Invisible schrieb:

>> Of course they are waterproof, they are also lots-of-snow and 
>> big-lumps-of-ice proof.  Otherwise people wouldn't put them on their 
>> roof. FWIW there are different ratings depending on how much snow-load 
>> you want to support.
> 
> Wait - I thought that was still science fiction? You mean people 
> somewhere *actually do this* now??

Definitely so. Seen this a /lot/ in south-eastern Germany, too. And the 
house I grew up in (and which my parents sold some months ago) has just 
been equipped with solar panels, too (not sure whether the photovoltaic 
or water-heating type) - even despite it being on a hillside facing 
north, in a particularly rainy valley of a particularly rainy area of 
western Germany.

It's really gearing up these days in Germany. I guess the development of 
oil prices in the last 1-2 years are taking effect: People started 
getting aware in a very practical way that we'll not be able to live on 
fossil fuels forever.

It's still not competitive with grid power /yet/, but the government 
does a lot here to support such investments, so for the end user it does 
pay off. All the more if you figure in future oil price rises, which 
people in Germany have started to do. It's now actually considered a 
financial investment over here, not just an ecological one.

And I just read that for instance in Hawaii, solar power is now already 
cheaper than ordinary grid power.

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