Ponder these four realities when you consider a new solar technology:
- Start your due diligence on a 10 year old roof. It is an extremely hostile environment. When I go up there just about the only thing I see that is still in good shape is corrosion-proof metal and glass.
- Does anyone remember TV antenna and satellite dish rotators? How long did that mechanism last?
- High efficiency wins, except where space is virtually unlimited. Roof space is generally not sufficient to meet a building’s load for any structure over one story high.
- Customers don’t buy solar cells–so it doesn’t matter what they cost per watt. The only things that matters to the customer are the total installed cost per watt of the entire *system* and lifecycle energy output.