
Red Tape and Installation Prove Biggest Challenge to Solar Today - bootload
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/red-tape-and-installation-prove-biggest-challenge-to-solar-today/
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Animats
"Every hole in the roof is a dagger through the heart of the house". That's a
problem. Roofs, as building elements, suck. Walls and foundations can last for
centuries. Roofs have trouble in 20-30 years. Solar panels add unplanned loads
to roofs and involve holes through them. Some tile roofs can't even be walked
on without damage. There's no roof standardization. Hence the problems of home
rooftop solar.

Commercial roofs are in some ways more promising. They tend to be flat, and
much stronger, designed to support air conditioning units and other mechanical
systems. But they have other problems. One big one is that the owner and
tenant are usually different parties, and there may be complex tax shelter
arrangements in place.[1] Negotiations become very complicated.

There's interest in new roofs which are solar panels, and there are "solar
shingles", but those are not in widespread use yet.

[1]
[http://www.solarindustrymag.com/issues/SI1501/FEAT_01_Commer...](http://www.solarindustrymag.com/issues/SI1501/FEAT_01_Commercial-
Rooftop-Success-A-Little-Ballast-And-A-Lot-Of-Business-Sense.html)

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unchocked
I had a system installed last month, and the costs were about 1/3 labor, 1/3
non-solar panel hardware, and 1/3 the panels themselves.

This points to limited utility of further price drops on solar panels, unless
the associated hardware and labor requirements drop as well.

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dmitriy_ko
That's only true for rooftop installations. For utility-scale installations
(solar farms) panels is still most of the cost. Solar farms will benefit the
most from further drop in panel costs.

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afarrell
I'm curious how much skill it currently takes to install a panel and if some
system can be designed which is only 50% more difficult/dangerous to install
than a new set of gutters.

I suspect I'm probably wrong since I've not done anything more complicated on
a roof than tarpaper and shingles.

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brudgers
The big hazard with photovoltaics is the lack of circuit breakers on the sun.
Part of the system is live with sufficient current for useful work whenever
there's daylight.

Safety is why there will always be a base level of regulation...keeping in
mind that my faulty installation can kill my neighbor or a utility worker.

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isolate
Why can't you just cover them?

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hidroto
i have heard that half covering a cell means that the current flowing through
the shaded part has more resistance and can heat up and become damaged.

