Solar Panels--Still have Electric Bill?!

[DCforever]

Originally Posted by TwoByFour

Someone I know who works in the local power utility told me some funny stories about what they do when a cloud goes over Maui and all the PV systems put out far less power, yet there is still this huge load that cannot be met quickly enough by the generators. Basically, PV can shut down faster than generators can ramp up. The utility has had to call the large county and state buildings and have them turn off all their A/C to lessen the load until the generators can crank up.

Grid level storage is really needed. Hawaii is rolling out some but a lot more is needed.

I have no specific knowledge of Hawaii but controllable load especially electric water heaters and air conditioning is really common throughout the lower 48. Your friend in Hawaii might think that is novel, but in places like Indianapolis, it's just another button on the dispatchers desk that he pushes when he needs it.

[TechGromit]

Originally Posted by johngolf

I know little about home solar but one thing I have been made aware of is if leasing, what happens when you sell your home? I have heard some horror stories.

Leasing is for suckers, goes right up there with worthless timeshares. Smart people BUY there solar Panel, they get the rebates and after they pay off the loan to pay for the solar system, reap the saving for years to come. Leasers NEVER own the panels, the winner when leasing is always the solar leasing company.

Originally Posted by BeerGeek40

Solar has a place -- but not until it gets more competitive with the rest of the energy market.

Solar is good for helping to meet the peak loads during hot summer days, but it has no base load, no sun no power. Maybe some day in the future if superconductors power cable available, a world wide grid could feed power from day side of the plant to the night side. There is a pumped storage hydroelectric power in Virginia, where excess power is used during the day to pump water uphill into a reservoir where it's used to generated electricity at night using water turbines, and it is actually pretty efficient, but only generates 3 gigawatts of power a day, while New York city uses about 5 gigawatts of power a day while New York state uses around 140 gigawatts a day.