Skip to comments.
Sunlight Converted Into Electricity With Highest Efficiency Ever Reported
Headlines and Global News ^
| 12/07/2014
| Rebecca Macarelli
Posted on 12/07/2014 8:47:12 PM PST by SeekAndFind
click here to read article
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-24 next last
To: SeekAndFind
2
posted on
12/07/2014 8:53:45 PM PST
by
smokingfrog
( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
To: SeekAndFind
There could very well be a time when solar power makes sense in certain parts of the world.Australia is basically one huge desert.We have desert areas in this country.Maybe other parts of the world as well.But northern Europe,northern parts of North America? Hard to see that happening.
3
posted on
12/07/2014 8:53:48 PM PST
by
Gay State Conservative
(Jimmy Carter;No Longer The Worst President In My Lifetime)
To: SeekAndFind
4
posted on
12/07/2014 8:56:25 PM PST
by
Jack Hydrazine
(Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
To: SeekAndFind
My first lesson in the laws of thermodynamics came when dad gave me a solar cell and I wanted to try to get the solar cell to light a bulb to shine on the cell to light the bulb...
I have yet to apply what, as a 7 year-old, I learned of First Law and conservation of energy to my personal energy [in]efficiencies in pursuing female companionship.
5
posted on
12/07/2014 8:58:17 PM PST
by
Rodamala
To: Gay State Conservative
There could very well be a time when solar power makes sense in certain parts of the world.Australia is basically one huge desert.We have desert areas in this country.Maybe other parts of the world as well.But northern Europe,northern parts of North America? Hard to see that happening What's the cost of the cell, what is it's life and will it ever survive long enough to pay back it's cost. But most importantly, why would anyone feel it's okay to destroy the desert with solar cells and solar plants when we wont let our citizens recreate on the same property?
6
posted on
12/07/2014 8:58:59 PM PST
by
Mastador1
(I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
To: Mastador1
But most importantly, why would anyone feel it's okay to destroy the desert with solar cells and solar plants when we wont let our citizens recreate on the same property? Because people driving ATVs or dirt bikes around the desert don't kick back a percentage to congressmen.
7
posted on
12/07/2014 9:19:19 PM PST
by
KarlInOhio
(The IRS: either criminally irresponsible in backup procedures or criminally responsible of coverup.)
To: Mastador1
But most importantly, why would anyone feel it's okay to destroy the desert with solar cells and solar plants when we wont let our citizens recreate on the same property? Because people driving ATVs or dirt bikes around the desert don't kick back a percentage to congressmen.
8
posted on
12/07/2014 9:20:57 PM PST
by
KarlInOhio
(The IRS: either criminally irresponsible in backup procedures or criminally responsible of coverup.)
To: KarlInOhio
I am much more willing to support rebates for end user/citizens to help push a technology, but never outright taxpayer handouts and forgivable loans to crony capitalist con artists and financial wheeler dealers as was done with Solyndra. The media covered for those thieves and their political cohorts.
We’d be better off encouraging individual American homeowners to improve their energy self sufficiency and use of their residence footprint with certain types of PV solar than we are creating centralized solar farms that are vulnerable to natural disasters, terrorism and ecological issues.
But as you aptly said what gets funded is always based upon how much the lobbyists pay off our corrupt Congress.
Private capital needs to be put up and used for any large scale development otherwise it always corrupts government and steals from our treasury.
9
posted on
12/07/2014 9:34:26 PM PST
by
apoliticalone
(Politicians work for their own self interest and their puppeteers not average Americans)
To: Mastador1
California and the southwestern USA have some of the world’s best sunlight conditions for solar power. I’m seeing rooftop solar power panels going up everywhere in the Sacramento, CA area because of this.
10
posted on
12/07/2014 9:41:33 PM PST
by
RayChuang88
(Ferguson: put your hands down and go to work!)
To: RayChuang88
Uh, huh that's not the point, the point is the lifetime vs. payback, I used to do work at a company that competed with UL and they made a great deal of their money testing solar panels and they told me they wouldn't buy them themselves because they would fail before they hit payoff. And as I pointed out in my post they destroy the landscape and wildlife in disproportion to their benefit, landscape which the citizens are prevented from enjoying, because they would harm it.
11
posted on
12/07/2014 10:01:02 PM PST
by
Mastador1
(I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
To: SeekAndFind
I’m confident the efficiency will come, it’s a matter of R&D and material science developments. Heck, 30 years ago no one would have believed how efficient the internal combustion engine would become, or that smartphones could be so cheap even people on welfare would have them ;-)
Keep the government OUT of it, and most importantly, STOP providing incentives for sub-optimal technology. Let capitalism work.
12
posted on
12/07/2014 10:07:03 PM PST
by
bigbob
(The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly. Abraham Lincoln)
To: RayChuang88
"California and the southwestern USA has some of the worlds best sunlight conditions for solar power highest electricity costs in the USA. Im seeing rooftop solar power panels going up everywhere in the Sacramento, CA area because of this." My average electricity cost is .28/kwh, so the ROI is quick. If I was paying electricity rates like folks in Texas (where they also get plenty of sun), solar power would make zero financial sense.
13
posted on
12/07/2014 10:46:47 PM PST
by
ETCM
To: bigbob
If the tax subsidies are allowed to sunset as scheduled, and utilities continue to move away from “net metering” plans, the solar industry will have to make huge cost reductions, or people will have no financial incentive to buy their systems.
14
posted on
12/07/2014 10:56:19 PM PST
by
ETCM
To: SeekAndFind
The achievement was made using focused sunlight, and could have implications in photovoltaic power, the University of New South Wales reported.
...
Which means it may have no implications whatsoever.
15
posted on
12/07/2014 11:00:48 PM PST
by
Moonman62
(The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
To: Gay State Conservative
The costs of solar have continued to decline, and solar power is carving out larger niches for off-grid applications. It's still a long way from competing for residential or business applications for any sites on the grid, absent massive subsidies. A neighbor of mine put solar panels on his roof. (He took advantage of a promotion that was being offered locally some years back, at the height of the solar subsidy mania.) His out of pocket expenses were about $3,000. The total project cost was about $30,000. Solar pays, if you can get someone else to foot 90% of the bill.
That said, costs continue to decline, and I would not be at all surprised if solar emerged as a viable option. But we're not there yet.
16
posted on
12/08/2014 3:26:22 AM PST
by
sphinx
To: smokingfrog
Once you have gotten to 40%, further efficiency improvements are less important than cell cost per watt.
17
posted on
12/08/2014 3:30:14 AM PST
by
SauronOfMordor
(Socialists want YOUR wealth redistributed, never THEIRS!)
To: SeekAndFind
The prototype also boasts an optical bandpass filters that work to capture the sunlight that is normally wasted by modern solar cells...In addition to the grammatical mistake, this statement makes no sense.
18
posted on
12/08/2014 3:34:20 AM PST
by
Fresh Wind
(The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away)
To: sphinx
It can be a viable option on an individual basis, but I don't see it going further than that.
19
posted on
12/08/2014 3:38:55 AM PST
by
uglybiker
(nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-BATMAN!)
To: ETCS
My average electricity cost is .28/kwh, so the ROI is quick. ... which is why energy costs are skyrocketing, to make these things palatable. My rate is .08.
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-24 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson