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Comment by ck2

9 hours ago

look how cheap now, it's crazy

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256809986804138.html

I'm old enough to remember Carter putting them on WhiteHouse roof and they were thousands of dollars then (and less efficient)

23 comments

ck2

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atwrk  8 hours ago

That's actually only cheap because of the free shipping - in Germany 450W panels are at about 55-60€ retail right now, for example. So a balcony set (2 panels for 1kW total, plus inverter) is about 150-200€, depending on the specific parts. Both exluding shipping, though.

Prices fell dramatically in the last few years, if I understood things correctly the high prices in the US are mostly due to tariffs.

  • cyberge99  8 hours ago

    That’s right. The current US president just reversed some of the previous administration’s Infrastructure Act which provided about 30% tax credit for installing solar.

saidinesh5  9 hours ago

The link isn't available here. Can you share the specs and price of that panel?

  • daemonologist  8 hours ago

    I'm in the US and it's showing a 100W panel for USD 37.21 (free shipping, including tariffs but not state/local taxes).

    Also the panels Carter installed were solar water heaters - in 1979 solar photovoltaics were just starting to expand beyond satellites and cost like $40/watt.

    • ck2  8 hours ago

      it's actually $33 because there's a $4 coupon available to everyone on the page

      and if you buy 2 at a time there are multiple 10% codes available

      so it's $67 USD for 200watts

      100watt 18volt 5amp panels that can be put in series or parallel

      for $33 each, it's crazy

  • cma  8 hours ago

    $37.21 for a 100 watt panel with free shipping. I'm not sure if that is before or after 50% tariffs and/or the 10% "fentanyl" extra tariff that was announced a few days after Ross Ulbricht's pardon for running the world's largest opiates-by-mail operation.

    • horsawlarway  8 hours ago

      You can buy brand new in bulk in the US for roughly the same $/watt.

      I bought 30 375w Canadian Solar panels 2 years ago and paid $0.41/watt (~$4536 for the whole package)

      My mounting equipment actually cost more than the panels (~$4600). And the permitting process cost nearly as much as the panels (permit cost + architectural drawing + structural engineer stamp + electrician stamp).

      It's crazy how cheap solar panels themselves are getting. They're going to win on the energy front - period. Especially now that battery tech actually seems to be moving again. I vividly remember one of my robotics professors in undergrad ranting about how frustrated he was with battery tech in ~2007, but LFP and sodium batteries are both pretty huge steps forward.

      6 replies →

    • dhosek  8 hours ago

      Heck even if that’s pre-tariff it’s cheap enough that it could be an impulse buy.

    • ck2  8 hours ago

      it's from a US warehouse so there are no tariffs (or they've already been paid/included)

DonHopkins  8 hours ago

And Reagan taking them down.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/03/22/jiimmy-ca...

>It was pretty symbolic back in 1979, too. The symbolism depended on what you thought of Carter and his policies. For some, the panels were a much-needed acknowledgment that America had to wean itself from fossil fuel, explore alternative energy sources and help save the planet. For others, they were in the same category as Carter’s virtue-signaling cardigan. Of course, critics moaned, Carter would put solar panels on the White House.

>The panels came down in 1986 when the White House roof was undergoing repairs. Ronald Reagan did not have them replaced. Of course, Reagan wouldn’t put solar panels on the White House.

What is the story behind Reagan taking down the solar panels installed by Carter? Was it symbolic of a new, less enthusiastic approach to clean energy?

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/g4w4ww/what_...

Solar power at the White House

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_at_the_White_House

>On June 20, 1979, 32 solar water heating panels were placed on the roof of the West Wing. The panels were made by InterTechnology/Solar Corp. from Warrenton, Virginia and installed by Hector Guevara of Alternate Energy Industries Corp.[2] At the dedication ceremony for the panels, President Carter said, "In the year 2000 this solar water heater behind me, which is being dedicated today, will still be here supplying cheap, efficient energy... A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people".[1]

The whole installation cost $35,000 in 1979 (about $160,000 now).

https://books.google.nl/books?id=e9dlzwL4Ck4C&dq=solar+white...