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The founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, are interested in solar technology. In 2005, they invested in solar thin film nanotechnology. They were among a group of elite investors that think they can make a big difference with thin film solar technology.
The way that it works is that nanotechnology particles are dropped into some special ink formulation. Then, a printer prints multiple ink layers onto plastic. What you get is a very inexpensive way to produce solar panels that are light, flexible, and easy to install.
If you are thinking of investing in Nanosolar, Inc. you might think again. The opportunity is only by invitation for exclusive people. The company, as of now, has no plans to go public. Nanosolar makes the claim that their solar panels are so capital efficient that they don't need the big funding to ramp up production that monocryastalline and polycrystalline factories do. Nanosolar claims that their products will be available for sale in a few months.
Many people are hoping that this thin film solar panel technology will take off. The federal government is behind the project and just about every “green” activist out there.
The real benefit of thin film solar technology is not the efficiency rate. The efficiency rate is actually a little lower. The real benefit is that you can cover a very large space for a low amount of money. When you can cover your entire roof in solar because it is so inexpensive, you can see that thin film will probably become quite competitive with national market average utility rates.
A similar idea to nanotechnology inks is that of paint. Imagine if you could just paint the outside of your home with solar paint. It could make total sense to do it since the home needs painted every few years anyway.
Brian Korgel, University of Texas, is one of the scientists working on solar paint. As of date, the solar paint only has an efficiency uptake of 1% (not nearly enough). However, scientists are hopeful that the rate will improve to 10% or more and will then be ready for production.
The cost should be compared with the overall benefit. The higher the utility rates you pay, the greater the advantage in justifying solar cost. The federal government will give you a 30% tax credit right off of the top. In addition, many local governments offer tax credits and many utility companies offer rebates. There are many organizations focused on clean power and thinking of ways to support solar. It will take a little work, but you can drastically reduce your solar installation cost by doing some homework on this process.
Total Kilowatts
The first calculation you need is to know how many kilowatts your home uses per year; check your utility bill. The average home uses around 1,000 KWH per month or 12,000.00 KWH per year. Once you have the total Kilowatts, you can then look at a solar array to fit your needs.
The utility cost is the next item to consider. Again utility company charges different rates. The highest rates are in Hawaii, Alaska, Maine, New York, and California. Some of the lowest rates are in the midwest. The utility cost you pay will help to determine a great deal on how soon your solar panels will return the investment back to you. On average, the utility cost is around 11 cents per KWH. That means that the average homeowner will pay about $100.00 per month for KWH. To see a graphic snapshot of the country electrical cost click here http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/cost.html.
Utilities charge in many various ways and you need to pay attention to get the pricing right. For example, many use a tiered structure. The utility company has a fixed cost assigned per customer. They also calculate to know how much energy you will likely use. Then, they base their rates on getting a fixed amount per customer. As a result, many utilities charge less for consuming over a certain amount. You may want to ask the utility to see if the rates are tier structured.
Utilities are also known to change their rates during peak usage (i.e. summer). That means that you will get a more accurate cost by averaging a years worth of bills.
If you live in a small house under some 100 foot redwoods, there may not be a good chance of solar working out. What I mean is you should think about the area. Can sunlight get to your property and how much? The average hours of sunlight in the US range from 4-6 hours per day. One of the main things to keep in mind is how rainy or cloudy the area is. Some places are overcast a lot and others have lots few clouds. Here is a chart to show you how much sun your area will get http://www.bigfrogmountain.com/SunHoursPerDay.html For our example, we will use 5 hours of sunshine per day.
You need some solar panels. That is for sure. The next step is to decide on what kind of panels you want to purchase, how many, and get the total cost. Since polycrystalline panels are the most widely used, we will use these for our example of how to calculate your solar panel needs. Solar panels cost about $5.00 per Kwh, for materials, and another $5.00 per Kwh for contractor installation. That means the total cost is around $10.00 per Kwh. Going back to our original example, a 1,000 Kwh system would cost around $10,000.00 (1000*10). Now, here comes the more difficult question. Is it worth it? We always have to say yes to this question because we love the environment, but we are still going to calculate the monetary cost and payback for your convenience.
