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Giant glass orb could replace the solar panel
yahoo.com ^
| February 6, 2014
Posted on 02/10/2014 2:04:46 PM PST by grundle
click here to read article
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To: grundle
To: grundle
22
posted on
02/10/2014 2:20:07 PM PST
by
Red Badger
(Proud member of the Zeta Omicron Tau Fraternity since 2004...................)
To: SpaceBar
No matter how much you engineer, or how fancy the lenses are, or nanocrystalline the silicon is, you are still limited by about one kw per square meter times the cosine of your latitude times a 50% duty-cycle factor for night, times a cloud cover factor. Which puts solar at around 30% capacity factor ceiling.
Wind can be higher, but effective solar can coincide with SW peak air-conditioning load.
Neither is economical if you want your money back in less than 10 years.
23
posted on
02/10/2014 2:20:49 PM PST
by
cicero2k
To: NYer; Blood of Tyrants; Yossarian
24
posted on
02/10/2014 2:22:01 PM PST
by
Red Badger
(Proud member of the Zeta Omicron Tau Fraternity since 2004...................)
To: BitWielder1
That was also the sentence that caught my eyes first.
Either the engineers didn’t explain it clearly, or the writer of this article misunderstood something.
25
posted on
02/10/2014 2:22:51 PM PST
by
Sir Napsalot
(Pravda + Useful Idiots = CCCP; JournOList + Useful Idiots = DopeyChangey!)
To: Red Badger
Please. Just keep Woody away from the thing.
26
posted on
02/10/2014 2:23:06 PM PST
by
x
To: grundle
Solar Orb holder...
27
posted on
02/10/2014 2:23:22 PM PST
by
DannyTN
To: Pikachu_Dad
Probably look something like this...
28
posted on
02/10/2014 2:23:53 PM PST
by
tet68
( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
To: Blood of Tyrants
Still gonna have to clean pidgeon crap off it...
29
posted on
02/10/2014 2:24:31 PM PST
by
GraceG
To: Pikachu_Dad
Looks HEAVY. That is a LOT of glass.Perhaps it could be filled with liquid.
The real issue is that it isn't a concentrator...rather, it's a redirector, much like a corner reflector. That means that you are substituting the spheres for the tracking control to follow the sun. It's a fixed-geometry trade-off.
To: BitWielder1
>> So you have to mount it on a very long pole.
And it’s gonna have to be Pyrex. :-)
31
posted on
02/10/2014 2:25:54 PM PST
by
Nervous Tick
(Without GOD, men get what they deserve.)
To: grundle
32
posted on
02/10/2014 2:28:07 PM PST
by
fso301
To: BitWielder1
So you have to mount it on a very long pole.
On casters, to allow for the rotation of the earth!
33
posted on
02/10/2014 2:29:01 PM PST
by
Dr. Sivana
("We are not sluts."--Sandra Fluke)
To: Blood of Tyrants
Exactly. I imagine a large, precisely shaped and polished glass orb is not cheap.
To: BitWielder1
I suppose “direct contact with the sun” would be a very efficient way of collecting solar energy.
35
posted on
02/10/2014 2:30:07 PM PST
by
DannyTN
To: grundle
36
posted on
02/10/2014 2:30:43 PM PST
by
JoeProBono
(SOME IMAGES MAY BE DISTURBING VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED;-{)
To: Boogieman
Maybe they can 3D print it?
37
posted on
02/10/2014 2:31:01 PM PST
by
Kartographer
("We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.")
To: Yossarian
>> [Alternative energy schemes] have to pull their own weight to be useful in all but niche applications.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ THAT
Alternative energy is wonderful. I’m planning a solar installation in the future, myself. Not to save money but for a degree of self-sufficiency.
But I don’t expect YOU to pay for MINE... and I sure as heck don’t want to be forced to pay for YOURS.
Meanwhile, drill and frack the hell out of the back forty... and find a use for all that cheap GAS!!!
38
posted on
02/10/2014 2:31:17 PM PST
by
Nervous Tick
(Without GOD, men get what they deserve.)
To: grundle
Solar would be awesome if it could be done in a way that it didn’t need subsidies.
I really think someone will figure it out sometime.
To: BitWielder1
40
posted on
02/10/2014 2:35:26 PM PST
by
SunTzuWu
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