Quote:
Originally Posted by J. T. Toad
uh... okay, and state legislatures haven't imposed solar requirements on new construction and 'housing efficiency' mandates.
To think a project like this doesn't influence policy and public opinion is naive and beyond stupid.
Read the "purpose" on their own website?
http://www.solar.ltu.edu/3_purpose.php
Just like a U.N. mandate, one would have to be pretty ignorant to not see the agenda behind statements like,
"It is our team's purpose and mission is to demonstrate to the public how small changes in building and design practices can have a global impact."
Personally, I think a Michigan winter without adequate shelter defines a dangerous environment. |
The cost to equip a home for solar power is not really cost effective yet. I just google'd and found a site saying that $20k could buy a decent system for electric generation. Well if my electric bill averages $175 a month, it is going to take a long time to pay for that system assuming that system brings my grid cost of electricity effectively to zero. That looks like 9.5 years. The average length of home ownership is supposedly 7 years in this country. So for the average family installing a system, it would not pay off (unless they move to another solar powered house, which is unlikely).
Perhaps nano-technology applied to solar cells and batteries along with mass production could make this cost effective sometime in the future, but I don't see investing in this at the present time. I suspect that many people doing this now do it are treating it like a "green" status symbol as opposed to being practical.
I do recall that there is some place in Germany where politics insists on solar panels. So there is some danger in having government mandate this stuff.