Sam Vanderhoof's guest appearances

Sam Vanderhoof

The Energy Show

SunCast

Boaz Soifer

Jeff Wolfe

Matt Harper

John Powers

Josh Weiner

Energy Toolbase

Jenya Meydbray

Adam Browning

Tor Valenza

Jeff Brown

John Berger

John DiJulius

Minh Le

Andrea Barber

Steve Schmidt

OwlTail

Welcome to Episode 127 of SunCast, Solar Warrior! Sam runs the consultancy Solar Cowboyz, and I thought it fitting to air his episode on Thanksgiving b/c he’s a person we all should be thankful for.  For resources from today's episode and more information on how you can support Suncast, head over to www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes to the blog. (the direct URL is ...episodes/127) Join the Tribe? Check out Episode 86, in which I explain how YOU can become an Energy Tribe member and support the growth and stability of SunCast moving forward! www.mysuncast.com/member to join today! If you like what you see and hear, please SHARE it with this pre-filled tweet!

Welcome to Episode 127 of SunCast, Solar Warrior! Sam runs the consultancy Solar Cowboyz, and I thought it fitting to air his episode on Thanksgiving b/c he’s a person we all should be thankful for.  For resources from today's episode and more information on how you can support Suncast, head over to <a href="http://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes</a> to the blog. (the direct URL is ...episodes/127) Join the Tribe? Check out <a href="http://www.mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/086" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 86</a>, in which I explain how YOU can become an Energy Tribe member and support the growth and stability of SunCast moving forward! <a href="http://www.mysuncast.com/member" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.mysuncast.com/member</a> to join today! If you like what you see and hear, please <a href="https://ctt.ec/TUfbz" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SHARE it</a> with this pre-filled tweet!

127: Sam Vanderhoof: Solar Cowboyz, PV Recycling, 40 yrs in Solar

Copyright 2018 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon. All Rights Reserved.On this week’s Energy Show were talking about old solar panels. Specifically, what do you do with them?Solar panels last 30 years or more. Almost all of the old panels that I have tested still crank out close to their original power output. Unfortunately, old solar panels are not compatible with the electronics of new systems - inverters, optimizers and microinverters. Sort of like that old CD-ROM software that is still good…if you could just get a computer that has a CD-ROM drive and runs Windows XP.Some people want to upgrade their old 14% efficiency panels with new 20%+ efficiency panels equipped with a battery storage system. One big benefit of upgrading or adding panels is that the 30% tax credit applies to all new equipment — including that old inverter that may have failed. I expect that commercial customers will also start to upgrade their systems, replacing thousands of old panels with thousands of new panels.So what do you do with these old panels? Even though they are constructed of recyclable glass, aluminum and silicon, there has not been a viable solution for recycling solar panels. Instead of dumping old solar panels in landfills, my friend and solar guru Sam Vanderhoof has a solution to this problem: his new company called Recycle PV Solar (recyclepv.solar).Sam estimates that about 95% of solar panels are going into landfills. 15 gigawatts of solar panels were installed in the U.S. in 2016 - that represents about 6 million pounds of panels being installed every day! On a cumulative basis there are about 53 gigwatts of panels currently installed in the U.S., or about 200 million solar panels. To visualize the enormity of this recycling challenge, a train filled with containers of solar panels would be 1,500 miles long! Please Listen Up to this Week’s Energy Show to learn more about the challenges, economics and opportunities of recycling solar panels.

Copyright 2018 - The Energy Show, Barry Cinnamon. All Rights Reserved. On this week’s Energy Show were talking about old solar panels. Specifically, what do you do with them? Solar panels last 30 years or more. Almost all of the old panels that I have tested still crank out close to their original power output. Unfortunately, old solar panels are not compatible with the electronics of new systems - inverters, optimizers and microinverters. Sort of like that old CD-ROM software that is still good…if you could just get a computer that has a CD-ROM drive and runs Windows XP. Some people want to upgrade their old 14% efficiency panels with new 20%+ efficiency panels equipped with a battery storage system. One big benefit of upgrading or adding panels is that the 30% tax credit applies to all new equipment — including that old inverter that may have failed. I expect that commercial customers will also start to upgrade their systems, replacing thousands of old panels with thousands of new panels. So what do you do with these old panels? Even though they are constructed of recyclable glass, aluminum and silicon, there has not been a viable solution for recycling solar panels. Instead of dumping old solar panels in landfills, my friend and solar guru Sam Vanderhoof has a solution to this problem: his new company called Recycle PV Solar (recyclepv.solar). Sam estimates that about 95% of solar panels are going into landfills. 15 gigawatts of solar panels were installed in the U.S. in 2016 - that represents about 6 million pounds of panels being installed every day! On a cumulative basis there are about 53 gigwatts of panels currently installed in the U.S., or about 200 million solar panels. To visualize the enormity of this recycling challenge, a train filled with containers of solar panels would be 1,500 miles long! Please Listen Up to this Week’s Energy Show to learn more about the challenges, economics and opportunities of recycling solar panels.

Recycling Solar Panels with Sam Vanderhoof