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.
Gateway Pundit, because they do not have one iota of integrity, used a concept drawing.
Somebody's cousin got a nice payday if that's all that the 4.3 million went into - but at this point in time, I frankly think we're being lied to through and through.
Gateway Pundit, because they do not have one iota of integrity, used a concept drawing.
Somebody's cousin got a nice payday if that's all that the 4.3 million went into - but at this point in time, I frankly think we're being lied to through and through.
Yes, that's it. Solar Freakin' Roadways! An "engineering couple" in Idaho with a very dumb concept but a very successful promotion campaign a couple years ago, endorsed by pols and celebs... got a large government grant and $2.1 million on gofundme. And that little piece of sidewalk with panels that soon broke or caught fire is all that has come of it so far.
Why gripe about Gateway Pundit when you can easily find out all about this with a google search?
I have 3 neighbors with full solar arrays and I spoke with one of them- 90% power paid for. Helena avg sunshine is a smidge better than Sand Point, but not by much.
An average system in Sand Point should generate 5,088 kWh p/yr.
Helena, MT- 5,313. LasVegas- 7,036 and Charleston WV- 4,968.
Me thinks some people here don't bother to think before they post. How surprising.
How much did it cost them for the full system? This is were we realized it would not pay off for us. This is not the answer for an average person renting a home. We checked into this for a cabin 934 sq ft cost $35,000, for the panels. This did not include installing the panels or bracing the existing barn to install them on.
The power company does have a loan program or one can pay for it in full, this should be factored in. We were told the loan worked this way, $149.00 a month until paid off. If I couldn't afford my electric bill down the road, I could just shut it off. With this brilliant plan, I am now locked into a loan. The power company now has a lien on my home.
We were also told, if the electric goes out, so does ours, since we would be tied to the electric grid.
What good does it do if we lose electric like everyone else does? If we already have a failing power grid, why are people wanting to add more electric to it?
As for the comment, about not shoveling snow, if one has to shovel their roofs at all during the winter, they will still have to do it with panels on. This was the other issue, getting around the panels with all the snow piled on. The panels do not melt snow.
How much did it cost them for the full system? This is were we realized it would not pay off for us. This is not the answer for an average person renting a home. We checked into this for a cabin 934 sq ft cost $35,000, for the panels. This did not include installing the panels or bracing the existing barn to install them on.
The power company does have a loan program or one can pay for it in full, this should be factored in. We were told the loan worked this way, $149.00 a month until paid off. If I couldn't afford my electric bill down the road, I could just shut it off. With this brilliant plan, I am now locked into a loan. The power company now has a lien on my home.
We were also told, if the electric goes out, so does ours, since we would be tied to the electric grid.
What good does it do if we lose electric like everyone else does? If we already have a failing power grid, why are people wanting to add more electric to it?
As for the comment, about not shoveling snow, if one has to shovel their roofs at all during the winter, they will still have to do it with panels on. This was the other issue, getting around the panels with all the snow piled on. The panels do not melt snow.
If you have your own generation ability, all you need is a switch to turn it on when the grid goes out.
A lot of systems will turn on automatically if the grid quits.
Solar panels on the roof may or may not need shoveling. It all depends on the panel design. Some become very hot, so the snow melts off quickly, while others don't.
Panel arrays aren't always placed on roofs, either. It all depends on location and best access to the sun. Many arrays are at ground level where they can swivel on a post to face the sun all day long. These are more expensive sometimes, but not always, as fewer panels do a better job when they track the sun all day.
Combination systems are usually more versatile. A small windmill combined with a few solar panels can do as good as job as one larger windmill or a big solar array alone. Add hydro generation, and everything can become smaller and still work with more efficiency.
And it all depends on how much electricity is needed. Living off the grid in a house that needs very little electricity is cheaper in the long run, but may be more expensive to build. A lot of passive things can be designed into a house to cut down on the electrical use.
If a person wants to totally eliminate the need for steady electric power, it's completely possible. Millions of Americans had no electricity at all in the 1940s, and there are many remote pockets in the country where people are still living without it today.
My family's ranch did without electricity until 1976, as did all our neighbors for miles in all directions. We used kerosene, coal, wood and propane, and got along just fine. What electricity we used came from batteries that were recharged with an old lawnmower engine hooked up to a power converter.
It was no big deal. The only thing I recall missing very much was television. But looking back, since we had no TV to watch, we all read instead, learned how to play musical instruments, and learned a lot of hand crafts to pass the time. Anyone who went down to the valley came back with a big load of books and magazines, and they turned me into a lifelong reader. I don't regret missing the TV any more, and still don't watch one very much.
We boxed a spring close to our ranch house and used it as a refrigerator. We also would cover late season snow drifts with straw to insulate them, and the snow would often last until it came again. We used that snow for keeping food and cooling drinks.
