Why is everyone suddenly switching to solar power? A year ago,

Yes they're a meme but in certain areas they're heavily subsidized so you can get them for cheap, or free
As far as energy goes they're inefficient, dangerous to dispose of, and whether or not the government is paying for it, expensive

>>58457038
in my country we have solar panels for a decade, its usually for hot water tho.

>>58457063
It's not that expensive where I live + I'm getting half off, I think I should get em.
>>58457081
They've been around forever but it seems just now that everyone is getting them.

How much of a difference will it affect me energy bills?

>>58457081
Those aren't photovoltaic cells though, that's just focused sun-heated water
Usually much cheaper than electric solar panels

>muh environment
That's why

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>>58457063
>>58457133
>0.045 cents have been deposited in your checking account by the Koch Brothers

>>58457108
>how much of a difference will it affect my energy bills
Probably not a noticable amount at all, I'm sure your summer bills might be lower but really these things, even in 100% sun 365 days a year, do not produce even a fraction of the power used by a house
But I mean if it makes you feel good, and if it's really really cheap go for it (I don't know how much it is for you, in Kauai they're free for residents)

>>58457149
>prices below $1/watt
>the editor doesn't even know what fucking power is
My power bill is 12¢, per 1000 watts, running per hour by the way

>>58457150
>do not produce even a fraction of the power used by a house

What do you mean? Anything less would be a fraction of the whole. Do you have actual numbers to back that up?

>>58457149
This is from 2012. I live in Hawaii, one of the epicenter a of solar panel usage. In the 5 extra years that this article claims are all spent with 50%+ solar/fuel parity, Kauai is still more than half dependent on natural gas power generation.

Pugeot sound area is like a rainforest, no sunlight. Power is also under 10 cents per kilowatt hour so literally nobody here uses solar.

You couldn't keep a car battery charged even with meters of panels.

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Why don't we take all of panels installed on roofs in rainy shitholes like Seattle and push them over towards the southern desert where there's sun 20 hours a day, install them on rotating pivots so they face the sun, condense them into one area so we only need one power relay station, and send that power across the country?
Oh wait you can't post that on gofundme, solar roofs in Seattle it is then

>>58457235
And here on Oahu we still burn trash and fuel oil for power.

There are construction costs that HECO has to amortize, as well as the cost of grid maintenance, both of which provide incentives to resist rooftop solar. Add to that the lack of any organized grid energy storage, which means you still need a 1 to 1 fossil fuel backup for solar capacity.

Even if the amortized lifetime cost per kWh of PV solar plus storage dropped to half that of natural gas, some gas plants would remain operational because their construction was already paid for, making the marginal cost of gas the only point of comparison. We'll get there eventually (and not soon enough, 35 cents/kWh here is murder), but it's a gradual process.

Solar power is getting cheaper and more efficient. It is only recently a viable alternative in some situations.

There are usually tax cuts associated with installing solar panels too.

If you can get half-off then do it. Make sure to claim it in your taxes.

>>58457328
Oahu uses full power 24/7, Kauai is just full of old people and phillipinos, both of which go to bed early
But realistically nuclear is the best option here, I mean the locals are fine with having nukes at the ready on half the island, but a power plant in some canyon on the military side of Kauai is too scary?

>>58457327
Blows my fucking mind that morons buy solar roof panels in Seattle.

>>58457373
Nuclear is illegal at the state level, which as you point out is ridiculous in a state with the largest nuclear submarine base in the Pacific.

Hawaii in general just has an attitude of Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything (BANANA™), because "muh aina" and colonialism or whatever.

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>>58457467
The asians better come and knock some sense into the gub'mint

Hydrogen gas is the best fuel. All other are memes.

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>>58457544
And how are you gonna get that hydrogen?
Electrolysis?

>>58457038
I challenge your assertion that people are "all switching to solar power", which is clearly an attempt to leverage mob mentality and consensus-seeking to push people to buy solar shit

>>58457544
Yeah, it worked great for the Hindenburg.