Open Letter to Solar Venture Capitalists

Ponder these four realities when you consider a new solar technology:

1. Start your due diligence on a 10 year old roof.  It is an extremely hostile environment.  When I go up there just about the only thing I see that is still in good shape is corrosion-proof metal and glass.

2. Does anyone remember TV antenna and sattelite dish rotators?  How long did that mechanism last?

3. High efficiency wins except where space is virtually unlimited.  Roof space is generally not sufficient to meet a building's load for any structure over one story high.

4. Customers don't buy solar cells -- so it doesn't matter what they cost per watt.  The only things that matters to the customer are the total installed cost per watt of the entire *system* and lifecycle energy output.

Comments

[Jonathan]

Very good!

[Jim]

Actually, space is virtually unlimited. The sun is the source of virtually all power on this planet and indeed in this solar system.

And our 30 days of stored solar in the form of gas, coal, and oil are almost over.

The future belongs only to solar and it's derivatives (wind, tidal, and to some small extent geothermal).

[billygoat]

Excellent points!! Yes, it seems some of the same folks who threw money at dotbombs like socks.com (or the sock-puppet of pets.com) are rushing into some new, unproven solar (vapor?) tech.

Do the analysis! Finish the WHOLE equation folks!

The herd rumbles on... at least it's towards something more profound and important that figuring out how to best sell toenail clippers over the Web.

Also - re: "Actually, space is virtually unlimited. The sun is the source of virtually all power on this planet and indeed in this solar system."

I think Spicy Solar Guy was referring to challenges of limited rooftop real estate (roofspace) - not the potential of energy in space or from the sun. The load (electrical usage) vs. available roofspace vs. current cell conversion efficiencies is the challenge.

And, not to be too much of a pinhead, quite a bit of energy in our solar system comes from the planetary bodies - gravity, interal geologic energy, etc.

But, yes, on Earth much of the power IS solar energy - sunlight, wind, wave/some tidal, etc.

It's a shame it has taken us this long to dedicate ourselves to elegant (and sustainable!) energy solutions that FLOW with Nature instead of FIGHTING Nature.

[Michael]

RE: "Shame it's taken us this long...to sustainable energy."

On the upside, look at how much time we have to make the conversion to solar...immeasurable! (Okay, it's millions of years.) The sun isn't going away anytime soon.

Don't wait another day!

[Chris]

the first one is very important - expect to have the solar system last 20 to 30+ years - it's the connection to the roof that will go first. Code compliant mounting on a ten year old roof is imperative or the liability falls on the installtion contractor! The only mounting system we have found that works is the "Quick Mount" put out by Quick Rack PV - all aluminum for no corrosion - great in all climates. Super quick and easy to install and meets NRCA standards so you don't void the roofing waranty. Our installation crew loves it! It is IBC code compliant so we don't cary any negligence for future leaks and sleep better at night.

[Steve]

We'll see if this one gets posted.... While solar stocks are an excellent long-term investment, I question the wisdom of investors who are currently stampeding to buy First Solar (FSLR) at prices approaching 400% of 6 months ago. It appears to me that First Solar's panels are too inefficient to ever become a viable residential product. I have a 6 KW system (nice job, Akeena) consisting of 28 SunPower panels. Those used up all the good sun locations on my rooftop. I believe that to get the same 6 KW from First Solar would require about 75 of their panels. I would need to buy one or two additional houses just to hold the panels! Maybe the investors think the primary market for solar will be power plants, but I doubt that. I think the appeal of solar is the ability to provide small, independent residential installations (just like we Americans like to commute alone in our cars -- independence). So I'm more inclined to buy SunPower stock.