Posted on 06/30/2018 12:09:17 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Do I REALLY need a </sarcasm> tag???
500 MW is about half a typical nuke power plant.
There is no question solar power will be an important part of our energy production mix in the future, and they actually make sense if you think of them as "peakers" in hot climates because they work best when air conditioners create higher demand. They will become more useful when the cost-per-KW come down enough to make them viable in the marketplace. It should not be done with government subsidies.
Of course, to make the whole thing work we would have to have a pretty large over-capacity so natural gas peakers can take over when solar isn't producing.
I read somewhere that a typical wind turbine requires 0.75kW of spinning reserve for each wind-generated kW.
The average actual solar power ratings for DELIVERED annual power is about 21% of the nameplate panel rating. Over time, as the panels degrade in the sun, that deliveted power ratio (capacity factor) goes even lower.
Yeah, they degrade by what? 5% per year, something like that. And they have to be washed, and rain leaves dust on them. Washing them requires power and water, even if done by robots. Constitutes "hotel load."
Yeah, I don't think giant pinwheels are the way to go. Solar panels, however, will eventually become competitive.
I remember reading once that the energy required to manufacture a solar panel is equal to the amount of energy that panel will ever produce, which kind of makes them energy STORAGE devices, rather than energy producers. But that will (or already has?) change, and eventually they will make more sense.
They will never dominate the energy production industry, though
Yeah, an oddity about photovoltaic cells is, over their first six months to a year of operation, their output declines to about half of whatever they originally were supposed to produce, and it stays there for the life of the cell. Also, the Sun doesn’t shine all day, and the day length and sunlight intensity varies seasonally.
Thanks for the info on photo voltaic, I was about to plop down a lot to install solar panels on my home in S Florida.
Maybe not on Earth, but...
“And the Sun is not a power source!”
Fusion is most definitely a source of power!
Gotcha!
See post #13...
...is what, exactly?
In the electricity generation business, demand (or load) management is a huge issue; this is the problem of matching the amount of electrical energy generated to the amount of demand that's present at any given moment. Since electrical energy can't be stored for rapid withdrawal, every watt demanded must be supplied instantly by generating capacity somewhere in the grid.
There are several types of "reserve" that is available throughout the day. Some are more expensive, some are less expensive. Some can be brought on-line very quickly (like in a fraction of a second), others take minutes or even hours to become available.
"Spinning reserve" is reserve that's in the form of generators that are already spinning; it's possible for even a big generator to be supplying just a small fraction of its potential output at a given moment, just like when your car is parked with the engine running; the engine is supplying power for the generator to run the car's electric system, computers, perhaps the air conditioning compressor, but these loads represent just a small fraction of what the engine is capable of, like when you're accelerating onto a highway in heavy traffic, for example.
Since the engine is already spinning, just a quick press on the accelerator will bring that capability "on line" as it were.
Electrical generators are just the same, although the particulars are obviously somewhat different.
"Spinning reserve" is that reserve that the utility company has access to immediately; in fact, it's usually tapped automatically; increased electrical load on the generator (often called an "alternator") increases torque seen by the turbine, which slows down a little bit; electronic sensors immediately sense this, and move a valve to admit more steam (or fuel) to the turbine. This happens in a fraction of a second.
I was once lucky enough to get a tour of a running fossil fuel generating plant. I got to see the main steam valve controlling the flow of steam into the turbine driving a 240MW alternator. The valve stem was literally trembling, making tiny motions up and down as it worked to hold the turbine's output RPM constant, while the people of Asheville North Carolina turned lights, air conditioners, and countless other things on and off.
“energy required to manufacture a solar panel is equal to the amount of energy that panel will ever produce”
If that’s so then the panels would be too expensive to even consider buying.
Solar water heating is practical, easier to maintain, And does return a reasonable rate on your investment. (Hot house water, pool water to extend your pool srason. ) PV cells? Never, if you have grid power available
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Which is why solar PV cells ONLY are used under TWO circumstances. If there is no grid power available AND the generated power is not essential 24 x7. Or if the government subsidies the solar installation .
OTOH, think about where our internal combustion engine is today compared to what it was 100 years ago. Same as rocket and missile systems.Use will promote efficiency, right along with battery technology.
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