if all our roofs were solar collectors it would make a big difference
True, solar could be great in the south and southwest, sun = heat = a/c load, perfect timing.
we can store that energy as well. we have tons of sun on the east coast too. only the pacific northwest has frequent cloud cover.
Actually, we have no economic way of storing that energy right now. Lots of ideas, but they’re all very expensive. And solar and wind are expensive to begin with. Instead, use them when they’re available, use gas/nuclear/decreasing coal when they’re not.
As for sun on the east coast, not near as much as in the southwest and far southeast:
"if all our roofs were solar collectors it would make a big difference "
You can do your roof now for about $20,000. Why don’t you do it?
The illogic to that is, coal and oil are burned in generating plants(coal especially) at a constant rate during off peak hours...so in essence, you have some unused electricity.
Uh, where’d you get that one? Ya gotta burn enough fuel to keep the boiler up to temp, but less load = less spinning of the generator = less steam generated = less fuel burned. It’s the difference between leaving a pot of water on “simmer” vs on “rolling boil.”
only the pacific northwest has frequent cloud cover.As a liflelong resident of Pittsburgh PA metro area, I can refute that assertion.
Yep the midwest for whatever reason can be pretty gloomy-however my neck of the woods has been dry and sunny this summer,but the night time temps have been a bit on the coolside,my garden has suffered,been enough sun to charge a car though-Kevin
My neighbor installed photovoltaic panels on his roof. It cost him about $12,000, including tax breaks, and he did all the work himself. He stores electricity in batteries and sells excess electricity to the electric company. Fortunately, we have gas heat in the neighborhood. Still, he said he might pay off the investment in 20 years. That is long enough that the system may need to be replaced in the meantime. And he is still a net buyer of electricity but just doesn’t spend as much as the rest of us do.
shortsighted way of looking at it insifgtful. roofs are replaced every 15 -20 yrs anyway. and new construction has roofing costs either way.
just because its not instantly gratifying does not mean its not worth doing. every journey begins with one step.
slate roofs are expensive, but there is one across the street from me that’s about 100 yrs old and counting
nice map texases, thanks’ battery storage improves every year. I don t believe that we can have any kind of cordless tool there is and not be able to store the energy collected by our roofs.
mean joe, are you sure you aren t remembering the smog of your youth? 
I m just saying hat we should begin the conversion process and continue to utilize our domestic supplies of oil and gas until we reach a happy medium of different energy sources.
I think we can have tons of zippy little commuter EV s, and we can keep our pick ups too.
I need to read what exactly mr ford said about us eventually not owning our cars before I comment, but I don t think I m gonna like it. I smell big brother. ford has been doing well and their rep has improved because they did not need the bailout, I hope they don t plan to lead the way in socializing auto ownership. it might be ok for some people, but I want to own my car.
like I said, I have not read what exactly he said, or if he liked the idea or was merely discussing the possibility. interesting thought though…
This is where economics come in. A 20-year payout is very long. We could put that same amount of money into improving insulation and efficiencies, and get much shorter payouts. In other words, we could save lots more energy per dollar spent.
we could do both. the expense off installing solar roofs on, say, your new garage, and adding storage batteries, would not add that much to cost of building it and you could utilize that power however you wanted. to mow your lawn, or heat your shop and power your tools.
new construction installations are more efficient , cost and labor wise, than retro fitting in most cases. so its a pay as you go type of change. I m not suggesting that we should force the issue, just use the option when feasible.
A former counselee of mine is a sales rep for a solar panel installation company, and she asked me to give some thought to installing their system. However, once she viewed the orientation of my house vis-a-vis the sun, she was very honest in stating that it would take me so long to amortize the expense that it might not be worthwhile.
I asked her how long it would take to amortize the expense and she estimated 25 years–at a minimum. Since it is not that likely that I will be alive 25 years from now–or, if I am alive, I would probably be living elsewhere, in an assisted-living facility–I decided to forgo this opportunity.
I was lucky enough to be dealing with somebody who is honest, but when I view similar houses in my neighborhood that are oriented identically toward the sun, I have to wonder about the honesty of the “solar salesmen” with whom they dealt.
yeah. the shade trees make big difference too…
i would not want to trade them for solar panels.
Hello there…this one could go either way, but I’m going to leave it open for now. I think it’s starting to drift out of the auto realm, even though I understand that a thread about EVs requires some discussion of energy sources. It’s been an interesting read. Anyhow, as always, thanks for your consideration.
@wesw
Back to cars . . .
“ford has been doing well and their rep has improved because they did not need the bailout”
You’re not entirely correct
Ford has been doing well
Their reputation has improved
They didn’t need the bailout when Mopar and GM did.
Because they had taken money earlier . . . before the s . . t hit the fan
So, with that additional information, their improved reputation is based on a misconception
^
@db4690–It is true that Ford “took money” earlier, but I think it is important to clarify that they did not take government money.
Alan Mulalley (sp?) borrowed a huge amount from banks, and while it did put the company behind the eight ball for several years with loan pay-backs, his strategy did prove to be successful in the long run.
I think that most people have a better impression of companies that use…traditional…methods of obtaining money, rather than begging for handouts.
Ford was in serious finically problems and essentially sold everything to get the funds to continue operating. They happened to do it just before the bank debacle.
Bottom line . . . Ford could not “make it work” without somebody loaning them money
Same as Mopar and GM
That’s how I see it
I have to agree with JT and Db. Ford gets lots of praise for avoiding the disaster of GM and Chrysler, but the fact is they sold their first born prior to the collapse and I’m not sure they are doing all that well. They seem to have some very significant labor unrest with their tiered wage system and not sure about their reliability any more. I like their styling though but long for the days when a Ford was a Ford and a Merc was a step up and a Lincoln was distinctive.
Just one quick comment on solar and then I’ll shut up. When you start looking at paybacks longer than 5-10 years, especially on systems that involve technology, you really really need to be careful. The risk is not only the cost versus the savings but the risk of obsolesence. When you go out to the future that long, you run the risk of a paradymn shift and making your system out of date. Far better for large energy companies to do this in a professional way than every home owner trying to be their own power company. In the mountains where it is necessary is one thing, but in the city is something else. In Eastern Europe just about every house has a water tank on top to capture solar due to the lack of affordable power, but even they do not cover their roofs with solar cells. We would be far better off putting the same investment into rebuilding the grid and capacity using coal, nuclear and maybe natural gas so that we can better prepare for the future and can accommodate EV if they ever become popular and effective transportation devices for the masses without government interference. They aren’t there at this point in my humble, hard nosed view. But again I like engines.
But @Texas,you have power when the grid goes down.I would like to tell our utility to come unhook their service drop,they have recently implemented a $3.95 convenience charge for paying your lightbill with a debit or credit card.Most help the “nonprofit” co-op bigshots pay for their annual Vegas trip.Local people do not answear the phone now for service calls.
Besides you can charge your EV with sunlight,sunlight doesnt smell as bad as gas-Kevin