Castanet

found a link for the 40.7 percent efficient pv cells
http://www.physorg.com/news99904887.html

using multi junction cells and a 100 sun concentrator seems a little high tech. ie. expensive

Wow! A post with solar enery nuts! cool.

I've had this idea to run a solar water heater through my hot tub.

I'm thinking the solar collector should be big (8'x8') and run directly with pumps into the hot tub.
I'm not sure if i would need backup, probably spa pack for winter.
M I crazy?

My old man's shed is off the grid. He had a solar panel left over from our camping days.

I built a holder out of steel for it to mount on top of the shed. The solar panel is wired into a battery (there is a small box between the panel and battery, presumably to cut off flow when the battery is charged!), which in turn is wired to an inverter. The inverter's control is wired into a switch on the wall, and when you flick the switch, it turns on the light in the shed. It's one of those energy saver bulbs in a regular light socket.

It's a simple set up, but it does what it was set up to do.

THIS ^^^

This is what I'm getting at by micro projects via using solar power with solar panels. Reducing the need for the grid, but without being off-grid.

What's the latest news on solar projects for the home. Have they become better at hitting return on investment yet? Latest I read a while ago was 25 year forecast. Typical investment cost $3000 for a basic system?

$10 a month savings as an average doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.