I might be getting PV panels! :D

[Black Panther]

18 panels + 1 inverter to supply 15 units (minimum assuming cloudy days) of electricity catering for the entire house!
I've already ordered them and paid a deposit. But it's subject to being in time for the 'first come first served' basis to get a government grant.

If I don't get the grant I won't be able to afford them because the whole thing would cost nearly €12,000

If this comes true for me, I'd be able to build more pc's and afford to leave them running 24/7 for crunching. I've already got psu's, ram, hdd's, odd's lying around.... what I'd be needing is a couple of 775 mobos and a couple of quads and easily I can make crunchers to run 24/7 at home! That apart from 3 single core pc's which I never run ie a Pentium II and two Athlons single core Please keep your fingers crossed for me so this works out!

 

[blkhogan]

Fingers crossed. Good luck.

 

[Fourstaff]

Yeah, the last time I calculated the costs for PV, they ran up to tens of thousands. Good thing is, once you have them you don't need to worry so much about electricity bills and they last long.

 

[Black Panther]

With this system I can run my bill to twice as much as I do now and not pay a single cent in bills. There's a 7 year warranty on the inverter and a 20 year warranty on the panels.
I'd still be forking around 7.300 Euros for the initial purchase.... gulp.... but I'm looking at it as a one-time long-term investment made possible for me only through the government grant...

 

[hat]

Man, I really hope nobody steals them... something that expensive is sure to draw attention.

 

[Arrakis9]

Man, I really hope nobody steals them... something that expensive is sure to draw attention.

most people when they see them are like "wtf are those" and dont even know what they are

 

[Fourstaff]

What is the wattage of the PV panels? I would kill to install PV for my house for €6000 euros. I assure you its going to be the best €6000 you have/will spent/spend.

 

[pantherx12]

most people when they see them are like "wtf are those" and dont even know what they are

Over, Specifically my county of Essex, people take the ones that light up street lamps let alone big ones

 

[Black Panther]

What is the wattage of the PV panels? I would kill to install PV for my house for €6000 euros. I assure you its going to be the best €6000 you have/will spent/spend.

They're 180W per panel and there's going to be 18 of them on the roof. Lol don't ask me how to work out the electric power generated because I don't know!

Tbh them being stolen never entered my mind..... hmmm O_O
Can they easily be 'plucked' out?

 

[WhiteLotus]

damn - hope you get them, that is an awesome investment.

 

[Mussels]

since i cant afford this stuff, i too would have to kill someone for them.


I'm shocked that the aussie government doesnt install them on the rooftops of government/school buildings, and offer grants for aussies to get it on homes - the more common it is, the less likely they are to be stolen, and it would solve much of our energy/pollution concerns.

 

[pantherx12]

Can they easily be 'plucked' out?

Yup, probably probably 20 seconds to remove a single panel, they're generally bolted down rather then stuck down so anyone with tools could easily steal them if they fancied.

I'd recommend getting theft insurance on such an item, especially considering your roof!



Mussels the reasons they don't install them everywhere is because in reality the "carbon footprint" of PV panels is enormous, like getting double glazing windows it will take a life time to pay back what they cost : ]

Tidal/wind energy are the way forward, at-least until PV panels are not so disgustingly inefficient!

 

[Mussels]

ah i see. just that here in AU we have a massive abundance of sunlight you see, so it'd cover the electrical consumption of our air conditioners

(and god damnit, i want a solar powered car!)

 

[pantherx12]

You've got loads of just open areas with nothing at all, not even Aboriginals XD your government should completely fill areas like that with wind farms : ]


Or PV towers ( big ole tower with a mirror array around it so the tower is the focal point for concentrated light energy ) since then you need less PV panels and compensate with cheap shiny metals/plastics


Although maybe people would hate those ideas ha.

 

[Mussels]

i completely agree, actually.

Wind farms may mess with the environment a bit (they do very bad things to migratory birds flying past ), but holy shit - we have these massive desert areas they could build raised solar platforms on and pipe the energy to nearby cities with no real worries.

 

[pantherx12]

By the way in terms of power PV panels ( good ones) convert about 22% of the energy they absorb into electricity D:

 

[Mussels]

By the way in terms of power PV panels ( good ones) convert about 22% of the energy they absorb into electricity D:

i wish we could convert heat to electricity. summer would be solved then.

 

[pantherx12]

I've been designing a steam turbine that operates on solar energy actually : ]

Won't post details here though XD

Concept is sound though I just need the materials to built a prototype : /

 

[Black Panther]

If only the entire world would agree on this project

The unpopulated area of the Sahara desert is over 9 million km², which if covered with solar panels would provide 630 terawatts total power. The Earth's current energy consumption rate is around 13.5 TW at any given moment (including oil, gas, coal, nuclear, and hydroelectric).

(from Wikipedia)

Mussels the whole of Australia would have free electricity were PV panels to be installed in your desert...

Pantherx12 I'm considering antitheft insurance, but well my house is so well surrounded by other houses and humongous apartments being erected after older houses like mine were demolished, there's barely enough privacy even for us let alone for a robber.

 

[sneekypeet]

BP look into your homeowners insurance. Here if its bolted down its covered, at least with the more reputable insurance companies.

A second note. For those in the states who use PV panels, they are connected to the main grid. So lets say I get 20K worth of panels installed. I dont use all the energy they produce, so the excess gets passed back into the grid, and our meters actually spin backwards. So on a really sunny month in the US we can actually get paid for our extra production

 

[Black Panther]

BP look into your homeowners insurance. Here if its bolted down its covered, at least with the more reputable insurance companies.

I... have never insured my home.... yet....

A second note. For those in the states who use PV panels, they are connected to the main grid. So lets say I get 20K worth of panels installed. I dont use all the energy they produce, so the excess gets passed back into the grid, and our meters actually spin backwards. So on a really sunny month in the US we can actually get paid for our extra production

That's the way it is here too.


If this works out, nothing's gonna stop me from building crunchers out of a room I have full of parts, and leaving them running 24/7

 

[sneekypeet]

maybe ask the guys who install it if they use a special bolt or head on their screws. Just an odd head would thwart most theives. Or see if they have a way to lock a bar across them with a spot for a real padlock.

Good luck with it all BP, I hope it does come true for ya

 

[pantherx12]

maybe ask the guys who install it if they use a special bolt or head on their screws. Just an odd head would thwart most theives. Or see if they have a way to lock a bar across them with a spot for a real padlock.

Good luck with it all BP, I hope it does come true for ya

Nice idea

Hell even if they use standard bolts/fittings you can go up and replace the bolts for something more fiddly in your own time afterwards BP!

 

[Chicken Patty]

Good luck BP, fingers crossed here

 

[Fourstaff]

Resurrecting this thread! BP, have you got your panels of free power yet?