Article:		Hacking Your Way Off The Utility Grid
Subject:		nice ideas for sunny places
Date:		2004-12-06 00:08:50
From:		jwenting
Sadly where I live solar just won't work economically. With daylight hours in winter restricted to hours from about 8AM to 4PM (which is of course just the time noone's at home) there's little point to use solar power for heat generation. Electrical might work better but the power produced is lower because of the lower intensity of the sun (which is often obscured by clouds) as well as the shorter day. What you should also remember is the environmental impact of solar cell production (and the other systems you installed too). Your heat exchanger for the house heating uses polycarbonate sheets made of oil or coal most likely, which are fossil fuels. Your solar cells too contain polycarbonates. Then there's the energy used to produce them which is largely generated through the use of fossil fuels.

Showing messages 1 through 2 of 2.

• nice ideas for sunny places
  2004-12-06 10:03:34  coles [View]
  
  
  jwenting: good point about the embedded energy and footprint of installing the system, these are important design considerations.
  
  however, dont be so pessimistic about your location. i have friends who live north of burlington, vt (check the latitude) whose house is completely off the grid. they do have a backup generator that they use three to four days per year. their system is very different than the one described hear, but if it can work in northern vermont...
• nice ideas for sunny places
  2004-12-12 12:08:23  crenelle [View]
  
  
  As I understand it, one of the hotbeds for solar power is Germany. Their solarization is on a par with the State of Washington.