Solar

I know this has been knocked-around a bit on here....However, i wasn't paying attn....

I recently got all excited and was intending to re-visit the notion....But, once again, after researching briefly, sobered-up.

I ran across discussions and the one thing that struck me to be on the verge of hilarious, was the repeated staements of how it's "in it's infancy".... Charts depicting how it will become the same costs as traditional fuel usage in the next few years, etc,....etc....

Come on people, we were tearing-off/disposing of defunctional/wasteful solar energy apparatuses 25+ years ago! This is nothing new....Sure, there MUST be some revolutionary technology developed....but where is it?...."Where's the beef"?, so-to-speak....Hopefully someone on the site can direct me to some real, aythentic & factual data...not simply salesmanship/hype crap....

All solar is not equal - sometimes it pays back immediately. I told you guys about the solar roof drain my son and I "invented." A building owner can spend $1500 sinking a Josam drain, or he can spend $497 for a solar drain.

I also gave y'all a chance to buy that company for a song coz I didn't have time to mess with it. Well, it sold and this guy will probably make millions on it, because he's a good promoter. See: http://www.solarroofpumps.com/

If it weren't for the percieved "green appeal" and subsidies alt energy would only appeal to off-grid survivalists. But the green appeal seems to have legs. Without it, no enviro would tolerate the visiual blight of large scale solar and wind. I live in an area that the local government goal is to become the incubator of all new Solyndra's. Good luck with that.

Rule of thumb: 20 year payback at best in normal cloudy states ( there are so many sunny hrs/ cloudy hrs)

After the payback....well you need a new roof and solar panels. In its infancy at best for northern states. Wind power is the better choice here. Lots of wind farms in the rural areas.

Salemanship? There are a few installs here. It gets coverage in the local newspaper. So far it involves unions (roofers/ electricians) and public entities (Schools/ City Hall) . So we are dealing w/ hypoe and unknown numbers....typical newspaper fluff w/ no accountability.

I am a fan of alternative energy, but also a realist.