On Aug 1, 2007, at 12:38 PM, Jones Beene wrote:
Horace
First Solar is shipping product from factories in the US, Asia,
and Germany. Their projections are very real numbers.
Then solarbuzz must have included them in the survey, right?
or ... Can you get a firm quote on *current* prices -- which
Solarbuzz presumably has missed ?
Apples and apples! Solar Sterling Products prices are future
estimates, and they are the manufacturers cost not retail prices.
Their current prices out out of this world due to volume. They are
not close to producing at $2 a watt today.
BTW Infinia's Corp - Solar Stirling Products "for the home" will be
available "soon now" and they are potentially installable without
professional help. I didn't try to save money on shingles by doing
roofing, and am not going on the roof for solar either, but I can
set a post in concrete.
http://www.infiniacorp.com/applications/clean_energy.htm
I see they have drawings of round pedestal and tripod models too.
- and these are not exactly eyesores either ... "attractive works
of art that produce clean electricity," according to them.
Riiiight. Depends on who's hype do you want to believe...
Yes. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If I had one in the back
yard making me money I'd think it was a work of art, but my neighbors
might not agree. 8^) Gee, I wonder if it could double as a radio
telescope at night ...
With a net system efficiency of over 24% "Infinia's generators will
produce up to twice as many kilowatt-hours of electricity than
similarly-sized PV systems."
This is a very important point. Can it be disputed? I cannot find
any refutation of it. Tracking the sun does that for you.
I have to wonder if that counts the footprint or just the device.
They have to be spaced apart to avoid shadows.
This would indicate that to match the "net energy" from a 3 kW
Stirling will require a 6 kW PV system. That is, if one wishes to
compare apples-to-apples... and with much less installation cost,
well I know where my sentiments are leaning now.
Needless to say... if the self-appointed experts
You don't have to be an expert to quote facts. 8^)
and Vortician commentators cannot agree (or even come close), then
it should be an interesting sales contest next year and beyond
when nanoPV mets Stirling ...
I'm not sure who nanoPV is. I assume you mean Nanosolar. First Solar
is the one to compare I think. However, I bet they don't drop the
prices unless the competition gets a lot stiffer than it is. Demand
is high. First Solar and similar companies are going to clean up
profit wise. I hope they all clean up, including Solar Sterling
Products.
Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
