They say that the panels and inverter are covered by the govts $8000 rebate. other companies offer similar panels for $2000 after rebate. Should I trust state solar services?
I need an answer quickly as the rebate is running out.

In a new house which is better to install, instantaneous gas (lpg) or solar hot water? I have no idea how much Gas an average family would use and how much a refill costs.
Gas is cheaper to install, and the system lasts longer with less maintenance. Solar is dearer, but has a rebate.Solar has a life of approx 15 years? I’m in Qld. thanks

Public Works Building Goes Green With Solar Panels
Pittsburgh continues its efforts to go green as local city agencies are extending their use of green, alternative energy. The Pittsburgh Public Works building along Fifth Avenue received a green facelift today with the installation of solar panels.

Read more on KDKA Pittsburgh

The best thing about solar power is that it has an unlimited potential. Learn how to generate solar power renewable energy, easily and save $1000’s on utility bills. You just need to know how to make your own renewable energy source and today I am going to tell you exactly how to build your own solar panel for electricity

If you want to learn how to generate solar power renewable energy, you’ll need to learn some basics on how exactly do solar panels work. This way, the entire procedure will be much easier to handle.

The process starts with solar modules. They are the main components exposed directly to sunlight. Their main function is to convert the sun’s energy into usable electrical power for your home appliances. To get them correctly installed, solar modules are to be mounted on a steel frame and positioned on your roof top.Power produced by the solar modules is converted from Direct Current (DC) to Alternating Current (AC) through a inverter. Usually, Alternating Current (AC) is the usable electrical power that we need to power the home appliances.

Next, the electrical power transfers from the inverter to the electrical service panel. The electrical service panel is used for distributing the electrical power to different parts of your house or office for use.

The unused electrical power produced by the solar panels will then be brought into the grid all the way through the utility electric meter. As a result, the meter will be made to spin backwards and this establishes a credit with the utility company in offsetting future usage. This method is known as Net Metering and is completely approved by State Level Electricity Policy.

Learning how to generate solar power renewable energy isn’t really a difficult task. You don’t require many skills beyond being able to handle wiring & basic tools with care and safety measures.

The components needed for constructing solar panels include:-

1.    Solar Cells2.    Sheet Plywood3.    Copper Wire4.    General Tools (Drills, screwdrivers, woodwork glue etc)5.    Clear PVC Sheeting

All these components can be easily picked up by you from the local hardware store. Photovoltaic cell is the only component that you might have to search online and it can be found easily on eBay. Quality directions that are easy to follow are vital to find when trying to build your own solar panel. This will make the building process less stressful and make you happier that you made the choice to do it yourself. Online is just one of the places you are able to find some of these manuals. We have reviewed the best guides available to help you to learn how to build your own solar panel system for electricity. Go ahead and check them out NOW……learn how to generate solar power renewable energy and STOP paying for electricity…FOREVER!

system bought 11/11/09 from fx larkin installed 11/12/09

Solar power is the energy of the future. Learn how to generate solar power renewable energy. A few of the several advantages of solar energy are first and foremost its free, easy to harness and is capable to provide more energy than what is needed by most homes and business establishments.

You may be aware that a commercially sold solar panel has its worth in thousands of dollars. But, did you know you can go solar for a fraction of that cost. To be specific, you can go solar for as little as $200!Why Go Solar?Solar panels are made up of small PV cells, also known as photovoltaic cells. The PV cells capture sun light and store it in a battery. The energy stored in the battery is then transformed into usable electricity using an inverter. Solar power is a renewable resource of energy and free to harness once you have installed solar panels. Installing ready made solar panels can be pretty expensive and can cost you anywhere from $10,000 – $18,000 to solar power you entire home. You can solar power your whole house for a fraction of this amount if you learn how to generate solar power renewable energy on your own. Building these systems from scratch is cheap and easy; all the required raw materials can be easily bought from the local electrical or hardware store. This also cuts down on any further impact on the environment as the solar panels do not go through any manufacturing processes.Going Solar Is Easy!Various kits are available to download from different vendors that will teach you to generate solar power renewable energy. The downloaded kits include steps for calculating the actual electricity that you need from solar panels based upon your electricity bills. Once you have that information you can start building your own solar panels, typically you can easily build a 100 watt solar panel in a day very easily.Now, that’s not something very substantial, but when you can easily redo the whole process over and over again, you can completely go off-grid with a few days of work and perhaps sell back the extra power back to the utility company. Now, how is that for a change? You’ll get a check from the utility provider!Save Heaps!Once you start generating your own solar power renewable energy, the installed systems will pay for themselves many times over the course of their life. Generally, solar panels have an average lifetime for 25-30 years requiring no to little maintenance. So, you do the math here and calculate how much you are set to save!

I was hoping that Rudd would take the environment seriously, he has just wiped out any chance for solar powered homes to take off. People on $100,000 and over are the only ones in the position to even consider adding solar power to their homes, these people purchasing the systems would eventually help to reduce the cost of solar and help these new companies get a foot hold.
Other countries are moving forward in this area, we seem to be one step forward, two backward.
The Government definately has a nasty love affair with coal power stations, I am extremely dissapointed in them and if they don’t put the rebate back on I will not be voting for them next time.

SunPower unveils more efficient solar panels
Silicon Valley manufacturer launches E19 series, a line of solar panels designed with an efficiency rating of more than 19 percent.

Read more on CNET