Solar Power?

[mixedupsteve]

Originally Posted by jenkel16

Losing the inverter is definitely my next major step with the equipment. I recently met a fundraising goal with kickstarter and am going to Hawaii in February to work some more. I remember there being a user who has a studio in Hawaii that is solar. Anybody know who that is? After that I will be traveling the US working on this project. I've got a poll going to involve folks in it, check it out and vote if you'd like.

There have been several solar side stages at major festivals over the years. I did a quick cost analysis for a live sound rig (under 200 people) and came up with a cost of 5-7K which really isn't bad. A recording rig could be substantially smaller of course as has been mentioned.

[Jim Williams]

You will need to talk to a company like Solindra.

Oops, sorry, they went out of business and took my tax dollars with them.

You will need to talk to the Chinese...

[jenkel16]

I have about 3-5k into my setup with recording equipment, instruments and the solar equipment. I have mixed FOH on main stages at midsized festivals that are solar. A properly configured system does amazing things to the sonics. It's a cleaner power source all around.

Jim, your tax dollars are wasted on all manner of things. Solyndra is a small part of it. There are plenty of US manufacturers. Right outside the city I live in, Portland, OR, there is a pretty large manufacturing plant for Solar World which employs 1,000 folks. There's also a new factory being built by another company in the city. I don't need to talk to the chinese, just my neighbors.

[joelpatterson]

If you lived in Chinatown-- two birds, one stone!

[Lackatee]

Good thread!

And while its not studio related specifically, Les Stroud (Survivorman) did a Documentary on going "off the grid" and he was using solar & wind power together. When the sun goes down, the wind kicks up and you have your little wind turbine pumping 400 some watts into the system all night (and day). Very cool!

The video has some good info and tech specs on the solar setup in it and thought others might find it interesting. I thought it was pretty cool.

[Jim Williams]

Originally Posted by jenkel16

Jim, your tax dollars are wasted on all manner of things. Solyndra is a small part of it. There are plenty of US manufacturers. Right outside the city I live in, Portland, OR, there is a pretty large manufacturing plant for Solar World which employs 1,000 folks. There's also a new factory being built by another company in the city. I don't need to talk to the chinese, just my neighbors.

You will when the Chinese start dumping low cost panels on shore. 1/2 billion dollars wasted isn't small change and then the private investors were paid back first so the taxpayers were left paying the debts. Can you spell
'corruption'?

How do you think Solydra failed? They are one of many green industries our government seems to think will succeed. So far, that hasn't happened. Another electric auto company the Feds backed just filed for bankruptsy this month. More are coming. Wishful investments are not the Feds' specialty.

Someone will need to show me where in the constitution it gives our government the power to pick winners/losers in the private sector? So far their incompetence is taxing.

Look for very low cost solar panels in the next two years. They will come from China. I might even buy some, but not US made panels, too expensive.

[jenkel16]

I have to say I'm surprised it took 6 years for the sentiment of this thread to turn political and negative. I'm not even going to address the glaring cynicism. . .


Instead, here's a video I shot announcing a project I will be working on this year and next with my solar setup, The American Heritage Project.

[2manyrocks]

To be fair about it, a lot has happened since this thread started in 2006, much of it unthinkable at that time, and sooner or later, the tab for all this is going to have to be paid by somebody.

A friend of mine recently bought an electric car to run around Nashville. I forget the numbers, but apparently there was some kind of subsidy for him to buy it and he gets a free parking place downtown. The rest of us probably contributed in some way to his subsidy and the property owners in Nashville are probably paying for his free parking. Great guy, but he probably doesn't need the rest of us to help him pay for his car and give him free parking.

I forget which electric car, but there's some folks upset now because they've found out that if the batteries completely discharge, they have to replace them to the tune of several thousand dollars.

Of course, Telsa's theory was that the sun produced electric current and we just had to figure out how to use it. The problem was his investors couldn't figure out how to sell it if it was free from the sun. It would be a world changer if solar power could be made more practical.

[king2070lplaya]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

You will when the Chinese start dumping low cost panels on shore. 1/2 billion dollars wasted isn't small change and then the private investors were paid back first so the taxpayers were left paying the debts. Can you spell
'corruption'?

How do you think Solydra failed? They are one of many green industries our government seems to think will succeed. So far, that hasn't happened. Another electric auto company the Feds backed just filed for bankruptsy this month. More are coming. Wishful investments are not the Feds' specialty.

Someone will need to show me where in the constitution it gives our government the power to pick winners/losers in the private sector? So far their incompetence is taxing.

Look for very low cost solar panels in the next two years. They will come from China. I might even buy some, but not US made panels, too expensive.

Wait, so you have a problem with the fact that a foreign country is going to destroy our chances for a home-grown alternative energy source, but you are still going to buy the products that country imports? Isn't that like, feeding into your problem?

Also, are we serious about the govt picking winners and losers being a new thing?? What ever happened to General Dynamics, North American Aviation, Hughes? I mean the govt has been "picking winners" from defense companies for years!

I think the new trend is more about Investing in "trying to create an industry that otherwise no private company will forge ahead into" than picking winners. I mean seriously, does anybody remember how much money this country spent on Star Wars? And how effective that project was? Way more was invested into (or "lost on") that tech, than has been lost on green energy companies.

Like it or don't like it, your opinion is yours, but let's call a spade a spade of we're gonna get into this.

[2manyrocks]

There's a economic basis for government investment in roads and our common defense to name two primary areas of investment. It's more efficient for the government to provide these than for private individuals or groups of private individuals to provide them. That's not to say that there hasn't been a lot of waste or that pubic monies haven't been directed to friends, insiders or supporters along the way for reasons other than pure economics. Even during the American Civil War, there were instances of people selling rotted meat, etc. to the military which resulted in some of the federal statutes now on the books.

It would be interesting if it turns out that we've been chasing the wrong energy rabbit attempting to convert solar energy into electricity if it turns out that some spectrum of energy is directly useable and more efficient than converting solar energy into electricity.

[manysounds]

Damn you guys.

All I care about is the technical part!

/buy local?

[Jim Williams]

Originally Posted by king2070lplaya

Also, are we serious about the govt picking winners and losers being a new thing?? What ever happened to General Dynamics, North American Aviation, Hughes? I mean the govt has been "picking winners" from defense companies for years!
I think the new trend is more about Investing in "trying to create an industry that otherwise no private company will forge ahead into" than picking winners. I mean seriously, does anybody remember how much money this country spent on Star Wars? And how effective that project was? Way more was invested into (or "lost on") that tech, than has been lost on green energy companies.

You need to read the U.S Constitution. It says clearly that the Federal government is "to provide for the national defense". That is why billions are spent on defense, it's in the constitution.

It doen't say we must invest billions on questionable private industries. If one examines who got those billions, there is a direct correllation to the amount given to the election campaign. It's clearly payback time for those 'green companies' that gave. Unfortunatly for them, most are going out of biz, we get to pay the bills.

The reason China can and is pouring billion's into government support to create the low cost solar panel industry is because they can afford to. They don't spend 2/3 of their entire federal budget on entitlements like we do. This is why the US cannot afford to do that. We have SS and welfare to pay for.

Wishful thinking on behalf of our leadership without realizing it's not sustainable is the biggest error, anyone with a brain could see that coming.

Meanwhile, I would wait about 2 years for super low cost panels to arrive from China. They will be huge sellers in lower latitudes. I would look into investing into those companies, they will succeed.