The key word is reliable. Regulations around here won't allow batteries in a grid-tie system, so when (not if) the grid goes down, you're still stuck with all the usual problems of grid failure.
The state govt here is reaping the benefits of years of extracting the profits from the then state-owned monopoly electricity supplier, instead of investing said profits back into maintenance and upgrades, all to balance their otherwise red-inked budget. I hear of outages almost daily - the local radio station reports them. Now that the industry is deregulated, those profits have decreased sharply and there's nothing to invest. I'm just glad I'm off-grid.
Just cherry-picking here - BP have a huge investment in the Solar PV industry, and I think they'll be around for a while. One of my 80 watt panels (11 years' warranty left) developed some corrosion on one of the junctions. I took a photo of it, sent it to them with the serial number, and a new panel was installed within a week. Cost to me? $0
My inverter's control boards blew at ~8 years, but were replaced for less than a third the price of a new inverter. My batteries started going bad at the same age. Batteries will last quite a while if you treat them right.
Quality solar PV (such as mine from BP Australia) are warranted for 20 years. The terms of the warranty regarding output are basically: no less than 80% of rated output for said 20 year period. There's no cheap way - you pay big $$$ upfront for quality panels, and they'll last a long time - excepting severe accidents, of course.
I'm in a situation where I'm not looking for ROI - I'm off-grid, and getting the mains connected has been quoted at AUD$33,000 PLUS tree-clearing costs. My latest upgrade (new 1320ah battery bank, 6x165w panels, regulator, frames & installation) cost AUD$23,000. It was subsidised at 50% so we only paid AUD$11,500, but even if it wasn't, it's still cheaper than getting the mains on.
Your point 3 is superficial. Do you think your immune system isn't handling pre-cancerous cells or clusters all the time? Getting sick mostly comes down to one thing - your immune system becomes overwhelmed - either because it's weak (genetic and/or environmental reasons), or sheer mass of pathogens (i.e. some sick f#cker sneezes on you).
You could be genetically "weak" with regard to certain cancer/s, or you could be chronically undernourished in important areas, i.e. low levels of zinc or selenium, for example. If you have chronic malnourishment in important areas, you immune system (and other systems) will be compromised.
P.S. Attention male/.ers - you lose approx 5mg zinc with each ejaculation.
I provide IT tutoring at my kids' primary school - and that's one of the first things I teach them, e.g. how to frame a query using keywords, use of the plus and minus modifiers to improve or reduce the hits, etc, etc.
They're not yet at the stage where they could cope with even a moderately complex query, but at least they're learning that there's a lot more behind the prompt.
Just my way of reducing stress for IT staff in the future.
Interesting and probably true in most cases. I make money fixing mostly domestic Windows PCs. I prefer not to sell them because a price that's competitive with other local computer businesses gives too small a profit margin for the time & effort involved. But when a customer asks me for a quote, they get a quote that makes me a decent profit - it's anything up to twice the price of a similar machine from Dell or other local businesses, and I encourage the customer to seek other quotes. I tell them my prices aren't cheap because I don't use cheap components, I use good components. About half of them still give me the job.
And each machine includes a licensed OEM installation of XP - original CD supplied, and the magic sticker on the box.
Have you ever shared a house/apartment? You know, with other people?
If I need to "go", and the toilet is occupied, I can, if necessary, "go" outside and bury the result. Something about my cooking means that there is frequently a queue for the lav in the mornings. Good thing for our bowel health, I suppose, but it's not fun anticipating an accident that hasn't happened since I wore nappies (diapers).
I watch or tape that show every Thursday - it's great to see politicians in the spotlight, having to actually answer people's questions instead of spewing the usual sound-bite cliches. Some try it, and the audience express their disapproval big-time - I love to see their smarmy smiles and watch them squirm when a really meaty question gets asked, and they can't just spit out the usual whaargarbl. And can't you just see what's going on behind the rabbit-in-the-spotlight eyes?
Case in point - last night Tony Abbott cracked a funny about Kevin Rudd being a better advocate for celibacy than Kate Ellis - http://www.pm.gov.au/team/ministers.cfm scroll down to see them side by side and make up your own mind. Ellis almost came out and agreed with Abbott before she started laughing.
Some of them take it on the chin and I have to give credit for that. Malcolm Turnbull's appearance some time ago gave me new respect for the man.
Yeah, I sighed when I saw the price. I {heart} my RB67.
Approximating here, but if a frame of 35mm ISO100 film ~ 24MP, that would give me more than 100MP in a frame of 6x7. Now imagine scanning a sheet of 5x4!
That makes it clearer, thanks. I'll download the charge controller data for the next 12 months and come up with a figure of my own. Hopefully I'll be able to extract some historical weather data from http://www.bom.gov.au/ and use that refine my own observations. It'll be interesting to see what my equivalent "average full-sun hours-per-panel output" will be?
I have batteries and I'm not on the grid, but the charge controller is one clever little piece of work. It monitors battery voltage and current from the panels until the batteries reach 30VDC (boost phase), then it cuts the current to maintain 28.4VDC for 2 hours (absorption phase), then cuts the current again to maintain float voltage. At this point it can switch current over to a second bank of batteries (if you have them), or use the otherwise wasted current to power another appliance (e.g. water pump). It has an event timer to switch on (for example) your security lights at a certain time, plus other goodies.
