[jtjtjtjt]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

And as much as I'd like to install it anyway, just to generate my own power, I cannot justify spending $25K just to be the greenest guy on my block. Eventually, costs will come down to the point where it will make sense.

There is a certain smugness you get from being green. I have it from 8 years of driving a Prius.

Which brings me to a little business idea I have. Fake Solar Panels. Our motto is "All the smugness at one tenth the cost!". The business would probably do better in L.A. than in Vegas.

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

... Eventually, costs will come down to the point where it will make sense.

What is your current guess for when it makes financial sense? 2020? 2025? 2030?

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by jtjtjtjt

There is a certain smugness you get from being green. I have it from 8 years of driving a Prius...

Maybe you know the answer to this. I tried to find out from Toyota, but I didn't get anywhere.

Currently, when I park my 12 mgp SUV at Whole Foods, I'm surrounded by Priuses, all of which are identical with the same Obama '12 bumper sticker. I've thought about trading in the Excursion on a Prius, but I'm worried I wouldn't be able to find it in the parking lot.

So I had an idea. If I buy a Prius, I would put a Mitt '12 bumper sticker on it so that way I could find my Prius in the sea of Priuses with Obama bumper stickers in the Whole Foods parking lot.

So my question to Toyota was, "If I put an Republican bumper sticker on a new Prius, does it void the warranty?"

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by jtjtjtjt

There is a certain smugness you get from being green. I have it from 8 years of driving a Prius.

Which brings me to a little business idea I have. Fake Solar Panels. Our motto is "All the smugness at one tenth the cost!". The business would probably do better in L.A. than in Vegas.

I completely agree. I also think it would probably actually work -- so long as it included a "for show" meter that spins backward.

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

What is your current guess for when it makes financial sense? 2020? 2025? 2030?

I'd guess around 2020. PV technology is leaping at the same pace that computers did during the 1980s. They should quadruple in efficiency and quarter in price over the next few years. I will very likely install them on my next house.

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by jtjtjtjt

There is a certain smugness you get from being green. I have it from 8 years of driving a Prius.

[jtjtjtjt]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

Maybe you know the answer to this. I tried to find out from Toyota, but I didn't get anywhere.

Currently, when I park my 12 mgp SUV at Whole Foods, I'm surrounded by Priuses, all of which are identical with the same Obama '12 bumper sticker. I've thought about trading in the Excursion on a Prius, but I'm worried I wouldn't be able to find it in the parking lot.

So I had an idea. If I buy a Prius, I would put a Mitt '12 bumper sticker on it so that way I could find my Prius in the sea of Priuses with Obama bumper stickers in the Whole Foods parking lot.

So my question to Toyota was, "If I put an Republican bumper sticker on a new Prius, does it void the warranty?"

If it is a Rand Paul sticker, it does not void the warranty, any other Republican voids it.

[BBMW]

PV technology has not demonstrated that level of improvement to date (nothing like Moore's Law.) I don't know why you think it will in the future. The mainstream stuff seems to be stuck at the 20-25% level, and not likely to get better. There is stuff that is 40%-ish efficient, but it's hideously expensive (It's what they use for satellites), and not looking like it's getting any cheaper.

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

I'd guess around 2020. PV technology is leaping at the same pace that computers did during the 1980s. They should quadruple in efficiency and quarter in price over the next few years. I will very likely install them on my next house.

[ddrhazy]

Originally Posted by BBMW

PV technology has not demonstrated that level of improvement to date (nothing like Moore's Law.) I don't know why you think it will in the future. The mainstream stuff seems to be stuck at the 20-25% level, and not likely to get better. There is stuff that is 40%-ish efficient, but it's hideously expensive (It's what they use for satellites), and not looking like it's getting any cheaper.

It's efficiency may not be progressing but cost to produce should be getting cheaper.

[C_A_Braun]

Originally Posted by BBMW

PV technology has not demonstrated that level of improvement to date (nothing like Moore's Law.) I don't know why you think it will in the future. The mainstream stuff seems to be stuck at the 20-25% level, and not likely to get better. There is stuff that is 40%-ish efficient, but it's hideously expensive (It's what they use for satellites), and not looking like it's getting any cheaper.

So a common figure I have seen around for PV panels in 2000 was 11% efficiency. So if according to your post we are now at 22.5% efficiency, that is an increase of over 100% in 14 years. Sure not Moore's law type numbers but I dont see why residential PV solar panel efficiency would not double again over the next 14 years as it has in the past 14. Probably faster IMO. And yes the price per KwH is WAY down from what it was in 2000 vs to today.

[ScoopLV]

And I've read stories about a next generation of PV that's up to 35%. It's not the speed of Moore's law... yet. I have a feeling that people realize on a gut level that this is something we should be focusing on.

The smug eco-warrior mindset isn't going to drive this technology forward. It's the "my meter spins backward" aspect that is going to do it.