Comments on: Solar power

By: camberwellguy

camberwellguy — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:04:13 +0000

Hi sir, this is Chris!

By: Solar stickers « Mr Wever’s Blog

Solar stickers « Mr Wever’s Blog — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:47:07 +0000

[...] of the low-profile design is a trade-off in efficiency. As yesterday’s post on the solar lilies showed, a panel needs to be able to follow the path of the sun through the sky during a day if it [...]

By: wever

wever — Tue, 13 May 2008 09:07:17 +0000

Thanks for the feedback, Jim. Clearly the major limitation is one of cost when people want to make an effort on their own. I’m a strong advocate of making the move yourself; I’ll have to hunt around and find the story on bulk community purchases. From memory, it was a small import company coordinating the purchases through community organisations like primary (‘elementary’ in the US) schools.

By: nearlynothingbutnovels

nearlynothingbutnovels — Tue, 13 May 2008 02:52:25 +0000

Thanks for your post about my recent article on solar and wind power available to residential customers today! Here is the response I posted on my own blog:

Thanks for the feedback. It is nice to hear that Melbourne is doing such a good job of organizing the use of sustainable energy.

I’m not claiming that there is anything fancy here- quite the opposite. I have had so many requests for information about “what to do” if one wants to implement solar power (or wind power) that I wanted to provide real, off the shelf examples. Often when I write about the latest technologies, somebody complains that they aren’t ready for the market yet (which is, of course, true- that is the nature of the cutting edge). This particular post counters those complaints with real hardware.

Also, in the US, the tax situation varies dramatically from State to State, and the site GoGreenSolar.com – #1 online destination for solar panels & wind power- allows people to find out what tax breaks are available to specific zip codes (post codes), and to locate installers who will compete for business in any post code. Believe it or not, some places in the US don’t have tax breaks, while others have substantial tax relief, for sustainable energy.

So, you are spot on: this is meat and potatoes sustainable energy equipment that is ready for use in people’s homes, now.

It looks like many places could learn from Melbourne.

My mother (who is Australian) and my sister are in Brisbane at the moment. Would that I were (down) there!

I look forward to following your blog. Best wishes, Jim