Community Discussions
Explore the latest discussions and community conversations related to this domain.
Real question: is solar good or bad?
Main Post:
I've been looking into getting solar panels at my home , but I was curious to know if the black panels would make my house warmer or colder, potentially making me use more AC to cool it off. Then I found this interesting article:
https://phys.org/news/2016-11-solar-island-effect-large-scale-power.html From 2016, but I don't know what has happened since.
Here's the question I pose.
- Black painted objects absorb the light energy and then radiate it as heat around them, would black solar panels do the same?
- let's say solar panels got really good at converting energy, us using that energy would just convert it into heat somewhere else, would that be a problem in the future if everyone had solar panels?
I know they are way better than fossil fuels, my question is directly towards the temperature effects in a local scope and the at the global scope.
Top Comment: I actually went way Into the weeds with this with a NASA physicist a few years ago. His initial thought was exactly what you were saying. We ended up coming up with well over 100 pages of peer reviewed studies that we then ran our own against. We had physics driven models and simulations, real world examples and tests, and the whole kit and caboodle. What it came down too is this: solar can sometimes cause heating islanding but so can everything else like sidewalks, streets, and roofs. It really depends on what the sun was going to hit in the first place. Metal roofs reflected the sun and caused islanding, shingle roofs and tile roofs absorbed the sun and also caused islanding. When you placed solar panels on the roof some of that sun was actually eliminated through the PV process and at the end of the day in every single study it caused less islanding than if there was no solar at all.
Can you please give me the good, bad, and ugly of solar panels?
Main Post:
People keep knocking on my doors trying to sell me them and pitching that I might not have to pay for installation or my monthly bills will be zero Etc. I just want to hear firsthand the cost involved and any other advice. I'm not sure I want to do it.
Top Comment: I am selling my house and under contract. Just learned that even though my original solar loan documents say the loan can be transferred to the buyer of the house, the bank doesn’t do solar loans and won’t transfer it. We now have to take about a 15% reduction in the profit on our sale because we have to pay the panels off at closing.
Is solar actually free ever in any states?
Main Post:
I see ads about “free solar” but think it’s too good to be true. I have a home that I have dreamed of putting solar on, but my last quote was 18k. I didn’t do it back then because it didn’t make sense financially. Now we are a single income household and low income (under 40k a year) and Solar is the last thing we have money for, but the dream isn’t dead. We already have an affordable electric car, so having some free electricity would help so much to bring our monthly costs lower. Is free solar just a scam/sales tactic to get me to sign up for a loan I can’t afford? Is there a way I could have solar installed for cheaper than what I was quoted, or maybe a DIY solar integration option? Tell all, please!
Top Comment: Solar is not free but what us solar reps mean by that is, for example you pay $250 currently with your energy/utility company. When you get solar it’s a bill swap you go from paying that $250 you are already paying and swapping to a more affordable bill of whatever the solar rep quoted you. So it’s “free” as in your not buying anything new you’re still paying for energy just at a cheaper more affordable rate.
How much electricity can a generic solar panel give to a house?
Main Post:
Today someone left a brochure by ADT Solar which offers to set up a solar panel on the house rooftop at a heavily discounted price and even proclaiming that free cash for level of electricity generated.
I doubt I'll call the company but it does make me curious about solar panel. I''ll be googling stuff when I have free time from college classes but I'm inquisitive enough I'll ask my biggest question right now. How much power can I generate from a typical solar panel such as the one ADT Solar is offering to install? Would the savings be big enough to make pay the MSRP of purchasing and installing one on top of my home?
Top Comment: The panels come with a wattage rating (actually more than one). The rule of the thumb is taking that number times 5 to get the Wh produced on a good weather day mounted in a good position. So a 400W panel is 2 kWh per day. Do you know your kWh price? You can plug the numbers into the website PVGIS and get numbers for your location. The site takes into account historic weather patterns. You need to provide the panel orientation and wattage.
what are some of the problems with solar energy
Main Post: what are some of the problems with solar energy
Top Comment: It’s being politicized