http://www.solardave.com/index.php/any-new-solar-technologies-coming-out-that-excite-you-video/
This is my 7th video interview with Erik Bowman Regional Sales Manager of Akeena Solar out of Denver Colorado.

SolarDave: Any New Solar Technologies Coming Out That Excite You?

Erik Bowman: There are a lot of different technologies when you think of the cost of installing the system you have the labor component, you have a design component and you have actually the silicon electricity producing component – each one of those has a real dollar value attached to them.

Typically anytime that question is answered you are talking about silicon and how much electricity can we produce but the labor and the actual module themselves manufacturing them also add real costs that need to be looked at.

So Akeena’s research and development department looks at the installation and the structural component that is work on and we are the only company that I am aware of that that has come out with a product that answers a lot of questions to try and lower that cost – only takes one day to install and a normal panel install could take 3 days to install or 2 days.

When it comes to silicon I am not an expert in the industry but everyone talks about thin film that is certainly on the horizon. Thin film has issues with manufacturing capacity – currently it is actually inefficient at 10%. Standard panels run and where from 14 to 20% efficiency.

Once the efficiency of thin film reaches the level of standard panels you have only reach parity and the benefit of it unless the cost to produce it is extremely low and we don’t predict that to happen in a long time a decade at least.

Right now there are commercial applications – utility applications large scale extremely large projects where thin film can work but residentialy you would need a manufacturing process logistical transportation and supply chain process then you would have to have installation infrastructure that understands how to utilize that.

Bottom line as new technologies get developed new ways of producing energy from the sun whether from more efficient silicon or thin film we would just integrate that into our module when it become viable and the reduction of that cost would be passed on to the client.

Duration : 0:2:7

Technorati Tags: akeena, alternative, energy, panels, Solar

Duration : 0:5:35

Technorati Tags: cheap, citizenre, cost, electricty, energy, garden, Going, green, home, money, panels, permaculture, power, renewable, saving, Solar

Duration : 0:6:35

Technorati Tags: deep cycle battery, generator, how, Solar, to

Original “whitepaper”:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/8736849/Space-Solar-Power-SSP-A-Solution-for-Energy-Independence-Climate-Change

My Analysis, Transcript:

The key economic factor in any space venture is weight. At $30,000-$15,000 / Pound. There is just no way that SSP can ever compete with low-tech terrestrial based solar power, which is constantly advancing in efficiency and decreasing in price. As long as spacecraft continue to use engines based on conventional physics the cost of sending a payload into space will remain relatively the same. Ironically, the propulsion problem is also an energy problem, so if we were capable to making an engine that can produce so much energy cheaply, it would be far more economical to use that technology to generate power here on earth, rather than send cargo into space.

The biggest weakness in SSP architecture is the necessity of shielding. i.e. protection against micro meteors and other space debris; Solar power = surface area = shielding = density = weight = cost. Similarly high tech = high cost. While the true value of solar is that it is inherently low-tech and therefore low-cost.

The whitepaper fails to produce any truly speculative advantages, the kind that you would expect, given the extremely speculative nature of the concept:

One thing I’ve mentioned before in other articles, extremely low temperatures allow for use of superconductors, but only from the point of the solar array to the earth’s upper atmosphere; so the value there is mostly negated. Not that they even bothered to mention this as a possibility.

As for incentives, they use the preposterous circular argument that the best justification for SSP is to achieve cheap and reliable access to space! The rest of the proposed advantages are far more absurd. However none of that matters because the annual global terrestrial solar fall is 800 TW (terawatts). With our current total consumption being only 15 TW, a factor of 53, it’s quite clear that space based solar power is nothing more than another lame ploy by the aerospace industry to appear relevant in a post-space-age world.

What exactly makes space so special? Aside from earth orbiting satellites I challenge anyone to name a single ubiquitous resource or product that is the direct result of our, or anyone else’s space program. Furthermore I’d even be satisfied with a short list of future benefits, uming that we continued sending people and equipment into space for the next 100 years.

Although it’s quite popular to refer to any time period post 1957 as the “space age”, aside from lots of pretty pictures, we have yet to see any concrete benefits from our astronomically expensive exploration attempts. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against real space exploration. What I am against is our preemptive, stone-age version. It doesn’t take a genius to see that rocket propelled spacecraft are far too primitive and impractical for reliable intergalactic travel, even within our own solar system.

This is money that would be far better spent on physics research. Realistically, there should be a moratorium on space exploration until two key technologies have been realized. 1) Faster-than-light locomotion. And 2) Maintenance-free shielding that can withstand the extreme conditions of space.

Duration : 0:5:16

Technorati Tags: ChangeDotGov, human, illogical, obscene, of, power, psychosis, resources, Solar, space, SSP, unethical, waste, whitepaper

-
How to Build Solar Panels – Building a Solar Panel at Home How to Make A Solar Panel: How and why you should seriously consider a passive solar home. The basics of solar home design. Buy yourself a small solar panel. For about $100 you should be able to get one rated at 12 volts or better (look for 16 volts) at an RV or marine supplies If you are going to build homemade solar panels, So in order to build solar panels, you first need to produce your copper oxide, How To Make a Solar Panel, Make Solar Panels, How To Make Homemade …
You may use a solar panel kit to build your own solar panel. All the components required for setting up your solar panel are made available in most kits Independently published since 1987, Home Power magazine and HomePower.com are resources dedicated to small-scale renewable energy and sustainable living. How To Make A Solar Power Generator Using Parts from Local …
Using parts easily available from your local stores, you can make a solar power generator. Great for power failures and life outside the power grid.Build your own solar panel: generate electricity from the sun. Do-it-yourself instructions for building a low-cost, high-output commercial quality .

Duration : 0:0:53

Technorati Tags: alternative, bill, bills, efficiency, efficient, electric, ELECTRICITY, eliminate, energy, grid, home, how, off, panel, panels, power, reduce, renewable, Solar, system, technology, to, turbine, wind