Lighting Efficiency Help
Everyone that lives with a solar electric system cares more about the efficiency of their lights and appliances than people who live with utility supplied electricity. This is because solar electric systems have a high initial cost. A good example can be demonstrated in lighting. If you use 4 100 watt lamps, 5 hours a night in a PV powered home in the southwest US you will about 4 times as many panels and batteries to do the same job as 4 25 watt florescent lamps. You will save over $2000 in the system cost - just by changing the type of bulb you use. Try it in the Virtual Solar Engineer.