Are solar panels worth it? Shannon Odell
video description
It's funny that you cite Germany, which has spent an insane amount of money to subsidize both solar and wind that are unreliable at best, and now that has closed nuclear plants is back at polluting like crazy with coal.
Date: 2023-06-22
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Comments and reviews: 19
Deanna
I don't know if they have gotten more expensive because in the state of New Jersey I think solar panels gotten cheaper there. The governement would even go as far as to install it for free and I've seen some of my neighbors already have solar panels on their houses. There are even solar panels on the electric grid and in businesses as well as at Rutgers. Which is probably why New Jersey produces the most solar panels and uses the most solar panels in the United States. However, my family and I never really got around having solar panels on our roof because it would mean we had to cut up the trees in our yard, which we do not want. I am open to a wind turbine on our property for wind energy.
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I don't know if they have gotten more expensive because in the state of New Jersey I think solar panels gotten cheaper there. The governement would even go as far as to install it for free and I've seen some of my neighbors already have solar panels on their houses. There are even solar panels on the electric grid and in businesses as well as at Rutgers. Which is probably why New Jersey produces the most solar panels and uses the most solar panels in the United States. However, my family and I never really got around having solar panels on our roof because it would mean we had to cut up the trees in our yard, which we do not want. I am open to a wind turbine on our property for wind energy.
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Gam3Junkie7
As optimistic as this video is, you are leaving out many of the other drawbacks. In the US alone, utility companies are price gouging 'prosumers' for the audacity of producing their own power, effectively negating the price savings solar is supposed to provide in large regions of the nation. Not to mention that without a house battery system, most solar goes to the grid first, not the home, meaning brownouts and blackouts still leave those homes in the dark. Especially due to the exorbitant costs of home battery systems and their associated energy management systems.
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As optimistic as this video is, you are leaving out many of the other drawbacks. In the US alone, utility companies are price gouging 'prosumers' for the audacity of producing their own power, effectively negating the price savings solar is supposed to provide in large regions of the nation. Not to mention that without a house battery system, most solar goes to the grid first, not the home, meaning brownouts and blackouts still leave those homes in the dark. Especially due to the exorbitant costs of home battery systems and their associated energy management systems.
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Souchira
Yet, investment is stagnating fast especially from large investors this is because, unlike what you likely learned in economy classes, it's now price that guides the market, it's profit margins. The reason solar and renewable in general are not popular as an investment is simply because the return of investments is really low. Which is really the biggest problem with our current economic model. Same goes with feeding poor people, we can do it, we can produce plenty of food to do so. It just isn't profitable to do so.
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Yet, investment is stagnating fast especially from large investors this is because, unlike what you likely learned in economy classes, it's now price that guides the market, it's profit margins. The reason solar and renewable in general are not popular as an investment is simply because the return of investments is really low. Which is really the biggest problem with our current economic model. Same goes with feeding poor people, we can do it, we can produce plenty of food to do so. It just isn't profitable to do so.
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Arctic
What is the overall impact on the environment, also what is the energy cost, of production and disposal of solar panels? Remember that they do short-out, eventually, and need to be discarded and replaced.
Sometimes I feel that a solar panel that bypasses electricity entirely would be more efficient, like something that uses lenses, water, and steam.
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What is the overall impact on the environment, also what is the energy cost, of production and disposal of solar panels? Remember that they do short-out, eventually, and need to be discarded and replaced.
Sometimes I feel that a solar panel that bypasses electricity entirely would be more efficient, like something that uses lenses, water, and steam.
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New
So why do these panels need to be subsidized if it's cheaper energy? Nothing about having to replace them time span. Nothing about damage. Cherry picking sunny countries for instance it a con. Solar panels are not recyclable either. Not really an in depth look at solar. Just cheer leading without any critical analysis.
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So why do these panels need to be subsidized if it's cheaper energy? Nothing about having to replace them time span. Nothing about damage. Cherry picking sunny countries for instance it a con. Solar panels are not recyclable either. Not really an in depth look at solar. Just cheer leading without any critical analysis.
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Be
Renewables are worth it!
It's the fact that they have small profit margins of 4-7% to exploit (and record low /kWh) it doesn't look attractive for the usual suspects to divest from fossil fuels.
The fruits of renewable energy are doomed to rot if we keep relying on the private market economic model.
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Renewables are worth it!
It's the fact that they have small profit margins of 4-7% to exploit (and record low /kWh) it doesn't look attractive for the usual suspects to divest from fossil fuels.
The fruits of renewable energy are doomed to rot if we keep relying on the private market economic model.
