The implementation of a solar energy system can be a complicated task. Seeing as though this is still a relatively new concept, there is a shortage of experienced and trustworthy contractors. Imagine a contractor trying to sell you ball lock pins or something claiming it was an energy saving device. That is why I was interested to see that Wal-Mart has begun opening solar kiosks in some of their California Sam’s Club locations in a bid to simplify and streamline the solar implementation process. 

Whether or not “Sam’s Choice Solar” will be a reality, this is definitely a provocative step toward the future from a world leader in “an” industry. It will be interesting to see how far this concept will go and whether or not consumers will find implementation of a solar energy system easier than in the past.

Source: ecogeek 

Australia is caught up in a tangle of out of date politics that is making it difficult for the country to leap forward as a Solar Energy power house. The country is positioned in a way that makes it very easy to claim a good amount of energy from the sun, but state legislation currently is blocking growth in solar power adoption, acceptance and leadership.

Ms Miller a representative from BP Solar recently indicated that Australian states are their own worst enemy when it comes to Solar Power adoption. So far there is only a single state in Australia that has adopted legislation that is remotely friendly to consumers and companies that want to invest in solar energy in Australia.

Ms Miller told the third international Solar Cities Congress in Adelaide what was needed now was action from governments around Australia to adopt feed-in legislation, to make switching to solar power more economical for individuals and companies.

So far, South Australia is the only state to have moved on the issue by last week introducing into parliament feed-in laws which will allow consumers to sell back electricity they produce in their homes or businesses to the grid at a profit.
If approved, the SA laws would allow consumers to be paid twice as much for any electricity they return as they would be charged for it.

States ‘standing in way of solar nation’

This is by no means just an Australian problem. It is actually very common throughout much of the world. Local politics, especially at a state or province level often blocks the adoption of solar power or blocks the ability for electricity producers to sell electricity back to the grid when they have excess.

Australia is considered one of the countries with a very low carbon footprint when you look at the amount of energy they use and how they produce that energy.

Critics suggest that the percentages in Australia are actually stacked because the country has not built out the infrastructure to use electricity and electric appliances at levels similar to those seen in the US or even Europe. This skews Australia making them look more progressive in alternative energy than they really are. When in fact, they just do not use a great deal of energy.

Note. This Article was initially targeted for publication in February of 2008.  It was lost somewhere in the editing shuffle, probably back during the winter when our editors were spending too much time playing xbox 360 instead of doing their jobs. Our Publisher has officially cracked the whip and the editors have gotten back to work. 

Years ago I used to work for Motorola and Verizon Wireless was just forming at the time.  They eventually became my largest customer.  The cellular phone industry works on subsidies of equipment and that model could work for solar power also.

Carriers subsidize consumers purchase of cell phones by getting their customers to agree to 1 or 2 year agreements.

Used to be 1 year but these days 2 year agreements are the norm.

Solar energy equipment sales companies could sell their products to energy companies that could then subsidize the cost of the equipment.  It would be akin to a decentralize energy company.  Instead of having a powerplant, they would have a network of homes holding solar power panels collecting energy (or other forms of energy generating systems such as wind or generators or something).

The company could then keep some of the energy generated by the home owner that is sold back to the grid and the homeowner would benefit from having to buy less actual electricity from the grid themselves.  The entire arrangement could further benefit home owners if the company provided technicians to install and monitor the equipment in an optimal method, possibly even making seasonal adjustments to panels.

I came across one company that is already planning to test a system similar to this model called Santee Cooper in South Carolina.  They require the following for a trial program they are running with a limited number of homes:

Be a Santee Cooper residential customer

Agree to receive power though the Green Energy Buy Backs Program, also known as net billing program, for a minimum of five years

Sign a five-year Solar Homes Initiative agreement

Have owned and occupied the chosen free-standing property for a minimum of one year

Use the property as a primary, single family residence

Complete installation of the solar equipment by December 31, 2008

Santee Cooper program offers financial help installing solar panels

Its not a total solution but a partial solution.  Santee Cooper is essentially helping people get a subsidy of about $17,000 on their equipment.  That kind of support is like finding super bustiers as opposed to just getting a bit of a lift.  That may be a bad analogy, but $17k in essentially what boils down to a subsidy tied to a long term contract could go a long way to making solar energy a reality for many home owners.

