I'm sure that Ryan is talking about thin filmed PV solar, which if ever mass produced may produce a ROI of about 2 years or less, its estimated. Works great if you live in the Sunbelt, not so hot if you live in Seatle or London. Not so great at night either.
Wind power is great if you live in Oklahoma or Texas. T Boone Pickens is investing 2 billion in wind power alone.
Here some interesting reading..
http://www.withouthotair.com/
Sure is Craig, this is what I'm talking about (MIKE BENHAM), read up. This is not grade school, I am not giving you assigned readings, your a big boy, you can find out just like all the rest of those who are enlightened.
Anyhow Craig, I forgot what channel I was watching but the same scientist is also working on different color dyes and such that will provide as much power in overcast sky's as they do at full sun. Its kind of mind numbing to think of how much energy we receive from the sun but there is plenty out there in every part of the world, we just need to learn how to prioritize our resources, not only as a country but as a world. I still can't believe how some people turn this into a bipartisan political issue like there is something bad about sustainable, clean energy.
And for those of you who miss our friend Tommy, he left me a nice e-mail on the subject that I will share with you all:
"I'm currently heading the PV business of the company I work for. It's such a competitive market now and I know a lot of people will say, "Well he's saying that because that is what he does!" The fact is that we are still working to do our first solar project because the competition is that brisk! The technology is astounding and changing as fast it comes out--similar to the computer business of some ten years ago.
Please explain to Benham that solar panels--as the business exists right now--are a commodity. The more you buy, the cheaper they are; but the need for complete panels is at an all-time high. Try going to buy a 180-210 watt panel. You may find one extra left over on some shelf or on eBay, but if you need 20-200 of them, you better plan on waiting 6-12 weeks if your lucky! If you do find them, then your going to pay a fortune for them--and there are people making money on doing just that! For larger orders of panels, the industry standard is right now, today, well you better have an order--a large order for panels by September 1st, other wise you won't have them for the first half of 2009.
Meanwhile, the inverters aren't as hard to come by, but still are somewhat expensive depending on the size of the system. These are required to change the power from DC to AC, as well as monitor and protect the system itself.
The savings for these systems are, or will be insurmountable, all depending on how fast and affordable you can ge the panels. If the engineering and installation is one of quality, this will allow the system to exceed well past its prime, and power is only going to get more and more expensive. A normal installation, say one for a 1.5kW house (lets figure this as an average, but mid-sized house can range anywhere from 1 kw to 2kW, where the payoff can be usually complete between 5-7 years, however many are coming back and exclaiming the system has paid for itself in just over two!
Most systems aren't 100% capable and efficient because in most cases you don't need a system that is 100% efficient. the reason being is that most are not even at home during the day to validate the cost fo solar panels which range--right now--at about $650-$800 a piece. the amound needed all depends on each home and the average annual power use--that is if you want the syustem sized properly and efficiently without overbuilding it.
The newest thing, and it's a technology that will stand the world on it's head will be power storage. As most will know, current PV will not store power, only generate it and it's advisable to still be on the grid of the local power authority. (In SoCal's example, Southern California Edison) But if you have the ability to store--and soon, this will be even more common place--Lithium cells and capacitors will be the answer. Instead of using lead acid-filled batteries which require heavy maintenance, the Lithium cell will have an effective shelf life of over 25 years. This technology is called iCel. Please tell Mike Nuzzo that many are in fact building off-grid systems.
Our IBEW/NECA Electrical Training Institute here in Los Angeles installed a 457 kW system on top of the roof, just over three years ago. It's capable of producing 900kWh of power (kilo watt hours) The former electric bill was $36,000 a month. Now, it averages about $3800 a month. The savings: well at the end of this year, they are figuring out the system will be paid for!
I could go on more and more, but its getting late. But you need to get this across to Benham--our world is changing and his children will know no other way part of their electrictiy is generated; not to mention that it can be readily available--IF YOU CAN FIND THE F'ing PANELS!!!!"
and last but not least from the man,
"Benham, your wrong!"