Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Solar is practical, because it is subsidized (like gasoline).
Photovoltaic Panels are not a toy or a game but a real world energy source.
Some homes get 100% of al power needs (including heat & hot water from PV.
You do realize that fuels cells are NOT an energy source, but just storage, like a battery.
And what would you be milling with your windmill? Perhaps you meant to say wind turbine?
And nuclear will not pay for itself quickly, which is one of the reasons no new nuclear plants have been built in about 30 years.
Lots of wrong here. Maybe entirely wrong.
No solar is not practical. It is a fun game for rich people, but it is not possible to recover the costs in energy bill savings. There is simply too much maintenaince. Even with the small subsidies, they are simply not practical unless you have extra money and you just want one.
I used the common term so people can understand what I am referring to. Point to a wind driven electrical generation system and 90% of people will call it a windmill. Even the president. Beside not all of them are turbine so wind turbine would be incorrect. Who wants to wrtie "wind driven electrical genration system" This is a bit pedantic. I do nto think anyone is misled aas to what we are discussing unless they have a rain man type prooblem. The attempted insult is a bit amising coming from someone who thinks a fuel cell is some kind of battery. While you are looking up what a fuel cell is, look and see how much electricity is genrated by all of the wind powered generation systems in the United States. Now look at the output of one nuclear plant or four coal fired plants. Compare the numbers.
Fuel cells are nothing like a battery. Fuel cells do nto store electricity, they generate electricity. In fact, most fuel cell systems have batteries attached to store the generated electricity, maybe that is where you got confused. I did not look, but I think Google ot Wiki may be able to help you understand what fuel cells are. Basiclly they use a chemical reaction to produce energy, heat water and oxygen from hydrogen. Zero detrimental emissions. They are commonly used in hospitals, and military installations. There are home fuel cell available but they require an entire bay of your garage and cost $70,000. The home units use natural gas as a source of hydrogen. It can power your home and at night you can sell power to the electric company. Still, without subsidies, they do not pay for themselves. However unlike solar they require very little maintenance/repair/replacement. They can even be used to power vehicles. Some city had some busses running on Fuel cells (Chicago I think), and Toyota or Honda has an experimental Fuel Cell car running aorund in California. The problem is finding a way to deliver a reliable source of hydrogen.
Not much upkeep at all...just need to wash the panels once a yr. I believe they are designed to last 25yrs or better so you probably would want a new roof installed before you install the panels. Not sure how they withstand hail storms. Not sure if you will be able to enter the following link because this site is for solar contractors...but give it a try
No solar is not practical. It is a fun game for rich people, but it is not possible to recover the costs in energy bill savings. There is simply too much maintenaince. Even with the small subsidies, they are simply not practical unless you have extra money and you just want one.
I used the common term so people can understand what I am referring to. Point to a wind driven electrical generation system and 90% of people will call it a windmill. Even the president. Beside not all of them are turbine so wind turbine would be incorrect. Who wants to wrtie "wind driven electrical genration system" This is a bit pedantic. I do nto think anyone is misled aas to what we are discussing unless they have a rain man type prooblem. The attempted insult is a bit amising coming from someone who thinks a fuel cell is some kind of battery. While you are looking up what a fuel cell is, look and see how much electricity is genrated by all of the wind powered generation systems in the United States. Now look at the output of one nuclear plant or four coal fired plants. Compare the numbers.
Fuel cells are nothing like a battery. Fuel cells do nto store electricity, they generate electricity. In fact, most fuel cell systems have batteries attached to store the generated electricity, maybe that is where you got confused. I did not look, but I think Google ot Wiki may be able to help you understand what fuel cells are. Basiclly they use a chemical reaction to produce energy, heat water and oxygen from hydrogen. Zero detrimental emissions. They are commonly used in hospitals, and military installations. There are home fuel cell available but they require an entire bay of your garage and cost $70,000. The home units use natural gas as a source of hydrogen. It can power your home and at night you can sell power to the electric company. Still, without subsidies, they do not pay for themselves. However unlike solar they require very little maintenance/repair/replacement. They can even be used to power vehicles. Some city had some busses running on Fuel cells (Chicago I think), and Toyota or Honda has an experimental Fuel Cell car running aorund in California. The problem is finding a way to deliver a reliable source of hydrogen.
Solar PV has little or no maintenance.
90% of people would be wrong, they do not mill anything.
Hydrogen is typically made from natural gas at a net energy loss, then the hydrogen is converted to electricity at a net loss. No energy was generated! Maybe 80% of the potential energy that was in the natural gas is now stored as hydrogen, then converted to electricity at a loss. Energy is stored (like a battery), no energy is generated. The electical output of the fuel cell is less than the energy input the natural gas. You are correct on one point, fuel cells don't store electricity, they store hydrogen, that they convert to electricity.
Solar PV has little or no maintenance.
90% of people would be wrong, they do not mill anything.
Hydrogen is typically made from natural gas at a net energy loss, then the hydrogen is converted to electricity at a net loss. No energy was generated! Maybe 80% of the potential energy that was in the natural gas is now stored as hydrogen, then converted to electricity at a loss. Energy is stored (like a battery), no energy is generated. The electical output of the fuel cell is less than the energy input the natural gas. You are correct on one point, fuel cells don't store electricity, they store hydrogen, that they convert to electricity.
I would go a little further and point out that the storage of the energy from PV might be done by creating hydrogen. Thus an analog of a battery. You could also pump water up hill. Both processes will have sizable losses.
I would go a little further and point out that the storage of the energy from PV might be done by creating hydrogen. Thus an analog of a battery. You could also pump water up hill. Both processes will have sizable losses.
Yes, I should have used the term "energy storage" rather than "battery".
I just bugs me that some people actually think fuel cells create energy.
And the beauty of grid tied PV is that the whole grid becomes your storage at no energy loss.
Yes, I should have used the term "energy storage" rather than "battery".
I just bugs me that some people actually think fuel cells create energy.
And the beauty of grid tied PV is that the whole grid becomes your storage at no energy loss.
Perhaps in a Micro sense...but in the Macro sense the grid is not a storage device.
Well maybe if you think one can store energy as dollars.
Perhaps in a Micro sense...but in the Macro sense the grid is not a storage device.
Well maybe if you think one can store energy as dollars.
I'm on a roll with picking the wrong word. With a grid tied PV system and net metering, if you are producing more electricity than you are using, your meter runs backwards. In effect you are instantly selling surplus electricity to your electric provider. Then at night you are buying electricity from the same provider.
Do it yourself.....if Big Brother will allow that sort of anarchy in your area.
First set up a small system and work all of the kinks out of it. Then when you have the process of setting up a system down.....maybe have read a book or two......build the main system and feel a sense of accomplishment!!!!!!!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
