To let you know that I am on Day 9 using only the solar Powermonkey to charge the Blackberry.
Got dicy last week with the snow storms, but just as the Monkey was about to die on me the sun is here.

That prevented me from setting up a bunch of my spotlights and put the Power Monkey on life support!

By the way, who says it has to be cost effective to put solar panels on a house? How many of you with 53 inch high definition flat panels in your man/women cave, can justify that cost? Somethings are just fun, no matter the ROI.

Thanks for the suggestions Andy. I started down that path with the purchase of a large capacity external battery but never hooked my cycle up to it: http://www.jkontherun.com/2007/11/creating-power.html

Get a recumbent bike or modified regular bike and hook a DC generator to the wheel. You will also get some exercise and charging external batteries as well as your internal battery.

As for CFL, a complete marketing scam, since LED is the far superior solution without the potential to unleash tons of MERCURY on us later. If I am not mistaken, Mercury is one of the most deadly chemicals to humans. I strongly suggest paying a little more and go with L.E.D. lighting.

The newer thin-film solar cells are the future. Instead of flat panel on your roof, you must go with TUBES !!! The long tubes will automatically capture light from ALL angles, while the traditional flat panel type must be rotated.

Start with $40K for the system, then subtract the California State rebate and the Federal Tax credit and you’re actually below $30K for the system.

As to seeing a $300 to $400 dollar reduction in monthly electric bill? Yes. A few years ago, at the prodding of the federal government California deregulated electric rates. Rates immediately skyrocketed. In Southern California sudden jumps to over a $1000 a month for electricity was not uncommon. The price of electricity ultimately went back down and stabilized, somewhat – after threats of legal action, people refusing to pay bills, criminal investigations, etc.. But monthly bills in the $300 to $400 range or more are still common.

Now, you might thing this is a “Stupid California Thing” but I would ask: Do you really honestly believe that electricity rates are going to stay low or even near where they are now, over the next 30 years (even adjusted for inflation)? In the United States we generally oppose nuclear power plants, we’re not building a lot more hydro-electric plants, we’ve found that the price of foreign oil and gas is unstable and can double or triple literally, almost over night, domestic sources of coal, oil, and gas aren’t unlimited and we don’t use or distribute them in any coherent manner, and a great many people think that alternate energy sources such as wind and solar are “dumb, dumb, dumb.”

If you think that your electricity bill 30 years from now is going to be exactly what it is today, great, good for you, just be happy and don’t worry about anything, but I think you’re very wrong. I do know mine will be the same. We have a residential solar system that supplies over 100% of our average annual usage, meaning we’re giving electricity back to the electric company. We pay nothing for electricity. The components of the systems are warranteed for parts and labor, by what I believe are reliable companies (Samsung and SMA America), for 20 years.

Hail storms – we occasionally have those but not really too often in Southern California, at least not like the rest of the country. However, all of the major, reliable manufacturers of solar panels take that into account in the design and manufacture of the panels. What makes a solar panel so heavy is the protective glass plate that covers the photovoltaic element. Actually, the real problem in Southern California is the lack of rain to periodically clean the panels. The dust and dirt build up over a year can significantly reduce the electric output of the panel.

I’m certainly not arguing that everyone should run out and get solar power systems. Actually, I would really question whether a system in the northern half of the country is going to get enough annual sunshine to really be cost effective. But, if you live in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, or any area that sees a significant amount of sun it is something to consider.

Who: I actually did have to do just that today, which I’ll cover more in an update post. Actually what’s even funnier is that some folks think the hybrid benefit is only “1 mpg more on a highway”.

EPA estimates the non-hybrid version of my AWD vehicle at 16/22. It estimates my version at 31/27 and since I do the vast majority of my driving off the highway and use smart driving strategies, I see up to 33 mpg over the course of a full tank.

To Citanic,
Did he not say he got rebates. So he would not have to finance the whole 40k. Be an active reader and stop thinking about how you are going to respond.

So what happens to your $40k solar panels in a hail storm?

You can supplement your solar charging with charging your phone in your “hybrid.” It’s “off the grid” and all it costs is a car charger, which you probably already have.

Note, I refer to your car as a “hyrbid” because it gets 1 more mpg on the highway. It’s funny.

Hi, Kevin –

On the topic of the Solio vs. Brunton/Sunlinq panels, you’re right, not having a built-in battery for power storage/charging makes a pretty huge difference.

I forgot to mention that the folding panels output in 12V (car voltage), so the only devices that can charge directly from them are devices that support 12V cigarette lighter chargers (cell phones, gps modules, but certainly not the majority of gadgets.)

(Hence the battery… trickle charge at the solar panel’s output level, store it, then release it at the higher volts/amps that gadgets need for their dc charger inputs.)

THC, a 40000 loan at 6% for 15 years gives you a Monthly payment of about $337 dollars. Are you telling me that you are currently seen a monthly reduction in your electrical bill that is bigger than $337 dollars?

To play the game of saving the planet looks very romantic but until we don’t learn how to do it using really safe for our planet technology and at a price that is really cost effective this war is lost. And that’s what I see so far. You buy a hybrid and the price you pay for the hybrid makes it cost ineffective for the rest of the life of that car with you. No counting the energy that we are using in the making of that car, the materials that are not “green friendly” and on top of that the inconveniences and cost of getting then disposed correctly are just killing our planet instead of saving it.

I partially agree with you but them the main question is, are we really saving our planet? Lets take the saving energy lamps that we are asking people to use in their home. AFAIK one of the component of those lamps is mercury. Do you think that people who are replacing some of those broken lamps are disposing them properly? To dispose one of those lamps properly is virtually so inconvenient that you end trowing them in your trash. And there it goes the mercury polluting our planet. The same with the hybrid cards, the same with many other technologies that we claim will help to save our planet.

Frank, you’re absolutely correct… if you only look at the explicit costs of power generation, which most people do. What about the implicit and future costs of pollution from coal-produced electricity, sickness caused by pollution, health care costs to treat that sickness, lost work time due to illness, etc…

As I said in the last paragraph, this experiment is not going to save me money. Saving money isn’t the goal here. Determining alternatives for power generation and being smarter about power consumption is.