For the past six weeks, I’ve been doing feasibility analyses for adopting solar power for properties in Nevada, Connecticut, and Alaska.  Here are some of the barriers I’ve discovered:

1. Reliability of Installers.   I have talked with no fewer than ten installers in two states.   All were very lax in returning my calls (they must be swamped).  For those that did return calls, they had convoluted return phone call systems where I never actually got to talk with a live person when I attempted to call back.  For the five I did actually meet in person to get bids to help me put solar panels on my property, NOT one, and I am not kidding, NOT ONE bothered to follow up with a bid.  Maybe a homeowner considering two systems for two properties - 3kw and 5kw is just not worth bothering with.   Anyone who wants to get involved in this industry who understands the basic of service delivery will clean up as the people I’ve met currently playing in this field are not customer focused.   

2. Availability of Panels.   Several installers told me that it was three to six months out to get the panels and forget about obtaining the high efficiency panels - the supply just can’t keep up with the demand.  I was ready to purchase a 3kw system from one company but when I went to call them back to place the order, their phone had been disconnected.   What is interesting about this, there was a NY Times Article Feb. 3, 2009 that said there was a glut of panels on the market.   Where is this glut?   Maybe with the lower efficiency panels - I can understand that.   I’m going to the North American Renewable Energy Conference in Vegas in March - I will try to find more reliable suppliers there.  If they are really hurting for money, you’d think these folks would be beating down my door.

3. Capability of existing designs.  This is a hot research field and people are discovering much more efficient and creative ways of converting the sun into electricity.   Solar dyes are one hot field where they can tint windows, wall coverings, shades, etc to collect solar energy.   

4. Availability of Grid Tie Systems - In Nevada and Connecticut you can tie into the grid and get credit so it makes it more cost effective to use solar panels.  In Alaska, you can tie into the grid, but you cannot get credits for the electricity you put back into the system.   

After doing my research and learning what is involved, my decision is do one installation on my own to learn more (and possibly see about creating a system for people to learn how to run the business of installing solar systems).  But before I make more investments on a wider scale on more properties, I am waiting until some of these new innovations are available commercially and the industry is more mature. 

According to: The program manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technology Program for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, John. Lushetsky, 

“To go from the 1 gigawatt of generation capacity that we have now [in the United States] to the 170 to 200 gigawatts called for by 2030 amounts to a 26 percent compounded annual growth rate over the next 20 years.  That’s a higher sustained growth rate than any industry has ever been asked to do before.”  

This was referenced in an article titled “Unprecedented Growth Seen for Solar Energy.”   The article should be titled, “Unprecedented Growth Required for Solar Energy.”

Power Power Power - 360 Panels of Power Producing Mania

That solar awning post stimulated this contribution by photographer Jody Kasch - a solar carport.  This is at the Patagonia Company in Ventura, California.  On Renewable Energy.com, it says the carport uses 360 Sharp Panels each producing 185 watts of power and produces 66.6 kw of power.  However, that did not adjust for panel or inverter efficiency.   Adjusting for panel and inverter efficiencies, this provides about 55 KW of power.   This is enough to power about 55 homes.

What does that mean?   Lets say you turn on a 40 watt light bulb.   This means it takes 40 watts of electricity to make that light bulb light up.   If you had one solar panel on your house that was rated at 185 Watts - you would lose about 30 watts because most solar panels are 88% efficient and most power invertors (so you convert the DC power from the panel to AC power to run your home lights and appliances) are 95% efficient.   This leaves you with 155 watts of power you can use to turn on those light bulbs.  That is three 40 watt bulbs and one 15 watt bulb.

And It Shades the Cars To Boot

Now you need to be continuously providing those light bulbs with the 155 watts of power to keep them running.   This happens as long as the sun is shining on the solar panels.  When the sun goes down, the solar panels stop producing electricity.

So what is Patagonia doing with their 55KW of power?   How are they storing any excess they create?   What are they doing at night?  These are all things you need to consider when creating your own solar energy electrical system.

I am working on a corporate retreat center in Northern Nevada that is on a south facing hill. The entire south side of the house is a bank of windows and the original design of the house was passive solar. While the design worked well in the winter to reduce the heating requirements, in the summer, the house’s heating loads were extreme.

We replaced the windows with low-e windows to reduce the solar load, but needed a more aggressive solar blocking strategy in the summer. Putting on an awning to reduce the solar load in the summer was mandatory to make the space habitable without excessive air conditioning. I saw a solar awning design several months ago so had the designer draft a concept of putting solar panel awnings over the south facing windows.

What I like about this design is how she has applied the sun angles for this specific location. In the winter the sun still gets in and in the summer, the awnings prevent exposure AND collect the solar energy. This is a triple whammy - passive heat gain in the winter, shading and energy creation year round.

Solar Awning Design for South Facing Windows