What will your childern do?

[olboatman]

Gary, up your way does the local power authority offer purchase agreements,contracts for low cap residential systems? Unless they do or your customers are doing it as a fashion statement the rewards are very limited on an annual number. So take a $100k system that doesn't make the numbers and and a $100k car for that system and that's a quite the investment to feel good. The numbers are better in the sunbelt.

There is still a great tax incentive for built in systems (not removable) and most of my customers will never sell their water front homes as they would only be going backwards! Homes with the lake to the south also get increased solar intensity from the waters refraction. We can buy our electricty from different co.s and I just changed to a 2 yr contract that will save me 25% ( not the delivery only the actual kw used). When the cost of of solar panels are added to their mortgage they really won't feel the actual cost. I have seen this with my hybrid heating/cooling systems , sprayed foam insulation and insulated window shades( up to 20 K in a house with 54 windows). My homes are way beyond Energy Star rated ( that is my major sales point!) Happy New Year !!!!!! Gary

[FMP]

Yes Happy New Year. If you install a system water front or wherever the cost outlay is not an insignificant amount. Look at it this way, if you are able to get a 20 year power purchase agreement for the power that is produced and feed into your local distribution system then it can work. The paid amount for power produced can give you a payback in 5-8 years depending on what you get per kwh on a production system not including any storage cost and what your area receives as an avg daily amount. Lake intensity/proximity is not really going to help any, panels are aimed at the sky, even ground mount trackers. So the rest of the 20 year agreement after you get your money back is profit that is taxable. The power you use day to day is still metered and a bill is sent. If you are heating with electric , the amount you use in the fall , winter spring, can/will overshoot the production. If you use storage, you'll need enough capacity to store a good amount of the daytime production, this amount then is not used for the purchase agreement. So if you use 80-100khw(winter)a day in heat and hot water and cooking the system capacity needed will increase your cost of install if you plan to try to keep up. So if you install a 10kW system depending on quality etc $30-45k. What do do with the power when your not using it if you don't have a long term purchase agreement? Its going to take a lot of storage and then a high load to use that storage so capacity is available the next time the sun shines.

[FMP]

Amazon 374.00 works great, but someone has to set it up��

NE with the td.

[CUDA]

It will happen , not in my life time (I'm 62) but in 20 to 30 years your children's will face the change .

My Grandfather at the turn of the 19th century had to ride his horse a buggy into downtown Buffalo to get goods for his general store , do you think he could believe what is going on

today, NO way .

[FMP]

Well, one day we might be back to horse and buggy when it's all said and done.

[poncho]

My great grand mother came to live with my family when I was five in 1977. She was born in 1900. Canada is a fairly young country, it became a country from a British colony in 1867. What people forget, including Canadians, Canada is still a constitutional monarchy and not a Republic like the US. The Queen of England is still the Queen of Canada. The only thing that has changed since 1867, is Canadian parliament mainly via the prime minister, well they control the crown powers and decide how and when they are used. Starting around grade one, we got some social studies and taught some of our British influenced traditions. Like back in 1978 they still opened school with the Lords Prayer, etc. Apart for learning about Canada and life in the colonial days. Shows like Little House On The Prairie and old 1950's and 1960's western TV show runs also popular. Like Bonanza, etc. Net Id pester my grand mother for tales of living in the olden days. Now that I'm old, it amazes me that she lived during WWI and WWII. Not only that her parents kids during or shortly after the American civil war!

I'm a fan of anything that moves and can be driven by us. What most people don't realize back in the 1900's until the 1920's, electric cars outsold gas cars by a wide margin. Most early buses in those days, hybrids diesel/electric. Electrics had two drawbacks then, range and refueling length. The main reason they outsold fossil fuel vehicles was gas wasn't widely available and you had to hand crank the engine to start it. Gas began to be more popular with racers and the general public that travelled distances. When gas became more available, mainly due to farmers needs. And the electric starter motor came about. Gas began to out sell electric with the masses.


I'm not a big fan of electrics. Takes too long to recharge them and they lack range. But the biggest reason is driveability. Sure a Tesla is insane from stop to top end. 0to60 and quarter mile times impressive. But from 30 to 100, they are actually pretty slow!

Most of my electricity here in BC and my place in WA (lowest in the US for power rates) it mostly hydro electric power generation. Since its powered by natural river currents, its very cheap to operate and generate electricity. On average my power bills are pretty low. It gets cold here, but just below freezing or a few degrees above on average. Doesn't take much to keep the house warm. Same deal in WA. Heck my commercial rate is less per year then most residential areas in other areas per month. It would be a waste of money to go solar here. Besides rates being cheap, its cloudy most of the time here. My residential rate is under 3cents per kw hour! 2.7 cents or something.

[CUDA]

What you say about the Tesla is wrong how do you do the 1/4 mile in 10.7 at 125mph the fastest production car in the world ... and you call it s l o w ?

Tesla is dropping the time it takes to charge all the time , at a supercharge station it take 30 min. my brother will have his 2017 Ludicrous model within two weeks 0 - 60 2.5 sec. is slow ? tell me WHAT is faster ?


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...falls-to-solar


You do know those 100 plus car trains are powered by electric motors, the diesels just make the electric .

[powerabout]

Top Gear in OZ has a one lap race around a course with Telsa, a GMH commodore SS ( 6ltr ls) and a v8 touring car ( 630 ish HP) standing start, the journalist in the telsa left the 2 race car drivers for dead.
Touring car guy said I was gaining at about 165mph and up, needed longer straight...
Imagine a v12 made from 2 F1/S3000 Mercs in a car...

[FMP]

Fisker, 400mile range, sub 3sec to 60, 161+mph top speed.

[powerabout]

I can see the future headlines
USCG rescues boat due to overcast day
( flat batterys)

[FMP]

The test I saw had the Fisker with a higher top end than the Tesla, plus the range.

[FMP]

I can see the future headlines
USCG rescues boat due to overcast day
( flat batterys)

http://henrikfisker.org/products/yacht/

[poncho]

Yes its insanely fast from zero to top speed. But if moving at say 30mph and you floor it, the power curve makes it pretty slow. Due to drive train, gearing, etc.. From zero as in stopped. The power is on full. To get into that full power band while moving is another story. On a track, its a total slow poke.