[Ron61]

Steve,

A question, not an argument. What states would those solar powered houses really work well in year round? A few years ago P.G.& E. tried to get everyone here to go to solar power with some help from them and abandoned it after about 6 months as our weather just isn't practical for solar power, except in the Summer. About 5 to 6 months a year, there would be no power, during a normal year which we haven't had for several years. Some of the solar panels were damaged by hail, and the batteries couldn't store enough to last two days of rain or darkness. I am sure the batteries have been improved by now but even so, it would take a huge amount of capacity to run a small house completely for even a day, and the batteries do have to be replaced just as the ones in the ESS machines do. I believe they finally figured that for a 900 square foot house to just break even up here it would take around 90 years. Not exactly sure of those figures as it was a few years ago but I was following it with interest as I wanted to see if it would be practical to even go to partial solar.

Ron