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Green
I believe that the most sustainable use of solar is not through Photovoltaic but rather through Direct Solar Heat using solar Concentrators. It is more sustainable since it can be used not only for electricity but also for manufacturing goods which requires a lot of heat such as steel products.
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I believe that the most sustainable use of solar is not through Photovoltaic but rather through Direct Solar Heat using solar Concentrators. It is more sustainable since it can be used not only for electricity but also for manufacturing goods which requires a lot of heat such as steel products.
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Andrew
Wild that you skipped the most damning parts of solar. Like the coal silica needed to make the panels. The child labor in the mining. Or the 10 year lifespan of the panels. Or the battery required and the child labor in the mining. I'm a fan of solar but I'm a honest about the downside.
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Wild that you skipped the most damning parts of solar. Like the coal silica needed to make the panels. The child labor in the mining. Or the 10 year lifespan of the panels. Or the battery required and the child labor in the mining. I'm a fan of solar but I'm a honest about the downside.
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Be
The very fact that solar is so cheap now is why private investors are steering clear of it - because the profit margins are not attractive enough
But we'll pay dearly for their inaction, or for the grid electricity of solar and wind at the pegged /kWh for oil, gas and coal.
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The very fact that solar is so cheap now is why private investors are steering clear of it - because the profit margins are not attractive enough
But we'll pay dearly for their inaction, or for the grid electricity of solar and wind at the pegged /kWh for oil, gas and coal.
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Bigfriendly1970
This video seems one sided. There is no discussion on disposal cost and the effect it can have on the planet. I'm no expert but often it looks like solar might not be terribly efficient. The amount of space that the panels can take up often looks pretty extreme.
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This video seems one sided. There is no discussion on disposal cost and the effect it can have on the planet. I'm no expert but often it looks like solar might not be terribly efficient. The amount of space that the panels can take up often looks pretty extreme.
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education
If you ignore the mining, the huge land mass it use up (and subsequent impact to local ecology) and inefficiency of energy production (places that can generate most solar arent necessarily in high demand of energy, then sure.
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If you ignore the mining, the huge land mass it use up (and subsequent impact to local ecology) and inefficiency of energy production (places that can generate most solar arent necessarily in high demand of energy, then sure.
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Petah
I started small by charging my phone with solar power by rigging up a 20v solar cell with a buck converter and a power bank. kind of feels satisfying seeing it charge up during the day. cost about 50 to rig everything
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I started small by charging my phone with solar power by rigging up a 20v solar cell with a buck converter and a power bank. kind of feels satisfying seeing it charge up during the day. cost about 50 to rig everything
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Super
Has anyone noticed that the narrator, Jack Cutmore-Scott, sounded a bit nasal in this video? He sounded very different from the voice-over on the last segment linking to other videos. I wonder what happened.
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Has anyone noticed that the narrator, Jack Cutmore-Scott, sounded a bit nasal in this video? He sounded very different from the voice-over on the last segment linking to other videos. I wonder what happened.
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The
For everyone wondering about recycling the panels, France is opening the world's biggest recycling center for solar panels. More will come. The industry is always growing and adapting. Solar is the future!
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For everyone wondering about recycling the panels, France is opening the world's biggest recycling center for solar panels. More will come. The industry is always growing and adapting. Solar is the future!
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Kapitan
0: 52 no it is not true. it takes many years for the investment in solar panels to pay off, it's worse when something expensive breaks down after the warranty.
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0: 52 no it is not true. it takes many years for the investment in solar panels to pay off, it's worse when something expensive breaks down after the warranty.
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Eddy
The world can thank the Chinese for telling BP to take a hike and in China they started mass producing panels which have gotten much better and cheaper!
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The world can thank the Chinese for telling BP to take a hike and in China they started mass producing panels which have gotten much better and cheaper!
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Santhini
Are you still doing podcasts? Because I like that podcast I much that I use my Alexa only for that I would like if you started your podcast again
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Are you still doing podcasts? Because I like that podcast I much that I use my Alexa only for that I would like if you started your podcast again
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P ter
Is it expensive compared to 30 years ago? No.
Is it expensive for the average people in my country? Absolutely yes and it will be for years.
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Is it expensive compared to 30 years ago? No.
Is it expensive for the average people in my country? Absolutely yes and it will be for years.
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Stef
Solar powers problem isnt solar panel cost or its effeciency, the real problem is storing solar power and the cost and ineffeciency of batterys.
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Solar powers problem isnt solar panel cost or its effeciency, the real problem is storing solar power and the cost and ineffeciency of batterys.
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