Article

2008-07-16 Science & Technology

First Solar begins large commercial rooftop project

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by mhw 2008-07-16 15:03|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 could it produce 1.21 gigawatts?

Posted by bigjim-ky 2008-07-16 15:26|| 2008-07-16 15:26|| Front Page Top

#2 I think for that you need to use some of the super sekrit Tesla lightning bolt capture technology.

Posted by Abdominal Snowman 2008-07-16 15:57|| 2008-07-16 15:57|| Front Page Top

#3 The bottom line for solar is marginal use. And while that doesn't sound like much, it is. Marginal use is the most expensive part of energy use, and even though it doesn't do much on the surface, it has a major impact.

For example, just a black water tank on a roof will pre-heat softened water prior to it going into the water heater. This boost of between 20-30 degrees is marginal, but it saves a LOT of energy, by the water heater only having to raise its temperature by 20 degrees instead of between 40-50 degrees.

If roof solar panels are used just to blow hot air out of a roof crawlspace, they will reduce the temp in there from maybe 150 degrees to only 110. In turn, this reduces the load on the main a/c by a huge amount when electricity is most expensive.

Marginal matters big time. In the southwest, just these two things would take hundreds of dollars off your electricity bill every year.

Posted by Anonymoose 2008-07-16 17:25|| 2008-07-16 17:25|| Front Page Top

#4 Moose, Here in Perth (similar climate to LA) rooftop solar hot water will heat water enough for domestic use 8 or 9 months of the year. Even in the middle of winter, a sunny day will give you enough hot water for a shower.

However, solar hot water is still more expensive than gas over 20 years. The comparison is actually worse than that because electricity is used for auxiliary heating in the winter and is about 3 times more expensive than gas for heating.

Of course that doesn't stop the government throwing huge subsidies at solar hot water.

Posted by phil_b 2008-07-16 18:10|| 2008-07-16 18:10|| Front Page Top

#5 There's also a project in the Phoenix metro area (a warehouse/distribution center, IIRC).

Posted by Pappy 2008-07-16 18:32|| 2008-07-16 18:32|| Front Page Top

23:53 Jan
23:48 Jan
23:39 tipper
23:34 Jan
23:20 Redneck Jim
23:20 Angemp Ghibelline7503
23:11 Angemp Ghibelline7503
23:10 Angemp Ghibelline7503
23:08 Cyber Sarge
23:00 Cyber Sarge
22:29 Odysseus
22:26 Hank
22:17 Red Dawg
22:06 Abu do you love
22:04 Red Dawg
21:52 Ptah
21:40 Old Patriot
21:33 Frank G
21:29 Frank G
21:26 Eric Jablow
21:16 Steve White
21:14 john frum
21:07 john frum
21:06 Frank G