I’d like to offer up a suggestion to the churches of the world.  Why don’t you consider installing solar power panels on your church roofs along with a grid tie in.  Think about all those churches all around the world.  They typically have very large roofs and surface areas on those roofs.  They are typically open for business just a few times per week and do not need to be lit up, powered up, heated or cooled during down times either.

They could gather up energy in the form of solar power, not only to reduce their own energy consumption and expenses, but they could also be used to generate income for the church.  A church could probably pay for their investment in solar power much faster than your typical home that uses energy on a much more regular basis. 

Plus, many churches are warming to the concept that protecting the earth is something that coincides with the goals of their religion.  Removing a church off the grid powered by oil, coal and nuclear power and relying on the power of the sun, could go a long ways in conveying the message to the members of their church just how important protecting the earth is.

You will note that I am purposefully straying away from any specific theology here.  I feel that this could benefit all religions regardless of what their theology might be with the possible exception of the Amish (but if I’m wrong and the Amish embrace solar energy please drop me a comment and let me know).  My point is not to try and convince anyone to send out their first communion invitations on recycled paper or anything like that.  Its just to practically look at this option from the perspective of an investment, a cost reduction technique and a means towards demonstrating and communicating the benefits of solar energy.

Well, I have to admit that I did not find terribly many solar power products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.  I frankly expected much more.  I did find a few and will cover those soon, but I expect mountain loads of materials on new solar powered products and the reality was closer to speed bumps instead of mountains. 

There were far more LCD panel televisions and small business phone systems, and iPod knock offs, and did I mention lots of televisions? 

Anyway, I will still source a number of great new articles as I head into 2008, just as soon as I get back from the Red Eye trip I am taking tonight.

This week I am attending the Consumer Electronics Show

(CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada.  It is the Super Bowl of the electronics industry, and people come from around the world to display their goods and view what will be offered up this year in retail stores around the world.

Yesterday I took care registration matters and took a brief walk around the show and today I will be diving in to review the latest in solar product offerings for gadgets, home products.  If I have time, I may even take a look at some of the solar powered devices that are being implemented in automobiles and even boats.

Where I am from, and North Carolina, we are going through a drought, and there’s not really a lot of water to use a boat on so more people are considering a boat donation as opposed to cavorting on the lake in the sun.  I suppose donating your boat to charity is just as good as leading that set out back of your house and slowly fade away while the lakes dry up and we run out of water.

So anyway, I apologize for digressing, a recovering quite a number of products this year, and I hope to kick it off by identifying what products will be hot or useful this year in solar energy.  Any readers are attending the show, please feel free to reach out to me any exhibitors attending a show I definitely take a look at the products are offering, so feel free to contact us here at the solar Gold Mine Digest.

I have written on this site and others that I suspect that Las Vegas may be uniquely suited to field and pave the way for the rest of the country in utilizing solar energy both at a personal level on the home, but also at a business or corporate level.

This video starts to talk a bit about selling energy from your home back to the grid when your solar energy system generates more electricity than you are using, say like during the middle of the day when you are away from home and at work.

YouTube – Solar Las Vegas: Center for Energy Research

Its I think important to notice that there seems to be a critical mass of acceptance and production that might march all of us towards acceptance. Today people are more interested in say diet supplements like hoodia or hydroxycut, but as the price of energy rapidly increases talking about solar energy and gathering together the solutions to make them part of our lives might accelerate in a big wave of acceptance.

The speaker here talks about the local political level that seems to be driving acceptance this time around.

Here’s an interesting Solar Energy Comercial (in an Apple does 1984 kind of way).  Now, I do not always go in for these dark, the world is ending in the apocalypse types of settings, but in every exageration there is a grain of truth that can be gleamed to help us find just a wee bit more wisdom and in this case its related to solar energy.

Note, the first time I watched this video commercial, I thought that maybe they were dropping trash on people trying to make some statement about the environment.  Then the next time, I just couldn’t tell.  I thought I saw a TV and then a Danze fauctes or kitchen sink or something.

But I think I have ultimately decided that they are dropping a bunch of different types of batteries to symbolize the energy falling out of the sky.  Guess YouTube kind of spoils the effect a little.