[Boot Hill]

8	“The Hydrogen generator is either powered by solar panels on the roof of your house...at virtually no cost”

In reading your responses on this thread, you seem to believe that it is possible to use solar to generate the hydrogen and at zero cost.

OK, time for a pop quiz on solar power.

Using the most advanced solar technology currently available...

1. Measured in gasoline-energy equivelants, on average, how much hydrogen will a solar cell produce per square meter per day?
   1.   8 gallons
   2.   4 gallons
   3.   2 gallons
   4.   2 ounces

2. The cost of a square meter of solar cell averages how much?
   1.   $10
   2.   $50
   3.   $100
   4.   $500

This is a serious quiz Holtz. If you're really serious about the use solar, these elementary facts are critical in determining the energy efficiency and economic sense of the proposal.

--Boot Hill

[JeffersonRepublic.com]

“This is a serious quiz Holtz. If you're really serious about the use solar, these elementary facts are critical in determining the energy efficiency and economic sense of the proposal.”

O.K. I’ll bite, but I never said that hydrogen is free or could be produced for free. In fact, I believe that to produce hydrogen and use it in your car will be more expensive. But if everyone used it, the scale of economic would bring the cost down greatly. Maybe then, after considering all the cost involved in producing gas, would the two be comparable.

Time for the quiz teacher!
1. & 2. You picked the most expensive energy source used in America in order to justify your reluctance to listen to any new ideas. Although I’m sure that if we choose to only use solar panels to fuel our cars the price would drop drastically. It is certainly high; it is not so high that the idea should be dismissed entirely. Remember that in 1970, the cost of PV was $100 per watt (in 1970 dollars), compared to less than $5 today. In inflation adjusted dollars, a decline of a factor of over 100. Cost of the technology continues to decline.

It is quite reasonable to expect that, especially if PV enters extremely large-scale production, cost will drop dramatically. Even after considering this I would still think if we were to switch to hydrogen cars, we would use- coal, nuclear, solar, wind …etc to produce it.

Think about the huge cost of anything mass produced today. I’m sure you have a lot in common with the buggy makers of the late 1800’s. I can hear them saying how much money will these roads, fuel stations, blah, blah, blah.

Screw them and screw the nay sayers, IT’S CALLED PROGESS!

Holtz
JeffersonRepublic.com

[rface]

I don't want to take a pop quiz - I want you to tell me how much a solar panel square meter costs and how much fuel it produces....

I imagine you will say that it is inefficient, but are there advances in the technology that makes it worth looking at for future concideration??