Alternative Energy Sources

I know they have solar panels and they can be bought. But, does anyone know of an example of a residential or small business in new york city that uses solar power to offset some of the electrical bills.

Will con edison allow it?

the answer to this question is what i would like to implement in NYC

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Atnv84l8IHi42iTiLaUWebIAAAAA;_ylv=3?qid=20080915211724AAVda1u

Most all public utilities allow you to grid tie a solar electric system. Just how much will they pay you per kWh is the question.

It looks like NY has a lot of incentives, Check out this link to find out what the incentives are in your state.
http://www.dsireusa.org/library/includes/map2.cfm?CurrentPageID=1&State=NY&RE=1&EE=1

Total the kill a watt hours for the last 12 months from your electric bills. You would normally divide that by 365 days and you have your daily avg usage. You divide that by the peak sun hours in your area and that is about how many watts in solar modules you need. Pick an inverter to match and hook it up.

You could go to the following link and spend about 15 minutes and size and price a solar kit system. I installed a 1000 watt system and the only thing missing was the electrician and the long wire runs from the roof to the inverter breaker. http://www.oynot.com/grid-tie-only-how-to.html Took about 10 hours and 5 of them the electrician was helping so it is a two person job.

Cost me 500 bucks to the electrician to pull the permits connect the wires and hand me the solar modules on the roof. I did the rest.

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Solar hot water or photovoltaic.
Lots of homes have solar power to assist what is already there. It doesn't take a lot to have water hot enough to do a bowl of washing-up / have a bath.
Technology for photovoltaic is going to improve in the next 5 years.
Thirty or forty years ago, who would have thought mobile phones would have been possible or as common.

Solar only makes sense when the solar output can be reclaimed on a constant basis. In the US, even, this is only possible in the most Southern and Western states. Too much cloud cover does not enable the current solar voltaic converters to produce enough energy in the majority of the population centers of America.

While it is true that some spectrum's of solar energy can penetrate cloud cover, todays cells are not currently efficient enough to warrant their cost. It is true that great strides have been made recently in the efficiency of these collectors/converter cells, and in a few years there may be a system efficient enough to recover and convert cloud penetrating radiation into viable amounts of electricity. Just don't hold your breath waiting for this to hit the market.

Legislation can't convert blocked sunshine into electricity.

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A push towards a cleaner environment is forcing the government to implement the usage of renewable energy technology. So far the monetary incentives are present for mass production. If residential incentive was available, I would retrofit my home with solar/wind power and tie into the grid.

I'd love to see this sort of thing as well, however the costs are so prohibitive. I know you can request part of your energy consumption from this renewable resource, but it would be nice to be able to afford the technology to do it within ones home. Everyone has to do their part, and unfortunately we are approaching the point of no return w.r.t. global warming. Perhaps those that care just need to bite the bullet. That said i looked into solar awhile back, and it is just too much.

But to answer your question, I think we will see incentives at some point. At some point it will be irresponsible of any government not to protect the future of its citizens let alone the earth.

great question and i wish more people considered the earth more of a priority

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i just saw this yesterday….. all this new constructions and the things they are planning to do…. makes America look weak…. im an american and i think so…. they've made islands in the shape of the world…. http://guide.theemiratesnetwork.com/living/dubai/images/the_world/the_world_dubai.jpg
thats some work…

look at this residential housing.. http://www.invest.bulgarian-estate.net/dubai_marina_palm.jpg
they're going to have three things like that that will have looks from tiny organisms….

the tallest building in the world. the Burj Tower… http://www.ssqq.com/archive/images/dubai25.jpg
even taller then the Grand Canyon Sky Walk

a lagoon.. airport.. http://www.dubaiprop.com/images/Dubai-Lagoon-05.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Dubai_International_airport_interior.jpg

Awesome hotels… (underwater)http://blog.miragestudio7.com/2006/02/hydropolis-underwater-hotel-dubai-uae/

a theme park that will hold its own mountain of snow so u can ski and snowboard inside while its 85 degrees outside
rollercoaster rides, swimming park…. God dam…

and they’re planning to build a new type of building, it has its own yard, plants on every floor (a total of 20) its for residential living, its not shape like a square, think of it like skipping stones stacked together, neat ha, and it spins, yes it rotates very slowly… so ur view is always changing so slow that the residents wont feel it but its rotating, uses solar power and something else, self efficient building…..

If I had the money, I would invest but that has got to be the best city in the world…. Of course that’s after they finish construction… in a few years or more….. dang… cant wait….

So what do u guys think…. Awesome city or what… and don’t hate it just because u want to represent ur city… or because u hate where Dubai is located… judge it base on what it has compared to other cities…..

yea definitely look at all those building and stuff no where else have these

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Why has the government not taken a stronger stance in implementing solar panelling into residential sectors?

They pay for themselves after 8 years, mine come with a 15 year warranty and have a life expectancy of 30 years. I do not draw any energy from the power grid but am conencted to it and sell back power to the main grid at $10-15 a month this is stored excess I have.
With the way water is becoming more scarce isnt about time our politicians wised up to the money hungry corporations and said enough is enough?
If you could afford a house to start with you could afford solar panelling and $43K is a ridicuolous amount to be paying for solar paneling obviously your a person who gets ripped easily

Come on now we all know the Gov. wants you to spend all your money. But I like your way of thinking.
I have been working and adding on my panels for about ten years and each year I add on to them. This year I will be adding 3 more panels and at lest 2000 ah of battery's.
IT will take about four years for pay off. I have 900 watts of panels at this time..

