Some solar news from my neck of the woods:

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

From Computer World: Panasonic surpasses SolarCity with world's most efficient solar panel

Panasonic's Eco Solutions division today announced the launch of what it is calling the most powerful photovoltaic panel in the world.

The new prototype solar panel has a solar energy conversion efficiency of 22.5% on a commercial-sized module. The prototype was built using solar cells based on mass-production technology, Panasonic said.

Last year, Panasonic announced it had achieved a photovoltaic cell efficiency rating of 25.6%.

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In discussions with our (First Solar) own R&D guys, the real question is not maximum efficenty. They claim to be able to achive over 30% in the lab, but the question is really what they produce in the field. Our CdTe thin film pannels are at 18.6%. Will have to wait an see if Panasonic can make the production pannels work at 25.6%. Also what is the cost per watt. At the moment Panasonic pannels are nearly twice the cost of ours. The goal is to get to $1 per watt installed. I cannot disclose actual costs, but that goal will be reached a lot sooner than people expect.

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In discussions with our (First Solar) own R&D guys, the real question is not maximum efficenty. They claim to be able to achive over 30% in the lab, but the question is really what they produce in the field. Our CdTe thin film pannels are at 18.6%. Will have to wait an see if Panasonic can make the production pannels work at 25.6%. Also what is the cost per watt. At the moment Panasonic pannels are nearly twice the cost of ours. The goal is to get to $1 per watt installed. I cannot disclose actual costs, but that goal will be reached a lot sooner than people expect.

Is that the cost of panel installation and associated hardware. Or some battery storage also.

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In discussions with our (First Solar) own R&D guys, the real question is not maximum efficenty. They claim to be able to achive over 30% in the lab, but the question is really what they produce in the field. Our CdTe thin film pannels are at 18.6%. Will have to wait an see if Panasonic can make the production pannels work at 25.6%. Also what is the cost per watt. At the moment Panasonic pannels are nearly twice the cost of ours. The goal is to get to $1 per watt installed. I cannot disclose actual costs, but that goal will be reached a lot sooner than people expect.

Is that the cost of panel installation and associated hardware. Or some battery storage also.

The dollar goal is to the grid. Remember I work on utility scale plants. Smallest one was 30 MWatt and largest is 1,000 Mwatt (planned).

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Been reading about the two tier power rate coming in 2018 for California. If you use lots of power like in a business your rates go down. If you go green in a big way and use a little bit. Your rate will go up. What gives!?

I read a story about Brazil wanting 1.6 Tw (yes terra watts) of distributed solar. I forget the year they said. But it might have been 2024.

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That was a discussion early on in this thread. The utility companies have to maintain the "grid". Who do you think is paying the men out there right now trying to restore my power. The electrict company. Well as more and more people go to solar, thier bills go down. That leaves less money to pay for the grid, aka infratructure. The new rate structure speads the costs associated with the infrastructure costs evenly. So someone will a low bill will see a reletively large increase in fees. Some with a high bill will hardly notice. The actual fee is the same, but it's relatively larger for someone who uses little power. Not a new concept. Water companies have been doing a simlary thing for decades. They charge a monthly connection fee that is a flat rate. Then they charge for the water use. That is what is happening to the power industry. They are starting to charge a flat rate for the infrastructue costs.

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In the UK the vast majority (probably all) our utility supply companies have used the "two part" billing concept. A fixed part which is supposed to cover the fixed asset costs, and a usage dependent part. Obviously there are different rates charged for each of these, which can make price comparisons very difficult - is it better to have a high fixed part and a low usage part, or what???

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Our utilities must seek permission for the Public Utilities Commission to adjust thier rates. They must prove to the commission that the rate is reasonable. To justify the fixed asset cost, would have to show justification.

