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Non-Tech : Alternative energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stan who wrote (4713)	4/30/2008 1:52:53 PM
From: Feraldo	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 16955

I'm making an Excel sheet that should figure out when this is all paid off. So here are the variables I have come up with so far. Can anybody think of any others I need? Current cost per kwh electric Interest rate (assuming borrowing money) Down payment Electric cost inflation KWH used per month Avg sun hrs/day Watts per panel # of panels cost per panel Cost of grid tie kit Installation fees (what my friend and I would charge to install) Square meters of panel The idea is to see how long it would take to pay off the solar panels and have the customer make money on their investment. feraldo

To: Stan who wrote (4713)	5/1/2008 12:34:49 PM
From: Eric	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16955

Stan Your Si based panels will degrade less than what Sharp and the others concervatively say they will. I have a 2KW array of Solerex panels that were installed on my house in 1990. Last summer I did some careful measurments of their output. They are producing at over 91% of nameplate capacity. Solerex was bought by BP in 2001 if I remember correctly when BP decided to get into the solar game. Good Si based panels degrade slower after a few years. My guess based on experience with other systems is a degration rate of about 0.3% (per year) after about 4 years of exposure.