My Electric bill when I got this house 10 years ago run $175 per month. With the panels it runs as low as $12 and in the winter $85. the panels I get run around $200 each the battery's are $65 each at most. But then we recycle tin and aluminum cans that pay for the battery's.

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Okay, here’s the thing.

I would invest in solar panels if I had eliminated my extra electicity usage already.

It can be very expensive, and simply cutting your electricity use at home is usually more economical and a more logical first step.

unplug appliances when not in use
shut off lights (duh)
turn heat down
turn a/c up (warmer)
put systems on a power bar (television, computer) and shut down the bar
sweep instead of vacuum floors
shut off computer when not using it

The less you use, the less you have to pay for. The less has to be generated. Once you’ve done everything you can for power savings, then look into alternate production methods.

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Location to residential areas: They could be built on the same location to replace conventional coal and oil power plants. Nuclear plants don't not pollute the local air.
Terrorist attack: Unlikely- they were designed during the cold war to withstand nuclear missile attacks.
Nuclear waste disposal: U.S. has plenty of unpopulated areas for this. Not the greatest solution, but better than having Florida underwater in a few hundred years due to global warming.
Electromagnetic radiation: no more that current elctric power plants.

Solar and wind energy are not feasable since neither would provide suffieceint power to heat your home and drive your car. With Nulcear both would go electric.

Let me preface this with I LOVE green generation and promote it.

However, I power up 20% of Virginia from nuclear powered generation. We operate as base load plants. That means we are always at 100% power. Why? Because even with the cost of all the regulatory required oversight, training and licensing, engineering and security measures; we are simply the Lowest cost producer of electricity in the industry. Yes, this includes the cost of storage for our waste fuel. One day the Federal government will make good on the promise of a final storage place and our cost per Mega Watt Hour will go down even further.
(P.S. there is no such thing as super heated water…its steam and we don't release it, some places may evaporate a lot of water in cooling towers but it comes right back when it rains)

Recap:
Nuclear plants cost less to operate than fossil plants.
Nuclear plants cost less to build (per unit of electricity generated) than renewable sources of the same capacity such as solar or wind.
Nuclear plants can produce much larger amounts of generation in the same environmental area as a wind farm/solar plant.
Nuclear plants have higher capacity factors (more likely to be making electricity) than most other plants.
Nuclear plants do not affect the environment around them such as some hydro power networks.
Waste nuclear fuel storage has a smaller footprint than your trash, is less hazardous than your medical waste, and once in its final resting place can never be more dangerous than a big hunk of hot steel.

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A push towards a cleaner environment is forcing the government to implement the usage of renewable energy technology. So far the monetary incentives are present for mass production. If residential incentive was available, I would retrofit my home with solar/wind power and tie into the grid.

we now have tax incentives in british columbia

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The sun provides enough power in one second that it could provide the entire planet with more than enough power for one day, yet societies foolishly squander and argue over oil.

Solar power IS the answer, tell me why exactly it isnt being utilized to its true capacity. 4 hours of sunlight on any given day could solve most residential power usage needs and leave ZERO carbon imprint.
Its nice to see some very intelligent responses and readers. I agree with you all and am hoping that technology will pick up the pace here soon. Its just plain stupid. Imagine…for a second…how much power has been wasted on earth since the beginning of the planet.

lots!
.
Red? You would NEVER have survived in a world where you had to fend for yourself. Its not anyones responsibility to fund anything you buy, its YOUR job to work and pay for it. I think of what our settlers went through just so you could live the life you do and all I hear, day after day, is when is the govn going to give me a grant, subsidy or fund this or that.

Get off your bottom and fund it yourself, I wasnt put on this earth to support you by working overtime. Technology will advance when PEOPLE START DEMANDING and there is a proven need for it. Today is that day. Demand solar power, wind power, mad squirrel power…ANYthing!

I agree that solar power is good, but it cannot yet account for all energy sources. Current solar panels are highly inefficient and can only absorb something like 10 to 40% of the solar energy. Furthermore, it would take up a massive amount of land. Likewise, wind is not constant so wind farms aren't the solution either. You are right however about the stupidity of the oil argument. It is all because the oil industries lobby against green propositions. A combination of various green energy i.e. wind, solar, aqua, biomass, etc. could significantly reduce the amount of oil used, but current technology cannot yet eliminate the use of oil

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Hello, I'm a student conducting a short open-ended survey to get a feel of how solar-powered installations at home will be perceived and received by the average person. Your responses will help me develop a sustainable product for residential use. Feel free to respond and send me your comments. Thank you very much for helping! - MariaCGL

I have lived off-grid for about four years relying completely on solar electric power. I learned a lot about conservation as my system is very modest, but I wouldn't exchange it for a monthly electric bill-I own my power not rent it from an electric company that can hike rates and pollute the air as much as they please.

I feel that utilizing solar energy has helped me look at my energy use in a new way. I have developed a new pattern language in my home and during my daily activities that have made me much less wasteful. Solar energy is expensive and so being efficient always trumphs adding solar modules to the home.

It feels great to use renewable energy from the sun!

Erik

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