Solar Panels. Are they a scam or are they the future?
Somewhere inbetween, although they are extremely polluting and biofuels are better.
Mine paid themselves off in 2 years.
>>521031494How? They don't work at night or when it's cloudy.Solar generates energy when people need it the least but generates nothing when people need it most.
>>521031754It's called a battery anonand depending on the setup you can also be paid for energy your setup gives back to the grid
>>521031856Batteries cost $14k and only last 5 years before they need replacing. Not to mention the massive fire risk.
>>521031414>Are they a scam or are they the future?They're a pretty useful technology for cheap off grid power generation. On grid, they're a meme
>>521031414Both. They're functional now, if you've got the cash to deal with the replacement schedule. It's really another planned obsolescence grift with how the batteries are. Not a great idea for poors, but maybe one day after a bunch of certain individuals hang.
>>521031754I neet during the day, also batteries are not that expensive
>>521031414I wouldn't put that shit on my roof. You get holes in your roof, need to keep them clean, need to replace panels as they fail, When you need a new roof you have to remove them first then put new holes in your roof to reinstall your now old shitty panels.
>>521031414Current solar cells are a scam.But the next generation will be thin and flexible, have a wide range of uses, and be cheaper, making them effective.
In the US it's the weirdest thing. All these "solar" companies that spam their ads are nothing but financial middlemen that sell you LOANS. The costs of equipment itself and installations are hidden and marked up like 5x compared to other countries.I think the only reasonably priced way is to go full DIY. However, this need a lot of research, and it's a major project.
yeah nah
I will never have solar panels on my roof
>>521031414Depends on where you live and what you want to do with them. As an investment, if you don't live in a place that is good for solar farming, you will NOT make your money back. However, this might be ok if you want to be off-grid for example. To use solar you also need expensive as fuck batteries, that also only work for like 10 years max (5 on average). And your panels themselves degrade over time, losing capability over time. You can avoid batteries with integrating with the power company line, that gets you night time power while the panels generate your need during the day. You could also overspec and send power back to the grid for pennies compared to the quarter dollar plus you pay them. You WILL NOT SAVE MONEY. This is the main problem with most of these setups - that is why government subsidized them. Compared to a power line you will not save money. CA may be only exception since they are so fucking expensive and they up the electricity price to force you into solar setups. Curious? Get a cheap panel and battery combo from Amazon for travel (like a few hundos). You will see exactly how shit things really are (or if it works for you). >>521033217You can't DIY if you aren't off grid. On grid you MUST deal with the government Jew and pay fees and pay Jew goy to do it for you. You can absolutely off grid though.
>>521031414They are cost effective vs. good ol' coal and gas and whatever only when the government funds the fuck out of them and when you're in a super sunny area.If you have to do a survival project solar makes a lot of sense. You pay a major premium for them, but in a pinch can work to help power most of your home most of the time in most of the country when paired with a battery. It's cheaper to have a generator, but the difficulty of refueling is too much for long-term situations.Same thing with gas cars vs. EV. Gas are better generally, better fleeing if SHTF, but long term if supply chains break down EVs, which you can trickle charge in any way you make power would be better for driving 6 months-12 months after everything collapses.>>521031856>>521032073right batteries are a luxury good
>>521031754Ausfag lives in a good area for solar generation. If you are a southerner, solar panels are pretty dang good. If you are anywhere north, don't fucking bother. Snow, rain, clouds, all of that means the panels are USELESS.
>>521031414Scam.
>>521031414you've got a roof there doing nothing, put panels on it and get free electricity, or dont. who gives a shit.
Scam lol. The world is running out of the materials to make them and their batteries at a lightning pace, and they need to be constantly replaced. Least renewable renewable energy ever.
>>521034289What an excellent argument...Anyway, you can tell they have some value because most live aboard boats have them, and also that they are never sufficient because they also need to draw power from the engine for electricity.
>>521031414> Solar Panels. Are they a scam or are they the future?If you are paying the full actual costs of installing, manufacturing, components, material mining, disposal, and all the mining related ecological cleanups, they are a complete and total scam that will never generate enough electricity to cover the actual costs.If on the other hand, the CCP in China is more than happy to subsidize the cost of manufacturing, mining, and pollute the shit out of their country, this lowers the consumer cost.Tack on our ridiculous governments in the west further subsidizing the purchase and installation prices with taxpayer dollars, then the end consumer costs are more than covered by their electricity output.> I have a degree in electronics, they really haven’t improved much in the core performance metrics in over 20 years
>>521031414They look terrible. Get solar shingles
>>521031414why are you fags talking about solar when you could be talking about stopping oligarchs from blocking rail projects like they've been doing my whole life
>>521031754Mine still work when it's cloudy, not as good, but enough to run a fridge.
>>521033217Thats unironically killing the solar industry, banks trying to sell it at 10x the cost. I just do DIY stuff and it costs less than maybe 500 dollars for a small set up to run my laptop on.
>>521031414They're a scam with benefits. If the grid goes out where you are, you can still have power while the grid gets repaired.The amount of energy that goes into manufacturing them, and the toxic waste created by their production, almost certainly won't ever be offset by the amount of energy they produce for you, but that's ok if it means you still have refrigeration after a hurricane cuts power to your place for a week.