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Much the same here, plus we have multiple suppliers of energy, some of whom are cheaper for the low user, some for the high user, and some specialise in supply to industrial users.
I buy my energy from a small supplier who charge a higher fixed charge, but a substantially lower "per kWh" charge than the majority of suppliers - given my crunchers use a fair bit of energy I have to consider the per-watt charge. The result is my electricity bill is substantially lower than some of my "normal user" neighbours, but if they used the same supplier their bills would go up due to the higher fixed charge....

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

I just spotted this - of absolutely no use to me, but may be of use to some of you
http://www.pacificpowercasolar.com/index.html

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

PG&E, SCE, and SD Gas & Elect have all used up thier California Solar Initiative cash back funds.
Here is List of other providers. You can check to see if your has any funds left.

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Some friends of mine have just signed a lease with Solar City for 20 years. They will provide all the equipment and installation for free, and cover about 80% of the electric usage. I have wanted to do that for years, and my friends are referring me to Solar City. I will meet with them as soon as possible, and see if the numbers can work. Currently my electric bill is about $550 a month. I have 5 acres of wide open land in addition to my roof which I am willing to fill with solar panels. I can't wait to talk with Solar City, and see what they can do for me, what impact it will have on my property taxes, and many other details. If the numbers and questions all work out, I will initiate this at once.

I have been planning for years to go wind/solar, and eventually convert my oil heat to electricity, as well as my propane hot water. This would reduce my electric bill, eliminate my oil and propane bills, and with a proper transfer switch, make me immune to power outages that can be very problematic for a person such as myself that keeps snakes in the winter. I hope like heck the numbers and questions work out, as I am very excited about this possibility.

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

This isn't working out like I had hoped.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/can-a-dollar100-million-investment-stop-the-bleeding-at-solarcity/ar-BBna1Bz?li=AA4Zjn

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

I keep telling them they need to hire me. When I started with First Solar the stock was down to $11 per share. They are now at $50 +.

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I keep telling them they need to hire me. When I started with First Solar the stock was down to $11 per share. They are now at $50 +.

I don't suppose you have anything to do with new Hampshire?
One thing I didn't like about what they offered me, is that by law, I can't use the solar to supplement my generator during a power loss. The solar must be shut off, which is half the point. I would save $748 the first year, and more from that point on, totaling about $30,000 savings after the full 20 years.

What I also didn't like, is that they can't install in my 5 acre open field, they won't angle the panels on the north side of the house, as they would become a sail, the panels won't track the sun, and they would only install 16% efficient panels, while they are making 22% for commercial use.

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

@ Steve.
That sucks. I have looking around and this idea looks nice. It might have more market penetration than their "car".

Tesla Power wall.

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The powerwall batteries are sold out until summer of 2016. That would have been a great solution, by adding 3-4 7KWh batteries, or a couple 10 KWh ones. The way the offer works, is that I would start with 13.9 cents per KWh, which would increase by 2.9% per year, which is under the expected 6-8% of the power companies increases. I was hoping this would have been a great way to get my foot in the door without putting up any money, which I don't have, but the down sides seem to out weigh the small savings I would be getting.

The biggest downfall, is that my wife is dead set against it. She is worried what would happen if SolarCity went out of business, and how fast they would come and repair the roof if something happened. I guess, I would have to file a claim, then wait and see, while I put a tarp over my roof, to keep things from being damaged.

The system I am envisioning would fill up a good chunk of my back yard, with sun tracking panels of high efficiency, coupled with 2-3 3000 watt mag-lev wind turbines, and several powerwall batteries. I want energy independence, and lower bills as I get older.

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

The company I am currently buying power from just locked me in for 18 months at 10.19 cents per KWh, which means that with the Solar City plan, I would lose money for several years. That with all my other concerns has officially made going solar at this time impracticable. I have rejected the offer.

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

The company I am currently buying power from just locked me in for 18 months at 10.19 cents per KWh, which means that with the Solar City plan, I would lose money for several years. That with all my other concerns has officially made going solar at this time impracticable. I have rejected the offer.

Steve

10,19 cents? Is that solely the energy cost? Would be an awful lot if it were..

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