Henry Dover answers:

This would be called a low end, non-skilled job. People who do this work for solar panel dealers, and are typically trained on the job. It’s not much above minimum wage, and the only decent career path is in someday owning your own business.

For that, a business degree would suit you better than any tech degree.

An AS in electronics would prepare you for the job you described.

Did I mention that it’s a low end, low paid job, with not much future?

Henry Dover answers:

You need to talk with people who are already knowledgable in the field, and in the business of designing systems for a specific set of location, conditions, applications, and goals. Government incentives make a big difference in evaluating choices. Those vary widely by country and even state within country.

Henry Dover answers:

I really disagree with the above poster. It’s always productive to search and try new methods to solving our problems. It’s how science works. We may invest a great deal of time and effort into a single promising approach only to have it fail in the end. But then we’d know more and can better prepare a new one.

My only complaint is that Obama seems determined for our renewable energy sources to be developed here. There are actually two very promising energy plans being done in the UK and Canada atm. One involves tides and the other man made tornadoes. It made not be made in America but good ideas are good ideas regardless of where they come from.

Fuels for cars do need to be reliable and rather set as they require massive amounts of infrastructure. But what the above poster fails at realizing is that what is needed is a better way to produce electricity. If we can do that in a cleaner fashion it’s much easier to make use of cars that can use existing and proven technology.

Henry Dover answers:

Normally it is not connected directly because the voltage and current output from the panel is fluctuating as it is entirely dependent on the sun’s rays.
So the solar panel is therefore connected via a “Charge Controller” to a 12V lead acid battery to charge it.
The battery is then connected to the inverter.

Henry Dover answers:

Http://www.solarhome.org/solarhomekits.html
this site can give you a lot of infomation you need. I sure would love to know where you live at to have a $500 year electric bill. My bill averages between 137 & 150 month 3 bdrm, 2 ba. This site shows a solar tax incentives state-by-state and if one is to financie they have a tax deducttable financing. I would say it would be worth it. Also there solar home kits include everything that is needed.

Henry Dover answers:

So many people are on board for alternate energy, yet the whole thing just can’t get off the ground. I knew someone that had solar powered system to heat their swimming pool. It did not work that great. After a few years they abandoned the system and used a gas heated system instead. Worked much better.

Henry Dover answers:

Most of the test on solar cells with MONO AND POLY is the volts most poly is around .50 to .55 volts and on test mono is around .58 to .60 volts per sell most of the time the amps seem to be the same
so per size you get a little more watts from mono but for DIY SOLAR PANELS i would go with poly
this is a link of the solar panel i have Made with two sheets of Glass

https://sites.google.com/site/earthforsolar/glass-frame-diy-panel

If you need solar cells we sell them on www.solarcells101.com

Thanks David

Henry Dover answers:

The only big thing i have seen with testing mono and poly solar cells
Mono will have a little more volts per cell mono normally will hit in volts .58 to .60 and poly
.50 to .55 volts for each cell most of the time with test the amps are much the same Mono may be little more but for the price i would go with poly. Poly seem to be not as fragile , Mono solar cells are very fragile I have put together allot of free info on DIY Solar Panels
this is a link to my Glass Frame diy solar panel

https://sites.google.com/site/earthforsolar/glass-frame-diy-panel

www.solarcells101.com

I have Help links to other sites on my website all for free

I hope this helps i have Made three diy solar panels so far,and by far i love the all glass solar panel
its 100% sealed from water

DAVID

Henry Dover answers:

A single solar panel with 12V electric output costs between $100-250 to buy or build. Most of these are the portable variety (which cost less) and is a good way to reduce dependence on your utility company and generate your own electricity.

A residential solar panel mounted on rooftops costs more — like the 185-watt Mitsubishi panel which costs $1020. But with states like CA, MA, IL, AZ (and a lot others) giving you tax incentives up to 30% the installation cost, the reasons for going green are becoming more and more better.

Henry Dover answers:

Here ya go, http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?category=&q=solar+panel

Henry Dover answers:

Evergreen solar panels cost between $750 for the 170 W panel and $892 for the 195 W panel.

These are some typical prices for the Evergreen brand:
* ES-170 SL (170 W / 25.3 V) ==> $750
* ES-180 RL (180 W / 25.9 V) ==> $820
* ES-190 RL (190 W / 26.7 V) ==> $870
* ES-195 SL (195 W / 27.1 V) ==> $892

The difference between the RL and SL models is that the RL panels are made in Europe while the SL panels are made in the USA. Both are maintenance free and power efficient.

Henry Dover answers:

You need in average 30 years to recover the investment of a solar energy system, this makes it economical unfeasible in most cases.The solar system will not probably last that either.

The only case where solar energy is economical feasible is where you do not have access to the grid, e.g. Remote location.

In some countries where government wants to promote a green politics, the hardware is provided a low cost (green benefit), this makes it economical feasible for the final user.

Another way to make it economical feasible is to start from scratch thinking solar e.g. Before building your house. If you buy and build everything; appliances, walls, heat systems and so on, thinking in how to do the best use of solar energy, thus you can get a nearly economical feasible system.

Henry Dover answers:

Let’s say you have 1 square meter of panels. Then you get 8 hours x 1 kW/m^2 x .14 = 1.12 kWh of energy per day.

If you have 2 square meters, you get 2.24 kWh’s per day.

If you have N square meters, it’s 1.12N kWh’s per day.

