Q:My family and I are looking into solar panels for our home. But I'm unsure how it would be priced. This month our home used ,623 kwh. The solar panel company said we should expect $6-$9 per watt used. What would that put as at?

I don't know how they calculate out the savings, but ask your local supplier. The expensive part of heating hot water is the initial starting of the warming of the cold water, but this is where solar panels come to play a very good role in preheating home hot water cylinders. Sometimes the water coming from the solar panels is hotter than what the hot-water cylinder thermostat is set for this is one way you save money Another equally expense of heating hot-water is when the element thermostat keeps the temperature up to the desired setting of the thermostat. Where as having a solar panel or two the hot water cylinder is only a storage container to store the hot water in! A great invention in my book! The initial costs are buying these units having them installed, but over time you will start saving money on your heating hot water costs, where you will be able to waste a bit of hot water and not worry about the costs going to waste or down the drain... I suppose you know all of this, but I'm sorry, I can't convert your conversion question, best ask the supplier to put everything in layman's terms so you can understand it better more clearly! Cheers!!

Q:Can solar panels be used in space?

Yes, solar panels can be used in space. In fact, they are extensively used in space missions to generate electricity from sunlight, as there is no atmosphere to block or scatter the sunlight in space. The International Space Station and various satellites rely on solar panels to power their systems and equipment.

Q:Can solar panels be used for powering agricultural irrigation systems?

Yes, solar panels can be used to power agricultural irrigation systems. Solar energy can be converted into electricity through photovoltaic cells, which can then be used to power irrigation pumps and other equipment needed for agricultural irrigation. This offers a sustainable and cost-effective solution for powering irrigation systems, especially in remote agricultural areas where access to electricity may be limited.

Q:Can solar panels be installed on waste treatment plants?

Yes, solar panels can be installed on waste treatment plants. In fact, waste treatment plants provide ample space and suitable infrastructure for the installation of solar panels. This can help offset the electricity consumption of the plant and reduce its carbon footprint, making it a sustainable and environmentally friendly option. Additionally, solar panels can contribute to cost savings by generating clean energy on-site.

Q:I'm looking to mount a solar panel to the top of my 2003 Pontiac Montana and was wondering how i could do it without any screws? Magnets maybe?

What mark said about shade is true, but take into account that the solar panel will absorb most of that heat. That is how they work they absorb the energy (heat) from the sun and transfer it into useable power.

Q:How do solar panels affect the overall energy security of a building?

Solar panels can greatly enhance the overall energy security of a building. By harnessing the sun's energy, solar panels provide a reliable and renewable source of electricity. This reduces dependence on traditional fossil fuels and the associated risks of price fluctuations, supply disruptions, and geopolitical tensions. With solar panels, buildings can generate their own clean energy, ensuring a more stable and self-sufficient power supply, which ultimately contributes to a stronger energy security profile.

Q:why don't we take a cue from mother nature and make our soar panels like trees? thousands of leaves or needle (like a pine tree) instead of one big flat panel? I mean it seems to work pretty good for all the plants i see why would it not work for us. It would be aesthetically pleasing and with the right engineering wouldn't it make them not have to worry about tracking the sun? i already have some ideas about the process of making them just no available labratory.

Because we and the trees are trying to solve a different problem. We want electricity, a tree wants light (and some heat) for photosynthesis. In getting the electricity we use Silicon for solar panels. (Sometimes Gallium Arsenide). And we exploit the same thing in Silicon that allows them to be computer chips. The fact that they conduct differently when voltage is applied. But for a solar panel that is done essentially in reverse. We GET a voltage difference (electricity) from shoving energy through it. Look up junction bias on google or yahoo for explanation. But the DESIGN problem is: You have to couple these panels together the right way - according to their bias. You can't string them up willy nilly. There is a pattern. And when one breaks in this pattern. (I mean when the actual panel cracks, which they do easily as they are brittle). It can change the overall bias. This can make even be worse than if it was removed, it can actually fight against the working ones. The efficiency is there in arranging them like a tree, but the practicality of maintenance would be daunting.

Q:can this amount of solar charge these batteries.

Wow I think that your battery are too big or in othercase your solar system panels are too small. But making some calcs if you connect your panels in parallel you will have 30 Amps of Recharge for your batteries. Assuming that your batteries are discharged to .75 V/C you will need at least (. x Ah removed)/Recharge Amps = (. x 550Ah)/30A, that means that you will need 20 Hours to recharge your batteries Literally this is imposible to have fully charged your batteries for a proper application you will need 65 Amps from your panels to recharge your batts in 4 hours or de-rate your batteries to 00 Ah

Q:Me and my wife just saw an ad on TV about going solar and saw the money we can save every month... any here have solar panels? How much do you save every month on energy bill? Is it true that your energy meter will spin backwards? lol

Yes, it can save money, but really depends on your individual situation. There are three main factors - how much sun you get, how much electricity you use, and how much electricity costs locally. We have solar, and the meter does spin backwards. Actually, it's a digital meter, so it counts down instead of up. The system covers essentially all our electrical usage over the year, and our electric bill is about $5 a month, because of minimum charges by the electric company. That shouldn't be used as a comparison to your situation, though, since every house is different.

Q:I am curious about how much of the energy that a solar panel of a given size and capacity will produce in it's lifetime, and what fraction of that energy was required to produce it in the first place?

The attached link is to an article from the 200 Home Power magazine. In that article the energy payback was found to be between 2 and 4 years. Newer panels are more efficient primarily because the silicon wafers used today are thinner. The silicon cell embodies most of the energy required to make a solar panel. Today most solar panels will produce the amount of energy required to manufacture them in between about 9 months and 2 years depending upon the specific technology used to make it. Solar panels are expected to produce energy for between 30 and 50 years. Therefore it takes around 5% of their total energy production to produce them. Note that these figures depend upon where the panels are installed. Panels in very sunny areas may generate more than 3 times the energy of panels in a cloudier area. Edit - The energy payback meta-study that carbonates references below mention one particular study Alsema (2000), which the authors used as a baseline to come up with their 4 year payback figure. These studies DO NOT assume ideal conditions. The Alsema study assumes an annual an irradiation of 700 kWh/m2/yr. That is the United States average irradiation and does take into account cloudy weather and the like. Under idea conditions the amount of energy collected can be almost twice as much. Albuquerque New Mexico is an example. The figures I mentioned above are recent values reported by several different panel manufacturers with whom I discussed the issue at the 2006 IEEE 4th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion held this May. The very long payback times that carbonate highlights are almost certainly wrong. The study he references concludes that paybacks range between 2 and 8 years with 4 years being the most likely. In my opinion payback times are actually a fair bit shorter based on conversations with the manufacturers.