h a l f b a k e r yWhy not imagine it in a way that works?
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Ok, Im being a little cynical, but i think there is a real product
here. I worked for a solar company for a couple years and you
would be amazed at the number of people that want the
panels to be put on the north side of their business/ house so
people can see them.
They do make fake triangle
shaped ones for making arrays
look pretty, but why not take it a step further and build them
a full fake array. That way the installers can actually point the
real ones south. Everybody wins :-)
[link]
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There are one or two people in the southern hemisphere too, you know. |
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Out of interest, did you ever actually install panels on the north, or were you able to talk them out of it? I guess that they would be worse than useless - the net energy harvested over the panels' lifetime could easily be less than the energy invested in manufacture and installation. |
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You will be a rich man, indeed. [+] |
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Good point spidermother, I have only installed
panels in the US. |
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Fortunately the company I worked for was ethical
enough to refuse putting them on the north side.
We lost a couple customers over it. Our
competitors gladly installed them though. I did
install a lot of panels under eaves and in places
that are shaded year round though; per customer
request. |
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@ 21Quest- in the northern hemisphere* the most efficient configuration for a grid tied solar system
is due south at about 10degrees less than your latitude(seasonal compensation). Panels in Idaho
work best well at 30 degrees. Mechanical tracker
units never pay for themselves, and who needs
the maintenance. |
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I used to have a chinese calculator with fake solar cells. |
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Me too, [VJW]. I'm personally wondering if photovoltaics are as fake green as
these would be in some circumstances. Also, you could use fake electricity
inside the house. |
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This is nothing more than a venal and disgusting scheme to exploit those who for their own sordid reasons place appearance and image above functionality. |
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Taking the concept a step further: |
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The company need not install any panels at all. Simply erect a temporary notice on the building (such as those erected by builders etc.) advertising the fact that NutschCo. are proud to install a revolutionary invisible solar roof on this building. |
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The cost savings will easily buy some new clothes for the emperor. |
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Taking the concept a step further: |
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The company need not install any panels at all. Simply erect a temporary notice on the building (such as those erected by builders etc.) advertising the fact that NutschCo. are proud to install a revolutionary invisible solar roof on this building. |
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The cost savings will easily buy some new clothes for the emperor. |
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Why not take that a step further and do what
businesses are doing all over
America? Just pay the politicians for a "Certified
Green" sticker? |
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No need to put up signs or do anything green
(except
sending green cash to the politicians). Hey,
everybody wins! Except the environment and
anybody who's not a politician, but who cares
about
those anyway? |
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Why bother paying the politicians? Just run off a few hundred “Certified Green” labels on your desktop printer, and distribute them to your friends and relatives. |
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...because then the politicians wouldn't make any
money and that would be wrong. So very wrong. |
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Could you imagine these poor souls having to turn in
their Gulfstream 650s and being forced to slum it by
flying around in Gulfstream 150s like common prols?
(shudder) |
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Stop saying things like that, you're worrying us. |
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How about installling fake panels that actually have a real solar panel in them? |
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Then you could just enjoy the irony of it all or you could connect it up to the mains via a meter and sell the power to the power company...and bring in a little cash on the side. |
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I foresee the court case... "m^lord, it is alleged that the defendant misled the client by installing a real solar panel, instead of the fake one ordered.." |
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Fake fake solar panels -- and the contractor sells
kilowatts into the grid, unbeknownst to the client. |
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("Those cables are for the defroster, sir, to prevent
ice buildup in winter. No extra charge; here's the
OFF switch if you don't want that feature.") |
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They should require power to operate in some fashion, like an LED status blinking light. |
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Fake windmills would be prettier! |
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//They do make fake triangle shaped ones for making arrays look pretty...// |
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Out of interest, why can't they make real triangle-shaped ones? |
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Some early windmills *were* spun by motors. Admittedly,
this was only done when the windmill blade tip speed was
below optimum for the windspeed (i.e., the wind speed
had just increased). Nowadays, the blades are allowed to
freewheel up to their optimal speed. |
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// why can't they make real triangle-shaped ones? // |
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Because Toblerone owns the patent. |
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You could pattern the cells in an array any way you wish, but silicon, being fragile, doesn't lend itself well to corners beyond 90 degrees in an individual cell. Doing so would be inefficient anyways, as the shape should be optimized for easy, balanced access for the electrons to reach the bus bands. The corners would be inefficient zones on each cell in a sharp triangle. |
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[goldbb] //Some early windmills *were* spun by
motors.// Why was that later abandoned? |
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Just paint some of the clay tiles with shiny black rectangles. And run a few pointless wires. No need to actually install anything. No one will really look at it. |
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When governments were paying home owners higher rates for solar generated electricity than it cost to buy it from the general grid, I immediately pictured fat extension cords running from the neighbour's place into my solar panels. Glowing cherry red with the profits split between myself and the neighbour. |
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//Because Toblerone owns the patent// |
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Q: Why are Toblerone bars triangular shaped? |
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A: So they fit into the boxes. |
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Having worked in the solar business I came across
the same "green vanity" people. They would want
to stuff their roofs with panels no
matter what the production. On the other hand,
Republicans wouldn't want them just because they
didn't burn gas. |
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Also, there was a company, Dyocore, that made
"fake" 1kW wind-turbines, because the
government was giving $5k for each. They sold
them for $4k each, until someone blew the
whistle. Let's all work in fake companies that
make fake products which consumers can fake to
use, and earn fake dollars printed by a fake
government, only to pay fake tax dollars and vote
in a fake election. Hmm someone is getting
gauged but who..? |
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