Am interested in exploring the possibility of adding photovoltaics to my house. I have absolutely no knowledge about this subject. Does anyone have any suggestions for resources on this subject (web sites, books, journals, etc)?
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Fine Homebuilding's editorial director has some fun news to share.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
Try http://www.realgoods.com for some ideas. I have no experience with them or solar power, but I got a catalog from them and found it very interesting.
Also consider solar for water heating. Equipment costs are much lower.
-- J.S.
Kiddoc - Try your bookstore for some of the magazines that deal with the subject. I can't pick up names right now, but there are at least two that are based on solar power. Also consider "Mother Earth News"; it's a back to nature sort of thing, but there are frequent articles on the subject.
PVs are kind of steep in price, and the payback (if there is no tax break) is pretty drawn out. John's right that solar hot water is much more affordable, reasonable and justifiable. If you are interested in this for reasons other than financial, that's even better.
Doing some homework is a good place to start. There are a few solar folks hanging around here, but not many. Most are more mainstream, dealing with building envelopes, insulation and the most efficient heating systems.
Good luck.
Don
Here's a decent start:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumerinfo/pdfs/res_pv.pdf
In general, photovoltaics work better in the sunnier climates (that's probably not surprising to you). Unless you're in a place where you're off-grid, the payback can be pretty long.
Home Power magazine has some good information on all sorts of alternative power possibilities. It has information from novice to advanced set-ups. You just have to get past some of the hippie-dippy green editorializing.
Erich
I am also exploring the same subject and have found that wind generation has a better track record for many applications. given the present needs of North America this line of questioning wil grow and now as energy cost rise I would bet that all forms of renuable energy could start to be justified on a dollars and cents bases.
George
I just saw something on TV last night about a new amterial for PV cells that can use IR in addition to visible light for generating voltage. Now we're talking!!! Cloudy days? No problem! I have always wondered why there isn't a magnifying layer over the cells. Not a big mag factor, just enough to kick it up a bit.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
A buddy of mine is doing this. He's just starting up a 25 house development. Definitely a viable way to go...http://www.silverwood-inc.com/ "what's in a name?" d'oh!
There have been a number of high efficiency solar cells around for a while. They have been mainly used on spacecraft where the important metric is kW/kg not $. The IR cells are new. Because IR photons have less energy than visible light, it took a while to find a material that could produce a useful voltage with the IR photons.
They do make high performance cells with magnifying lenses over the cells. However, the added complication of steering the array to keep the sun focused on the cell makes it only marginally useful. The additional problem is that heat makes the efficiency of solar cells decrease dramatically, so the cell has to be actively cooled.
Erich
So, if the heat was drawn off by an underlying water heating system, it may work.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
the cell has to be actively cooled
Not so.
The array shown is a passively cooled prototype for space application, space cooling would also be passive via radiator panels. About 25% efficient, produced 16.x kW-hrs per day on non-storm days. Cost however, was in the 6 figures, so not cost effective for a residence. BTW, not just a BS post, as I did the thermal interface design and high voltage assembly. Link to co-authored paper on the subject with lots of data FYI.
http://www.entechsolar.com/SPS600V.pdf
Here is a magazine article.
http://www.compoundsemiconductor.net/articles/magazine/10/8/5/1
View Image
You are right, with the proper heat dissapation, you can get by with passive cooling. Its just the environment I work and live in requires a different method to maintain solar cell efficiency. The desert temperatures often exceed 40C and any electrical equipment must be able to withstand 70C with normal insolation. It is literally hot enough to fry an egg on metal enclosures here. Concentrating the sunlight makes the conditions worse. A solar plant near here uses solar concentrators to heat oil that then runs into a steam generator driving a turbine to produce power. There are advantages to 360 days of sun a year.
Erich