Here is a great site, from the Department of Energy, that shows the average Kwh and average utility cost associated with it for each state. The link is http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/esr/table5.html. If you are in Arizona, you can see the average monthly bill is around $110.00. That means it will take you less than one year to pay off your solar installation and after that you will get “free” power. As you can see, the payoff is worth it. There are so many people applying for rebates that there is a backlog all around the country. Utility companies aren't exactly excited to get people off the grid or buying back solar power from residents. They are doing it because the government is telling them to do it. They sort of drag their feet and sit on the applications for some time. What I am saying is that you should apply early and just be patient. In the end, it will be worth it.
You may calculate how much power you need and be pretty close, but you don't necessarily want to build exactly to your calculations. Ratings for watts produced and efficiency ratios are produced in laboratory conditions. In addition, nearly every component of the system will underperform in some way. Finally, you may want to use more power than average on some days and you don't want the system to be unstable. For all these reasons, it is a good idea to overbuild the grid by 20% of your total needed calculation.
A solar panel should face south and have a clear view to the sun. Tall trees or tall buildings can sometimes make the area so shady that the solar power isn't a great option. Sometimes you can cut down and/or trim trees and sometimes you can build the panels up higher on a pole. You should check your local construction codes to see what your options might be.
Some of the main solar companies are First Solar, Inc., Sunpower Corporation, Amkor Technology, inc., Evergreen Solar, Inc., and On Semiconductor Corporation. The largest of these companies is First Solar, Inc. that operates mainly in Arizona, California, and Oregon. First Solar makes solar panels and thin film solar technology for residential and commercial use. To visit First Solar click here http://www.firstsolar.com/en/index.php.
Sunpower Corporation claims that their solar panels are the most powerful on the market. They come with an impressive 10 year guarantee. They are sold through an exclusive dealer network. You can visit the corporation web site here: http://us.sunpowercorp.com/residential/products-services/products/panels.php. Sunpower sells their solar panels through an exculsive dealer network.
On Semiconductor Corporation sells supporting items for the solar industry. For example, they sell peak power tracking controllers and solar powered led street lighting. If you want to build any technical solar product, then On Semiconductor Corporation is a good place to find what you need. They sell a lot of specialized electronic components. You can visit the company here http://www.onsemi.com/PowerSolutions/products.do.
Amkor Technology is another solar industry supplier. They make the photovoltaic wafers that go into manufacturing solar panels. They do a lot of custom microelectronics work for large scale production. You can visit them here http://www.amkor.com/. One of their main products is a flip chip that interconnects solar arrays and is more effective than traditional wire bonding. The flip chip can use epoxy as a dielectric material to provide flexiblity in performance choices.
There are a lot of other great resources on the web about solar and alternative energy. Some of our favorites are Renewable Energy World (http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/home) , Solar Buzz ( http://www.solarbuzz.com/) , Solar Server in German (http://www.solarserver.de/), and Solar in Spanish (http://www.asif.org/), Italian ( www.assosolare.org ), and French (www.tecsol.fr ).
With Solar technologies there is a lot to think about. Thin film is ready to explode in growth in the next few years. Big box stores like Lowes and Home Depot are starting to carry solar panels for do it yourself installers. In addition, the prices for solar technology is decreasing and rebates and incentives are rising. After the last gas crunch that left so many people penniless, the government and industry have ramped up their efforts to go green. People are finally interested in the product because they realize the enormous impact that fossil fuels can have on a their budget. People want to be free of utility bills and want to support clean industries. The green movement is here to stay.
As part of that movement, people are looking into solar technologies. Today, most people use polycrystalline solar panels that are available from local dealers around the country. The most important thing to know is that with all the rebates and incentives out there the payoff for solar is a short time frame. It used to be a 20 year program, but not it is only a year or two with the right incentives. You will need to do some research for your individual situation.
If you are building your first solar system, we congratulate you on your commitment to the environment and becoming free of another bill. To live freely and well two of the main motivators behind green power. We wish you luck in building your solar powered array and hope that this website has given you some useful information!!
