Comments on: Why no one has Solar Power

By: Larry

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 17:15:02 +0000

I read this article about two years ago and bookmarked it for future reference. The author’s experiences are very similar to my own. I tried to sell solar and wind in the Texas panhandle where we have plenty of both, and for several years I lived in a house that was powered over 99% with solar (proof that it can work). Although I’ve been the #1 best salesman for a lot of products, I couldn’t sell even one PV panel.

I suspect that most of the problem is that the general public simply does not know enough about electricity to form a rational idea of how solar power works. People do not understand voltage, amps, and watts, and the lack of understanding makes it difficult to sell a product whose sole purpose is to produce voltage, amps, and watts.

If at a future date the public schools were to teach basic electrical theory to all students, perhaps then we might find a public sufficiently knowledgeable of electricity to realize the value of solar power.

By: solar power cost

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 19:03:28 +0000

I agree with the grass is always “greener” on the other side aspect of your article. People really want to see PV technology on other residences before they’ll consider it.

This is why we’ll be seeing a large increase every year from the previous as more people install PV systems, neighbors will be seeing these and start asking questions.

This is especially true with Solar Shingles.

By: tony

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:58:36 +0000

LOL,

I am doingthe same excact thing here in Denver – I decided to change careers and sell solar power to commercial property owners.

It takes a very long time for the property owner to make up thier mind. It is very frustrating.

BTW – In our direct mail advertising (which I think is good) we are getting a 1% response rate.

By: Spec

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:02:12 +0000

Well . . . California does NOT have a real juicy rebate right now. It is a mere $1.90 per watt for where I live. That will pay for around 1/4 of the installation I was looking at . . . and that is a self-install. (Around $7000 rebate for a system that may cost around $27,000 total. :-/

By: grd

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:50:21 +0000

So the city, state, and federal tax payers kick-in over $21,000 so a super “nice” and (and super rich) man can have cheap power for his rental property? Nice deal for Loren. Too bad the tax payers don’t get to decide how to spend our own money!

By: David Llorens

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 22:27:18 +0000

It’s more expensive to do solar in San Francisco than Pennsylvania. Labor and building codes mostly. We are competitively priced here. It’s probably not $2/watt more expensive though… We build in a margin that allows us to take care of our customers for a long, long time. Our warranty is incredible and the system is built to last. For example, we throw away the connector that comes with Sun Power panel to use a more robust one. We eliminate a lot of different metal on metal connections that cause electrolysis and corrosion, and we spend some extra money to do this. Our highly trained, in house crew costs some more, but if you got people up there drilling holes in your roof you want to make sure they know what they’re doing.

By: Catherine Neil

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 22:08:16 +0000

Your prices per watt are almost $2/watt more than we charge and we make a good living selling Sunpower.Think about how you can reduce your overhead or get the job done faster.

By: Renewable energy as an investment | Sun Volt Solar Blog

Renewable energy as an investment | Sun Volt Solar Blog — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:54:31 +0000

[...] at the Solar Power Rocks blog, pointed out that for every $1.00 saved in annual energy costs, the value of a property increased [...]

By: Moving Like Water » Solar power adoption — seeing is believing

Moving Like Water » Solar power adoption — seeing is believing — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:35:44 +0000

[...] the most interesting and thoughtful posts about home-based solar power adoption, David Llorens from Solar Power Rocks discusses resistance to installation of a solar power [...]

By: James Thomas

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 06:10:42 +0000

Going back to I mentioned in my post about energy coops, I just stumbled upon this article on Renewable Access’s website about a 50KW system installed installed on an apartment coop in New York.
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/partner/story;jsessionid=F822B69A5A784D529D7A9DB195A8BD13?id=51280&src=rss