FCC issues a Notice of Violation to Solar City for RFI Inteferance

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Why is nobody else asking this question? I am about ready to call this story mostly BS. Where is NS6Q? Why has he gone into hiding? Where is this supposed NOV listed? There might have been an "inspection", but that falls far short of an actual NOV. Those are not secret, but I can't find any evidence that it ever happened.

 

computer glitch?

 

I have a 40 year old polycrystaline panel that is still putting out 80% of rated power. Buy name brand that has been around a long time and you have a warranty! Buy chinese crap and you get crap!

 

$30K what are you putting in? 10,000 watts of panels? I can get decent name panels for under 70 cents a watt now, inverter on a grid tie package for $4k, installation would be Anther $2k or so. Prices have come down drastically and with a 20 year 80% power warranty on good panels you have a decent investment. Size the system to produce about what you use so no worries about grid tie reimbursement because you are not exporting power, you run even or a slight deficit!

I get it, you got screwed by one of the fly by night companies so you hate solar. Get over it, my system has paid for itself in 4 years!

 

Typical dribble from some one trying to protect their cash cow that is grazing the solar industry.

So you can get american made panels at that price point?

 

Who is providing a warranty like that?

 

I have located the source of most of the noise on 20 meters. By unplugging the switching supply battery charger for my wife's Power Chair the noise is around s-3 which is consistent with noise levels on the other bands. I will keep looking for other sources within my house. I can now go on 20 meters cw with noise level below s-1. This is with the 1st stage of the preamp on. With the 2nd stage preamp on it rises to s4-5. Much better than the s9+ I was experiencing before.

 

Problem traced to the battery charger for my wife's Power Chair

 

COOL!!

 

The noise was coming from the battery charger/switching supply from my wife's Power chair. The noise was generated even when it was not connected to the Chair. That's what I get for buying a cheap replacement charger. The solution is to charge the battery after I am done operating at night. The battery charges in a couple of hours from fully discharged. When the chair is not charging I unplug the charger from the AC. The room the chair is kept in when not in use is across the hall from the shack which didn't help things

 

Most every manufacturer provides this same warranty, they guarantee 80% power production after 25 years. That's pretty much an industry standard. ROIs and pay back periods are figured taking the gradual degradation of output into account.
Solar World owns the largest solar cell manufacturing plant in North America, it's in Oregon. They have been in business since 1988. I would feel pretty good about them being around in another 29 years to honor their warranty if necessary. Of the literally thousands of solar panels I've installed over the last 12 years I've seen exactly 2 panels that had stopped producing power. There are many panels in use that are around 40 years old and still producing power. Given that newer panels should be made much better than the ones made in the 70's I expect modern panels to still be producing power in 50 years. Time will tell.
Yes, you can get American made panels for less than $.70 per watt. The Solar World panels I installed on my house were purchased for $.55 per watt. I've seen lower since then, I guess I should have waited.

 

Yep, that is a key issue that sounds really good until a company files bankruptcy. Since 1988 is a good track record so it might be a good one to deal with, the others look out!!!!!!
Where are you getting their panels for .55 a watt?
Are they mono or poly? The poly's I bought are pretty lame, the mono in the same mounting position, wattage and load now go until the sun drops well below the tree line.

 

Sorry, I am not misinformed. I am in the building industry, and know the folks at Solar City (and other solar companies). Maryland, Virginia and DC installations all have meters which measure the forward and reverse current separately. This is due to a change in the law several years ago; before that meters would ignore reverse current. Meters have not "spun backwards" for at least 30 years, here, and perhaps longer. And if a meter that "spins backwards" is installed, it is replaced by the electric utility. But there are very few of those around any more, even in older houses.

Electric utilities pay wholesale price (or less) for user-generated electricity, unless forced to do otherwise by the governing jurisdictions laws (none that I know of require this).

Solar companies would like you to *think* the electric utility is paying you the same rate as you are paying them. However, try to get it in writing. And look closely at your power bill.

The truth is - if you use 100 kwh during the night and generate a surplus of 100 kwh during the day, you will still have an electric bill - that amount being the difference between the retail value you pay and some lesser (generally the wholesale value) the company pays you.

 

And it isn't just consumer goods that have this problem. There have also been incidences of fake labels on cables such as category 5E and 6, as well as coax. The problem here is these cables do not pass test for fire retardancy and could cause a fire or allow a fire to grow. And as a company, if I were to install such a cable, the customer's insurance company would be all over my tail, and my insurance company would not cover it. For a small company, that spells bankruptcy.

Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to tell the difference - especially if a particular cable used to be UL listed, but no longer is.