That's a low figure (2.5 hours). You must be closer to the pole than me, or you have a lot of trees shading your roof. Around here (26 degrees south) we reckon on about 5 hours of full sunlight. You also pick up a surprising amount on either side of the "full-sun" period. Just because you're not getting full sun doesn't mean your panels aren't producing anything at all.
But its no surprise that installation costs more than the pieces
This puzzles me. I've just had an upgrade put in - all in AUD$ - $8000 for replacement batteries, $8400 for more PV panels, $1200 for upgraded regulator + remote monitor and the framing and installation was $1800 - so where does this "installation costs more than the pieces" come from?
Slashdot Mirror
What about spark erosion? Properly grounded, of course, and a suction hose.
The state govt here is reaping the benefits of years of extracting the profits from the then state-owned monopoly electricity supplier, instead of investing said profits back into maintenance and upgrades, all to balance their otherwise red-inked budget. I hear of outages almost daily - the local radio station reports them. Now that the industry is deregulated, those profits have decreased sharply and there's nothing to invest. I'm just glad I'm off-grid.
Like everything else, you get what you pay for.
My inverter's control boards blew at ~8 years, but were replaced for less than a third the price of a new inverter. My batteries started going bad at the same age. Batteries will last quite a while if you treat them right.
I'm in a situation where I'm not looking for ROI - I'm off-grid, and getting the mains connected has been quoted at AUD$33,000 PLUS tree-clearing costs. My latest upgrade (new 1320ah battery bank, 6x165w panels, regulator, frames & installation) cost AUD$23,000. It was subsidised at 50% so we only paid AUD$11,500, but even if it wasn't, it's still cheaper than getting the mains on.
You could be genetically "weak" with regard to certain cancer/s, or you could be chronically undernourished in important areas, i.e. low levels of zinc or selenium, for example. If you have chronic malnourishment in important areas, you immune system (and other systems) will be compromised.
P.S. Attention male /.ers - you lose approx 5mg zinc with each ejaculation.
It'd be interesting to see just what affect a multi-G launch and flaming re-entry would do to that donor heart :-)
They're not yet at the stage where they could cope with even a moderately complex query, but at least they're learning that there's a lot more behind the prompt.
Just my way of reducing stress for IT staff in the future.
But It's Not Google
And each machine includes a licensed OEM installation of XP - original CD supplied, and the magic sticker on the box.
Don't forget Niven's "Footfall" - pump an x-ray laser with a fusion bomb. WHOOSH!
I thought we were smarter than that.
If I need to "go", and the toilet is occupied, I can, if necessary, "go" outside and bury the result. Something about my cooking means that there is frequently a queue for the lav in the mornings. Good thing for our bowel health, I suppose, but it's not fun anticipating an accident that hasn't happened since I wore nappies (diapers).
Case in point - last night Tony Abbott cracked a funny about Kevin Rudd being a better advocate for celibacy than Kate Ellis - http://www.pm.gov.au/team/ministers.cfm scroll down to see them side by side and make up your own mind. Ellis almost came out and agreed with Abbott before she started laughing.
Some of them take it on the chin and I have to give credit for that. Malcolm Turnbull's appearance some time ago gave me new respect for the man.
Approximating here, but if a frame of 35mm ISO100 film ~ 24MP, that would give me more than 100MP in a frame of 6x7. Now imagine scanning a sheet of 5x4!
http://www.mamiya.com/news-events-press-releases-new-mamiya-zd-digital-back-adapter-for-rb67-pro-spro-sd.html/
And Aristophanes can write one that rhymes...
Hence - all your base are belong to us!
That makes it clearer, thanks. I'll download the charge controller data for the next 12 months and come up with a figure of my own. Hopefully I'll be able to extract some historical weather data from http://www.bom.gov.au/ and use that refine my own observations. It'll be interesting to see what my equivalent "average full-sun hours-per-panel output" will be?
http://www.plasmatronics.com.au/downloads/PLRef6.2.0.pdf/
They're made here in Oz, but most of the units head straight for China (so my supplier tells me).
The panels are climate rated for Australia - cyclone-rated panels and mounts, hail-rated up to (IIRC) golf-ball size.
I'm more worried about bushfires.
That's a low figure (2.5 hours). You must be closer to the pole than me, or you have a lot of trees shading your roof. Around here (26 degrees south) we reckon on about 5 hours of full sunlight. You also pick up a surprising amount on either side of the "full-sun" period. Just because you're not getting full sun doesn't mean your panels aren't producing anything at all.
This puzzles me. I've just had an upgrade put in - all in AUD$ - $8000 for replacement batteries, $8400 for more PV panels, $1200 for upgraded regulator + remote monitor and the framing and installation was $1800 - so where does this "installation costs more than the pieces" come from?
AND it was subsidised to the tune of 50%.
My PV panels are warranted for 20 years - if their output falls below 80% of rated power in that time, they're fixed or replaced.
Come to think of it, instead of recycling the liquid waste, if they sprayed all the urine out the back, would it look like "a full burn in atmo"?