Author Topic: Solar News  (Read 23458 times)

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Offline Pete

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Re: Solar News
« Reply #60 on: April 27, 2018, 03:12:24 am »
Sounds like I may have got my system at the right time. I don't know what you pay in the U.S but here in Aus panels vary a lot in price. My panels for the new place cost $140 Aus for a 200 watt panel. As we have very modest needs and live in an ultra tiny house we have a 1.2 kilowatt system with 600 amp hour battery bank.
We are in the process of getting the supply authority to come and take their power lines down.
I have lived off grid for nearly 40 years now, and never intended to be connected to the grid. The new place we bought has grid connection but not for long.
I love the freedom of supplying my own power and water.
Good to hear that Mr Musk is getting on with his dreams
Pete

Offline dang

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Re: Solar News
« Reply #61 on: April 27, 2018, 11:39:47 am »
Remember the first 2.5 gigawatt is exempt each year - that is ten million 250w panels allowed in without the new tax.

I hope there will be more than ONE silicon foundry making US wafers three years from now; Already everyone and their brothers are petitioning for exemptions like the back-contact process high efficiency cells  - a completely selfish wish I have is hopefully next-gen tech 22-24% efficient cells will become cheaper and hopefully the investments to fabricate them IN the US will become real.

The tariff applies to the wholesale price - back when panels were selling here for $5 a watt that 30% on wholesale would have meant something by adding a dollar to the wholesale price to bring it above $6/watt... Nowadays not so much when the wholesale price is 25¢ or 35¢ (or less) per watt that 30% adds a dime per watt, so panels still retail for 75, 80 or 90¢ per watt.

Yes - on a Megawatt installation it adds up but that is where we need US based industries to supply them instead of off-shoring everything except middlemen cashing their checks. Beyond just PV Fab companies it is also USA aluminum, iron-free glass, copper & polymer, packaging and warehousing industries that get shut out by off-shore import/dumping.

A decrease in USA import shipments will make the PV surplus glut larger worldwide & likely trigger lower prices for consumers (after the middlemen milk the profit jump for all it is worth)...
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Offline Wolvenar

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Re: Solar News
« Reply #62 on: May 13, 2018, 09:41:34 am »
Sadly here many communities and states now make it mandatory (or try to) to be connected to the grid, or they consider your house unlivable, and will do everything they can to enforce this. 
They site this and its current years as their reasoning.

http://gallery.anotherpower.com/main.php/d/34065-1/ipmc.pdf
Trying to make power from alternative energy any which way I can.
Just to abuse what I make. (and run this site)

Offline MadScientist267

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Re: Solar News
« Reply #63 on: May 14, 2018, 02:32:07 am »
A truck ain't ideal, but at least it's off the radar still... lol/sigh  ::)
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Offline solarnewbee

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Re: Solar News
« Reply #64 on: June 18, 2018, 07:07:01 pm »
The only thing I could find was that line that says

Dwelling units shall be served by a three-wire, 120/240 volt, single-phase electrical service having a minimum rating of 60 amperes.

Shall be served is quite a stretch. Socialist government at its best. Apparently the new world order has infiltrated the USA. International codes as if we’re incapable of making our own codes. As a mechanical contractor I have had to deal with international codes that go to some great extremes. Deep breath and raise prices to deal with the increase in materials and labor.
SN

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Offline WooferHound

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Solar+battery in one device sets new efficiency standard
« Reply #65 on: July 19, 2020, 07:55:52 pm »
Solar+battery in one device sets new efficiency standard

Ars Technica reports on an international team's demonstration of a device merging photovoltaic and battery hardware into a single, unified device "that can have extensive storage capacity... a device that's both stable and has efficiencies competitive with those of silicon panels."
The resulting hardware can operate in any of three modes: providing power as a solar cell, using sunlight to charge as a battery, or providing power as a battery.

Previous records for a solar flow battery show the tradeoffs these devices have faced. The researchers used a measure of efficiency termed solar-to-output electricity efficiency, or SOEE. The most efficient solar flow devices had hit 14.1 percent but had short lifespans due to reactions between the battery and photovoltaic materials. More stable ones, which had lifespans exceeding 200 hours, only had SOEEs in the area of 5 to 6 percent.

The new material had an SOEE in the area of 21 percent — about the same as solar cells already on the market, and not too far off the efficiency of the photovoltaic hardware of the device on its own. And their performance was stable for over 400 charge/discharge cycles, which means for at least 500 hours. While they might eventually decay, there was no indication of that happening over the time they were tested. Both of those are very, very significant improvements.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/07/single-device-merges-solar-power-and-battery-tech/
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Offline solarnewbee

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Re: Solar News
« Reply #66 on: July 19, 2020, 10:39:29 pm »
Hey Woof!