I have friends who still live up in the mountains with no electricity. From choice. It demands a different skill set than most of us have now, but it isn't a hard way to live once a person has the skills.
They all laughed at Christopher Columbus
When he said, the world was round
They all laughed when Edison recorded sound
They all laughed at Wilbur and his brother
When they said that man could fly
And they all laughed at the dopes trying to build a solar road, and they were proven right when the road was finished and generated 43 cents of electricity. That's called....Bad Business.
How much did it cost them for the full system? This is were we realized it would not pay off for us. This is not the answer for an average person renting a home. We checked into this for a cabin 934 sq ft cost $35,000, for the panels. This did not include installing the panels or bracing the existing barn to install them on.
The power company does have a loan program or one can pay for it in full, this should be factored in. We were told the loan worked this way, $149.00 a month until paid off. If I couldn't afford my electric bill down the road, I could just shut it off. With this brilliant plan, I am now locked into a loan. The power company now has a lien on my home.
We were also told, if the electric goes out, so does ours, since we would be tied to the electric grid.
What good does it do if we lose electric like everyone else does? If we already have a failing power grid, why are people wanting to add more electric to it?
As for the comment, about not shoveling snow, if one has to shovel their roofs at all during the winter, they will still have to do it with panels on. This was the other issue, getting around the panels with all the snow piled on. The panels do not melt snow.
Yup. Appears quite a few people here haven't grasped that little fact yet either. I guess ignorance is bliss when everything in your world has to be bent to fit your political spectrum.
How much did it cost them for the full system? This is were we realized it would not pay off for us. This is not the answer for an average person renting a home. We checked into this for a cabin 934 sq ft cost $35,000, for the panels. This did not include installing the panels or bracing the existing barn to install them on.
The power company does have a loan program or one can pay for it in full, this should be factored in. We were told the loan worked this way, $149.00 a month until paid off. If I couldn't afford my electric bill down the road, I could just shut it off. With this brilliant plan, I am now locked into a loan. The power company now has a lien on my home.
We were also told, if the electric goes out, so does ours, since we would be tied to the electric grid.
What good does it do if we lose electric like everyone else does? If we already have a failing power grid, why are people wanting to add more electric to it?
As for the comment, about not shoveling snow, if one has to shovel their roofs at all during the winter, they will still have to do it with panels on. This was the other issue, getting around the panels with all the snow piled on. The panels do not melt snow.
About $20,000 for I think a 5KwH system. 5 years ago the cost p/watt was around $7- that was what we were quoted. That has dropped to about $3.50-$4.00 now. It's unreal how much prices have dropped. And there are A LOT of installers in Montana.
We have ample sun in Helena to make a system work well, but we need a new roof and I'm not sure we're going to see a payback on solar in our lifetime. Costs would have to come down quite a bit farther for it to make sense in the size home that we have- and we are 100% electric. No natural gas service.
There are other inefficiencies that I tackled first- extra insulation, pellet heat, windows/doors, replacing failing appliances with energy efficient models. We were able to cut our usage by more than 1/3rd by doing those things relatively inexpensively.
With two teenagers we are going to be tied to the grid for the foreseeable future, lol.
However we are thinking about a cabin as a retirement place- and that will certainly be 100% off grid. A lot of systems in Montana are that way. A basket of solar, wind and alternative heat (wood, geo thermal, etc). Might have to throw some propane into the mix as well.
This is only a few miles from me and I had been following it pretty closely. It has been a joke. This was supposed to be a demonstration project for a solar roadway. You know, those things that we all drive on? Except...it wasn't installed in a roadway, it was put in a sidewalk. Somewhere that never sees the weight of a vehicle. No wear and tear from the weight of vehicles running over it. No snowplows passing over the surface.
2nd. The project started with ~30 panels installed. Only 7 ever worked, and 2 of those died in the first 2 days. Now, my understanding is that they NEVER EVEN GOT the solar power panels to function in this system. All they had were a series of colored LEDs. A secondary effect of this was that the system would have LEDs that could be varied throughout the day to change lane markings/traffic flow, etc.
So when all was done this was never a demonstration project for a solar roadway (since it was never installed in a road). It was a $4 million dollar lighted dance floor. Seems a lot like Elio Motors, an obvious scam to get money from technically ignorant people with impractical dreams.
Ahh, you have no argument to this failed Obama solar project.
Almost $5M spent & 6 years of development and it won't run a microwave.
Conclusion: Just like Trump said, good clean coal will still be powering the USA long after both of us are gone.
First there is no such thing as "clean coal" .... they are stuck in the 1800's emotionally so of course they like coal, lets all go back to the days when almost every house used it for heating.
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.
