jlf1961
Posts: 14840
Joined: 6/10/2008 From: Somewhere Texas Status: offline
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Tweakabelle, I have been looking into solar and wind for my home for a while now. So I have researched the topic quite a bit. IF you could get every home owner, or even half of the home owners in a given city to go to solar and wind power, AND you got the electric companies to set up the system for each of these individuals to sell unused power back to the grid, you would make a dent on the overall power consumption and generation in an urban area. Then you have another slight problem. For the most efficient solar power generation, the cells have to be facing south, in that case in a house that the roof line runs north to south, you would need to cover both halves of the roof in solar panels. Next, they have to be cleaned, in areas of high pollution, that is about once a month, or they lose the limited efficiency they have. In my area the problem is dust, and one friend that has the same kind of set up I am looking at, cleans his panels every week, year round. Solar power generation, in and of itself, is labor intensive, just in cleaning the panels. And to be honest, climbing up on the roof every month or so can get a bit dicey on a two story house. And around here, IN A CLIMATE THAT RARELY GETS HEAVY SNOWFALL, builders are building houses with such steep roof pitches that could sell bill board space on some of them, which would make cleaning the panels downright dangerous.
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Boy, it sure would be nice if we had some grenades, don't you think? You cannot control who comes into your life, but you can control which airlock you throw them out of. Paranoid Paramilitary Gun Loving Conspiracy Theorist AND EQUAL OPPORTUNI
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