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It work work but compare the sun the to the flash light. Which one gives off more light, the sun by alot. Solar panels work by converting the protons in the light to electricity. I think either way I asked the same question to my teacher when we learned about solar panels and the problem is the flash light just would give off enough light to power anything, even powering itself. Even if you got a bigger light your just wasting more energy than you gaining. But I know it’s a cool thought, it possible in the future if they get better lights, hope I answered your question. Keep it real

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They used solar for both residential and commercial water heating systems, space heating, and to dry crops and lumbers, also to distribute solar powered electricity to power homes in remote areas.

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I’m currently building a windmill, and just finished a solar setup for my garage. It’s really a practice run. We have some property in Hawaii that is off-grid and I’m planning to build there next year. The solar cell for the garage charges a deep cycle battery that I got from the local golf course (its out of a golf cart). And it holds enough juice to keep the lights going. I’m currently trying to add some load to it to see how much drain I can put on it.

The nice thing about the windmill, is that when the sun isn’t out, the wind is still blowing so the battery will charge 24 hours a day when I finish. You can build the generator from a car alternator, but I just bought it from eBay for 80 bucks. I do want to try to make my own, but I was feeling lazy,,,lol.

I got the instructions from

http://www.off-grid-wind-solar.com

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Because Hawaii has a lot of sun, our solar powered phones are located on the side of roads in case someone has car trouble.

We also have combination solar/wind generator lights installed at the Hanauma Bay parking lot.

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Generator is a vague word. Assuming you are using it to mean motor-generator sets which have a gas or diesel engine driving an alternator.

No, you can’t charge a motor generator set, it runs on gasoline or diesel fuel, you can’t convert sunlight or electricity to fuel.

But, you can use excess power during the day to charge batteries that can be later used to supply power. Note that battery storage can be expensive, and needs a lot of space and maintenance.

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Yes. There are ways including wind, gravitational (rain falling into spouts, turning generators). You can also heat your water by taking aluminum/tin foil and shaping it into a semi-circle by hand and aiming the sunlight at your hot water pipes.

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There are some cars that already do this, but it is not piratical for commercial uses.

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Hey turingschild,

I think you have a good idea there. I am also interested in solar energy. I just saw a film called “A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash” and agree that oil will soon run out. My interest in energy is purely investment oriented. Energy stocks make up the greatest portion of my portfolio. And year-over-year, the energy stocks have outperformed all of my other holdings (including real estate stocks and physical real estate).

In my profession, I get to analyze real estate investments and figure out how the investment will perform in short-term and long-term durations.

My answer to your question is this, analyze all factors leading to the purchase of solar products. You will want to find information about the following:
physical boundaries of your particular location
size of location
population
population growth
employment rate
incomes
disposable incomes
housing costs
busiest retail locations in your particular location
any competition?
Where are the hardware stores?
Can you open close to a home depot or Lowe’s?
Will they end up carrying the same products you want to carry?
Where can the current population go to purchase solar products?
How is your pricing compared to online stores
what’s your marketing and advertising plan?
Do you think just having a store open is enough?
Can you use the press to get publicity?
Can you work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week?

These are variable I try to figure out when I analyze an investment. I also do a sensitivity test by guesstimating the expenses and then increasing all expense items to see what the worst case scenario would be.

Hope that helps.