[geeks] Solar Panels on residence - anyone?

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 @ 14:07 +0200, Geoffrey S. Mendelson said:

> On Thu, Oct 19, 2006 at 07:41:03AM -0400, James Fogg wrote:
> > That would solve two problems for me. I need a new roof and I need
> > cheaper power.
> 
> Look into the solar collectors used to keep GPS satellites warm.
> They produce boiling water from "earthshine". 

I thought they were greatly assissted by the vacuum?

> Stationary photoelectric cells are one of the least efficient means of using 
> solar radiation for energy. How clean is you air? As dust and dirt settle on
> the cells they loose efficiency very quickly. You may end up going out there
> with a hose and brush every few days. 

That's why a lot of people use solar power to generate heat. Even dirty
panels still get very hot. I saw a couple of buildings in western NC
that used that, and in the winter it saved them a lot of money, and in
the summer it cut their hot water bill by quite a bit, depending on how
rainy it was.

Of course, electricity is more universally useful.

-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["I want this Perl software checked for
viruses.  Use Norton Antivirus." -- Charlie Kirkpatrick]