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| first of all, for renewable energy i much prefer the use of wind.. its cheaper, easier to build, more reliable, more efficient, and all around superior to solar panels... downside you may live in an area that wont allow you to have such a structure, as it would require a chunk of land to yourself...
solar panels are very inefficient, and fragile, not to mention incredibly expensive... so an alternative to solar panels for solar energy is what ive been working on building myself this structure for myself is a 15' wide satellite dish shaped structure, the inside of the dish is made up of mirrors, these mirrors collect on the collector, and reflect to a single point in front of the dish (such as the LNBs on a satellite TV dish)... however, where the sunlight collects is a stirling engine mounted on the arm... the sunlight heats one cylinder of the stirling engine causing the air inside to expand, using the heat of the sunlight itself to create power benefits of this system is its a lot more durable, more reliable, more efficient, and cheaper way of creating electricity from sunlight |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by 4sureloans (My Page) on Thu, Jun 7, 12 at 2:18
| Solar power system is a reliable, clean and efficient energy system generated converting energy from sunlight into electricity. The initial solar setup can be quite expensive, which is why many people choose to use solar electricity in conjunction with existing grid power |
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| How many KWH per day can it produce? How do you keep the mirrors clean? |
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| I am a bit of a lurker, but must say to animus_divinus's opening statement that my husband works as a project manager installing HUGE solar arrays all over the country and says the EXACT same thing. You are completely right. He has been given permission to purchase piggy backed on top of these massive orders a couple of panels for our own home and even at the rock bottom at cost pricing, we have held off considering the fragility of the panels. Although I do believe this year we will do so. You are right, some are not in a position to be so lucky to have land enough for wind turbines and certainly most don't find a deal like we have found on panels. I look forward to seeing pics of your set up. I fear the technical specs wouldn't mean a whole lot to me, but my husband would find them extremely interesting. Good luck, |
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- Posted by allahakbbq (My Page) on Mon, Dec 24, 12 at 19:39
| the beauty of solar is the fact that it's silent, and has zero moving parts. those two issues are HUGE drawbacks to wind turbines. moving parts eventually STOP moving. or moving as they should. take it from one with firsthand experience living completely off grid, on a 45 acre island, population TWO, for fifteen years. turbines go katti-whumpus at the LEAST opportune time. they make plenty noise right up until they fling themselves to death. one can be as crunchy and granola as they wish. the r.o.i.for any/all alternative energy just ain't there if you have even the most inefficient, expensive grid to tie into. now, if there is NO other option, alt energy is the mutts nuts. i'll take fifteen kilowatts of solar over a small diesel any day. alas, the perfect system consists of all three--solar, wind, and diesel backup. when the sun aint shining, the wind's usually blowin. i've installed and LIVED with seven stand-alone systems, all consisting of the above, each ranging from ten to forty-five kW. |
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| In response to Animus: You have a good idea and it is growing in popularity. This is a form of solar energy production called concentrated solar power (CSP). There are large commercial plants being built around the world utilizing this technology. There is not much available for the small residential user yet, but a really smart guy in Israel is working on it. I wrote a feature post about David Faiman and his work with Zenith solar. They are trying to bring their technology to the masses at an affordable price. Check out the article..you will find it interesting. |
Here is a link that might be useful: solar energy break-through
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