Scale that up to a month (use 30 days for a month unless advised otherwise), and you should be able to solve for N.

Sanity check: the answer should be between 5 and 20 square meters.

Henry Dover answers:

About a million

Henry Dover answers:

If the sun shines for 8 hours a day and assuming there are 30 days in each month, then in a month the sun shines for 8×30 = 240 hours

If a typical family home uses 380kW-h per month, then the power they actually use per month = 380kW-h /240hr = 1.5833 kW

Sunlight has power density of 1 kW/m^2 & photovoltaic cells can convert this to electricity with 16% efficiency. This means that one actually gets 0.16 x 1 kW/m^2 = 0.16 kW/m^2 from the cells

so the square meters of cells needed to meet energy requirement of home = (1.5833 kW / 0.16 kW/m^2) = 9.896 m^2

Henry Dover answers:

I have lots of info that I think you will find quite helpful and enlightening:

http://ecowellness.multiply.com/ for excellent inspirational info within my blog to help not only our world and its creatures, but to also open peoples hearts and minds to many amazing wonders that life has to offer. I also have lots of info in my blog to help fuel peoples imaginations to many possibilities that can be found only in the minds eye.

Along with lots of environmental info, amazing environmental pictures and videos (These videos show the beauty of this world and what life can be like if people take the time to appreciate life’s true beauty).

Let us all strive for a greener/brighter future by helping to create a solid foundation for future generations to build upon, so we can hand them a beautiful world, filled with never ending awe and wonders!!

Where peoples differences and uniqueness are accepted, where we all live as one, helping one another so that we can all play our own mysteriously beautiful melodies in the never ending, awe inspiring, song of life

I truly have faith in humanity and believe that someday our lives and the world in which we live will truly be transformed for the better.

Henry Dover answers:

Renewables are a diffused form of energy and require a large footprint. It would not be possible for one power plant to make power for the grid because that would require the plant to be very large and transmissin cost would be high too. Also renewables are intermittent, meaning they are not always available. A typical windmill is only available 28% of the time during the year. If one plant was making power for the grid that would mean it would be dark everywhere. It will not talk about the economics of the renewables here. Have a nice day

Henry Dover answers:

Call your energy provider or go on their website. They should have a document explaining it and as long as you have the power, they can supply you with a technology that you can use to grid feed, but it isn’t free. Also, in grid feed, you can never get cash, only credit towards your energy bill; and you cannot sell those credits to your neighbor. I feel that this is unjust and after researching it for a while I feel that the best option is not grid feed, but be on grid and have an off grid system. That way when you are at the point of producing excess, you can sell it to your neighbor. Think about it…

Who do you trust more? An energy company, or yourself?

Henry Dover answers:

Here is the Biggest problem with the trolling motor generator…Its not with the motor but with the capture area of the prop…Lets do the math here real quick …I promise not to take to long…If your trolling motor uses 10 amps at 12 volts thats about 120watts …756watts is about one horsepower,……. To get enough drag surface on the prop you need about 60 sq inches….120/756=.16hp or 480 sq inches per hp….more or less..so thats a pretty good size prop lets say 5″ x 12″ now to get it to spin you need a very easy rotating motor/gen set if its a permanent magnet type you have a problem getting it past the first pole is pretty hard…now lets look at rpm for a moment normally your motor cranks out that 120 watts at say 500-600 rpm to get a sail surface relationship and pitch to get your 12 vdc back… Your gonna need to have one heck of a pitch or loose your voltage for lack of rpm.. So I would say this …your idea of using the regenerative power of a dc motor to make a little wattage is quite sound ..However using a trolling motor made to puLL your boat might not be as efficient as some other means…Keep working on the idea though try using a right angle gearbox being driven by a floating paddle wheel ..or perhaps a flexible driveshaft underneath the boat with a helix coil driving an inboard alternator. Regulation for all the voltage is as easy as pie… A couple of big caps and one transistor and 30 minutes and you can build a regulator for nearly any thing up to 200watts…Ever hear of the 12v Light bulb from the old days being used as a regulator? See didnt even need a cap for that one….Anyhow have a good day from the E…

Henry Dover answers:

A Perendev Magnetic Motor? As in a perpetual motion device? Where does this machine get its unlimited source of energy? I would look carefully into that question, because wiring it up to your house.
Anyways, I use to work for a company that installed back up Generac generators that ran off natural gas. What we did was install a seperate electrical box called an automatic transfer switch.
We then would remove the wires from the main electrical box and tire them into the new circuit breakers in the automatic transfer switch. The power from the electrical company was brought into the box from a large circuit breaker with wires that ran from the Main box to the automatic transfer switch. The wires then connected to the two individual legs (Two seperated copper strips) in the new box. The generator was also connected to the automatic transfer switch. Their was a host of wires that ran from the generator to the transfer switch. These included ground, power, neutral, and various sensor wires.
When power to the house was a cut it would trip a solenoid that would switch the new boxes power source from the now dead electrical companies over to the generator. You can buy one of the boxes from Generac or a dealer for $600 to $800. They have all different sizes. A very common one had the capacity of 12 kilowatts of power or 100 amps at 120 volts, which is MORE then enough to power almost any house house. Contact me if you want the name and number of the company that sells them.
You can switch the box manually as well from back up power to the electrical companies power. Their manuals have plans of how the box works for trouble shooting purposes.
Heres a very general sample here. Http://www.generac.com/Products/Information/HowItWorks.aspx