Your Questions About What Are Solar Panels Used For

Ruth asks…

what are solar panels used for?

Sam Deane answers:

They generate electricity by using the sun.

Donald asks…

Aside from being expensive. What are the drawbacks of using solar panels as power source for home use?

Loads will be home lighting, maybe 5 computers, refrigerator, T.V. and other home appliances totaling maybe about 1-2 megawatt load if all appliances are turned on at the same time.

Sam Deane answers:

“1-2 MegaWatt” ??????????????????
A small home without air conditioning will peak at about 5-6 KW.
“Aside from being expensive” the drawbacks of a small solar plant of this size is maintenance.
Batteries and panels have a limited service life, (I know, – part of “expensive”), which is shortened if they are not properly maintained.
Most owners won’t do it.

James asks…

Isn’t the real problem with using solar panels it that we will use the Sun up?

Now that because of the global warming issue we are using more solar power however now there are some places in the world that have already run out of sun and there is darkness for months of the year. What do you think?

Sam Deane answers:

If we run out of sunlight then we have bigger problems than where can I charge my cellphone.

We can’t switch to 100% solar because we would need massive storage banks for night and winter. But it can supplement or replace peak demand daylight electricity. Germany and other northern European countries which have shorter days than many of the US states have had great success.

Maria asks…

What is the cost and benefit of using solar panels as an energy source for my home?

Specifically, how much does it cost to purchase, install, and maintain a solar panel? How much of my energy can I tap out of it?

I live in Phoenix, Arizona. It supposedly rains four days a year here.

Sam Deane answers:

I’m in the middle of putting in solar/wind to offset the power needs of a 75 unit condo in St Thomas.

Cut to the chase. Solar systems, with batteries to store power for use at night and inverters to change battery power to 120v cost about $7 a watt installed

in Phoenix you’ll get about 30 watts a square foot about 10 hours a day

a 1000W panel, at $7,000 installed will run 10 100 watt light bulbs or (maybe)) an energy efficient refrigerator.

Do the math

Daniel asks…

What is the number of people that use Solar panels or solar energy in San Jose?

I need this information for my project so please make the numbers as recent as you can get, 2007-2010 the best.
Even a percentage will work because I need this for a project.

Sam Deane answers:

NREL just released that data for the US on the website below. You will have to enter all the zip codes for San Jose and add up the numbers. I typed in 95101 and there were 19 installations.

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