Free Solar Power Is Hoax

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | January 15, 2009 | James P. O'Loughlin, Placitas Engineer

[OneWingedShark]

>BTW, I did do the economic analysis on my 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid. [snip] it gets 21 MPG
>during the winter and 25 MPG in the summer. Fall and Spring bump it to 27 MPG. EPA now claims 28 MPG
>combined/29 city/27 highway. The EPA estimate is less than honest. This is my last hybrid.

Wow... I have an old 1983 Oldsmobile Regency 98, it’s Diesel and gets better fuel mileage. (And it’s not even a ‘native’ diesel engine, Oldsmobile just retrofitted their 350 engines to diesel.)

[OneWingedShark]

Oh, come on... solar is GREAT for heating/pre-heating the water. (Especially out here in NM).

And as others have said, these things need to be thought of during construction. (There’s a building in Phoenix that cut cooling costs by having it’s roof extend a little extra to provide a hat-like bill to block out the noon-time sun.)

[Myrddin]

My dad had the Olds Toronado diesel. It had an enormous hood. I think it was a reworked 455 cu in to diesel. It worked pretty well. Front wheel drive as well. He purchased it after I got married, so I have no idea of the economics issues.