If they’re talking pv and battery sealed component I’d say nope! If it’s a slide out replaceable pack sure, or I missed the point.

Anyway as to the US making solar panels, the track record sucks and even if they got factories rolling I seriously doubt they’ll ever compete with China unless huge tariffs are imposed and then they charge inflated prices because they can. Solar has gone nowhere in the US because just paying for the initial install cost is prohibitive for most. Even when folks have the money they don’t get a system that powers their home at night.

I bought Chinese panels, Chinese lifepo4 batteries, Chinese Powerjack inverter, eBay everything else and came in under $10k. This would be $35-45k installed for off grid or grid tie installed for you in the US. There’s the disconnect involved called greed.

Then again the factory worker that put bolt a into bolt hole b all day and want $45 an hour is part of the problem too. If the corporate shmucks would pay full medical benefits and matching 1 for 1retirement funds most people might chill out about wanting to be paid more than their actually worth.

Ok rant over.  Chinese get paid little but feel blessed to have it. Here in Charleston Boeing employees told the union to stick it and the employment opportunities went thru the roof and there hasn’t been any complaints. Every year the union tries again and a large majority vote no so Boeing is doing something right. Right to work states yay.

I hope some American company proves me wrong and slaps out some affordable panels that out do China and are available to the public without too many middlemen.

A pic of panel inefficiency.

Stay cool folks
SN

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Offline WooferHound

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Re: Solar News
« Reply #67 on: July 20, 2020, 06:43:49 pm »

If they’re talking pv and battery sealed component I’d say nope! If it’s a slide out replaceable pack sure, or I missed the point.


The way that I am reading this is that, the Battery is the Solar Cell and capacity is only limited by the amount of electrolyte that is circulated in the system.
The comments at the end of the article are informative.
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Offline noneyabussiness

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Re: Solar News
« Reply #68 on: July 21, 2020, 05:52:39 pm »
Solarnewbee... to add to your " rant " lol, also wish mega corporations would put more local workers on and not expect mega profits... its happening here in Australia,  manufacturing is going to 3rd world countries cause its " cheaper " yet the prices don't reflect it, so who is getting the cream... balance and less greed ... lol, where's the flying pork 😂

Offline WooferHound

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It's Official: Solar Is the Cheapest Electricity in History
« Reply #69 on: October 22, 2020, 11:30:59 pm »
It's Official: Solar Is the Cheapest Electricity in History
In a new report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says solar is now the cheapest form of electricity for utility companies to build. That’s thanks to risk-reducing financial policies around the world, the agency says, and it applies to locations with both the most favorable policies and the easiest access to financing. The report underlines how important these policies are to encouraging development of renewables and other environmentally forward technologies.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a34372005/solar-cheapest-energy-ever/
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Offline WooferHound

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Battery prices have fallen 88 percent over the last decade
« Reply #70 on: December 20, 2020, 04:24:31 am »
Battery prices have fallen 88 percent over the last decade

The average cost of a lithium-ion battery pack fell to $137 per kWh in 2020, according to a new industry survey from BloombergNEF. That's an inflation-adjusted decline of 13 percent since 2019. The latest figures continue the astonishing progress in battery technology over the last decade, with pack prices declining 88 percent since 2010.

More . . .
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/12/battery-prices-have-fallen-88-percent-over-the-last-decade/
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Offline bj

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Re: Solar News
« Reply #71 on: December 21, 2020, 04:56:15 am »
  Good read Woof, thanks for the share.
  bj
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bj

Offline Pete

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Re: Solar News
« Reply #72 on: December 21, 2020, 03:32:40 pm »
Wow Woof, prices in the US are very low. Here from what I see Lithium batteries are still way above the prices for SLA or Flooded cells.
Great to see some new posts here, things have been very quiet for a while.
I guess the Northern Hemisphere is going into winter and hibernating.
Cheers
Pete

Offline WooferHound

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Re: Solar News
« Reply #73 on: February 09, 2021, 02:32:46 am »
The Fraunhofer Institute wants to run smaller vehicles on magnesium hydride in a paste form that they call POWERPASTE.
The idea is that the paste effectively stores hydrogen at normal temperature and pressure. At 250C, the paste decomposes and releases its hydrogen.

https://hackaday.com/2021/02/06/the-future-of-hydrogen-power-is-paste/
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Offline bj

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Re: Solar News
« Reply #74 on: February 09, 2021, 05:21:22 am »
   Interesting read Woof,  not sure of the practicality for vehicles,  but sure it will spawn something that is.
   Thanks for the share.
"Even a blind squirrel will find an acorn once in a while"
bj