23am: Skip,

We also need to perform a legislative and regulatory investigation and find bottlenecks created by poor regulatory efforts. Just like the natural gas EPA regulations that pushed a conversion to 12,000.00 dollars when the market rate is 2,000.00 to 4,500.00 dollars. Finding those bottlenecks can produce very quick responses. It is a very boring and tedious process but you never can know what is possible until a thorough investigation is performed. You would be surprised at some of the ridiculous regulations being placed on alternative energy.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by tomo on July 20, 2008 at 6:51pm: How does one find out about these ridiculous regulations.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by David Smith on July 21, 2008 at 5:04am: Here are some good places to start. It will take a lot of data mining to locate all of the regulations.

http://www.doe.gov/

http://www.epa.gov/

http://www.epa.gov/solar/

http://search.doe.gov/search?output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3A...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by David Smith on July 21, 2008 at 11:22am

Some interesting technical data.

Attachments:

Photovoltaic Install.pdf, 2.4 MB

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Permalink Reply by David Smith on July 21, 2008 at 11:36am

More interesting material

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Permalink Reply by David Smith on July 21, 2008 at 11:37am: • The Load
The load is defined as the amount of electric power being consumed at any given moment. To determine the load, it is necessary to select the units that will rely on the system for power. If the system is used to power a home, the load will consist of appliances, lights and other common home items.
The next step is to determine the wattage of each item. The wattage of a device is usually stamped or printed on a nameplate or identification plate on the rear of the unit. If the unit lists VA (volts x amps), that is the wattage. If only amps are listed, multiply the amps by the volts listed to find the wattage.
Finally, decide how many hours per day (average) each item is to be used. The load estimate must be as precise as possible to avoid over sizing or under sizing the system. If design is oversized, money is wasted on excess capacity. If it is undersized, power shortages during operation may result.
The average daily load then, is found by the following formula:

Daily load = wattage X time in use (DL = W x T) DL = 100 watts x 2 hours DL = 200 watt-hours

The load profile, together with the amount of sunshine, can be used to determine the size of the array.

• Available Sunshine

Sunshine is rated in peak hours, the hours of the day at which you can expect the maximum rated performance from a solar panel. On average, Arizona has six peak hours of sun daily.
Panels are rated in peak watts, the amount of electricity they can produce at peak sun. Consequently, the number of watt-hours available from a panel is found by this formula:

Panel Number hours peak sun

Watt-hours = x rated panel output
(Wh = Sp x P)
Wh = 6 hours x 40 watts
Wh = 240 watt-hours per panel

Size of the Array
Because batteries and inverters consume a certain amount of the power generated by the solar cells, it is wise to allow for at least a 20 percent safety factor over and above the exact calculated load needs.
The number of panels is thus calculated as follows:
number of panels =
(Daily load x 1.2)
needed Watt-hours

http://www.azsolarcenter.com/technology/tech-6.html; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by David Smith on August 13, 2008 at 8:07am: MIT scientist have discovered a catalyst that is 100% effecient in producing hydrogen with PV or Wind power. This could give the solar power industry a tremendous boost.

http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=209900956; ▶ Reply to This