Why you do not see many people in the US use solar water heater? is it because of its weight on the roof?

What is the life expectancy for the solar water heater. Normal roof warranty is 20 years. It would be too much trouble to disconnect the solar panel cum water tank and re-roof with shingles.

Solar Panels?

Is it financially worth installing solar panels for electricity and heat (for home use), if you are going to live in the house for 4-6 more years?

Electricity bills come in at $500 per year (for us); how much does installing solar panels cost compare to about $3000 dollars of electricity costs (for 6 years more stay in the house)?

Also, tax deductions must be taken into account.
If it is financially worth installing solar panels- what kind is the most environmentally efficient?

How does alternative energy give us energy Independence?

If you can’t make all of your solar panels in your country, how is that energy independence? If you have to pay China for solar panels, then the sunlight is not yours.

What is the true cost of of solar and wind power per kilowatt hour, not counting subsidies? What energy source will be used when there are cloudy days and no wind, and at night?

Will you in the future be crying about BP and Exxon as “big lithium”?

DIY Solar panels for home?

Im interested in constructing my own solar panels out of individual photovoltaic cells, I m a resident in the UK and Id like to attatch them to my south facing shed roofs. After a bit of research ive found the cells for £400 for 300 pieces ( 6 x 6 polycrstalline) or £250 for 100 pieces ( 6 x 6 mono crystalline), each individual cell will generate a max output of just over 4W, so in theory I can generate over a KW on my shed roofs. What are the major advantages of mono over polycrystalline?

Will it be easy to connect these to the house’s power and will it be possible to sell any excess back to the power companies?

Two of us live here but we’re never in so we dont use much electricity, apparently between 3 and 4 KW is the household average usage so I doubt we use more than 2KW, Please let me know if this sounds about right for the amount Im planning to buy.

Are there any grants available for cost of materials? as the government usually pays 50% up to £8000 for domestic solar energy projects? although these are usually supplied and fitted by a registered firm.

Has anyone inititiated a similar idea themselves?

any feedback on any of these questions would be greatly appreciated!

thanks!

DIY Solar panels to power home?

Im interested in constructing my own solar panels out of individual photovoltaic cells, I m a resident in the UK and Id like to attatch them to my south facing shed roofs. After a bit of research ive found the cells for £400 for 300 pieces ( 6 x 6 polycrstalline) or £250 for 100 pieces ( 6 x 6 mono crystalline), each individual cell will generate a max output of just over 4W, so in theory I can generate over a KW on my shed roofs. What are the major advantages of mono over polycrystalline?

Will it be easy to connect these to the house’s power and will it be possible to sell any excess back to the power companies?

Two of us live here but we’re never in so we dont use much electricity, apparently between 3 and 4 KW is the household average usage so I doubt we use more than 2KW, Please let me know if this sounds about right for the amount Im planning to buy.

Are there any grants available for cost of materials? as the government usually pays 50% up to £8000 for domestic solar energy projects? although these are usually supplied and fitted by a registered firm.

Has anyone inititiated a similar idea themselves?

any feedback on any of these questions would be greatly appreciated!

thanks!