Sustainable Building Forum

I have read about celebrities and rich people using solar energy to power their homes, but it seems so expensive! Is there an affordable way to harness the suns energy to power my home?

Hello

solar power is one of the cheapest and best forms of energy. Though the initial setup cost is high, you save a lot in the long term. At the same time, this is eco-friendly

I heard that the process of producing the solar panels is harmful to the environment, so the net effect is actually not as beneficial as we might think. Is this true or is it just nay-saying?

Since I live at the south ends of the Mojave Desert in So. California, I am seriously thinking about investing in solar panels to minimize or eliminate my electric bills, but from which ever point you look at it right now, after all federal and California state subsidies, my cost for a 5 KVA solar system without any storage batteries, running in the $30,000 to $40,000. I have heard in the breaking scientific news that, a major corporation has developed a new technology, which will slash the cost of making these solar panels more than half. Then it may be an investment that I can think of.

I respect the environment but I will not jeopardize my financial stability, just to be eco-friendly. I am waiting for the day that I can see these cheap solar panels. Does anyone have any idea about when they will come to the consumer market ?

An interesting point, if true, but I can't see anything online that supports this as being a problem.

http://www.glrea.org/articles/howDoSolarPanelsWork.html states that there's 3 different types of solar cell that can be produced, and I guess it is possible that one or two of those might be more harmful than the other(s) to produce, but not sure how harmful if at all.

Additionally, even if it is harmful, maybe the energy produced would do more harm if provided by your electricity supplier than if provided by the solar panels, it's a difficult one :-)

We should use as much solar energy as possible.The advancement of the technology has led to the production of very efficient and easy to use solar panel all across the globe.

I don't know how things work where you are, but I know the government of the UK is issuing grants to partly offset the initial capital outlay for a home solar setup.

The unfortunate thing about solar panels as it stands is the most successful technology is also the oldest. Which is silicon solar cells, but they have fairly long lives 20 years plus for Polycrystalline and Polycrystalline types, and 10 plus years for amorphous type. 

There are other technologies out there that may have potential such Diamond film solar cells, Organic solar cells, dye solar cells and other miscellaneous semiconductor solar cells but they have their drawbacks. Longevity for example is an issue, dye and organic cells less than five year life span, the other semiconductor are just as expensive and are new technologies so no one is certain how long they will last in the field.

My personal favorite tech is diamond film solar cells, which don't really work like the others at all. It draw back is it only produces 0.1 V which means it is has high energy losses for now. But it will cheap to produce on a large scale using methane(major component of natural gas ) as its feed source. The purity of the stock needed would be low, and diamonds are very stable. However the funding for this technology is almost non existent so who knows, the best technologies don't often make it to market. However Google may change that:)

Check this site out if you want to know more about diamond film solar cells.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/14diamondarrays/

I live in the northeast and this year with heating fuel pries solar space heaters are even more cost effective. Solar space heaters work like solar water heaters but heat air instead of water. They can make a big dent in your heating bill if you live someplace cold. The one I like the most is made in Canada out of used aluminum cans.

http://www.cansolair.com/ (http://www.cansolair.com/)