Solar-Power System Is Easy to Install, and Therefore Much Cheaper

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/532731/solar-power-system-is-easy-to-install-and-therefore-much-cheaper/

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Solar-Power System Is Easy to Install, and Therefore Much Cheaper[/font]

[font size=4]A new solar power system is easy to add to a roof, and performs its own safety checks.[/font]

By Kevin Bullis on November 20, 2014

[font size=3]Ordinarily, installing and connecting a new array of rooftop solar panels takes days, weeks, or even months because the hardware is complex and various permits are needed. Yesterday, on a frigid day in Charlestown, Massachusetts, researchers completed the process in about an hour.

Homeowners can install the system themselves, by gluing it to a rooftop. The permitting is handled by a combination of electronic sensors and software that communicates with local jurisdictions and utilities.

Installation and permit-related expenses currently account for more than half of the overall cost of a new solar power setup. “By simplifying the system so that it’s like installing an appliance, we envision that the soft cost will be virtually eliminated,” says Christian Hoepfner, director of the Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, which developed the system. Doing so would lower the cost of a typical residential solar installation from $22,000 to as little as $7,500, he says.

“It’s impressive to see how quickly the installation went up,” Fouad Dagher, manager of new products and services at the utility National Grid, said after the demonstration. “It makes it easier for consumers and utilities.”

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[Warpy]

1. Interesting, I hope it's available here soon

Current installations have about a 20 year payback on my miserly electricity use.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

2. when we installed ours, Calif. paid for half. The rest was paid off in 7 years.

One year our pump had a short and we had to pay some, but under 5 dollars a month to pay the meter reading is usually all we pay. It had been around $100/month before.

[dumbcat]

4. Pump?

Are you speaking of a solar hot water system (with the pump) or a solar electric system, or both? Not sure where a pump would fit into a solar electric system.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

5. Water pump, to get water from spring holding tank to above the house tank.

We have a grid tie, and try to not use elect. during the high rate, so have the water pump and freezer on timers. Need to check them and adjust when power is out due to storms and such. We used to have a solar hot water system, but the solar collector was damaged in a freeze several years back, but no pump, the holding tank was above the solar collector.

[dumbcat]

6. Ah, OK, I got it

I was just wondering what a pump had to do with a solar electric system.

Pretty good idea about the water pump and freezer on a timer for the low rate kWh. That's good thinking. I'll file that one away if you don't mind.

[pscot]

3. K&R