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The New Dawn of Solar (Nanosolar wins PopSci 2007 award -- claims 30 cents/watt cost)
Popular Science ^
| Nov 2007 issue
| Michael Moyer
Posted on 11/19/2007 6:11:05 AM PST by Uncledave
click here to read article
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To: Kellis91789
Germany’s installations are EU-driven and government-subsidized. There is no free market, nor true analysis involved.
Rainfall and snowfall, clouds, etc + latitude of course - also drive insolation values.
121
posted on
11/20/2007 9:14:50 PM PST
by
Robert A Cook PE
(I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
To: Myrddin
122
posted on
11/20/2007 9:16:09 PM PST
by
Robert A Cook PE
(I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
To: theBuckwheat
And what other problem with solar power is there besides cost?
Guess you never get cloudy days or that the sun never sets where you live....
123
posted on
11/20/2007 9:28:18 PM PST
by
Kozak
(Anti Shahada: There is no god named Allah, and Muhammed is a false prophet)
To: Robert A. Cook, PE
Well, that's why I leave stuff like that in my home to the pros. I value the safety of my family too much to be messing around with things like NG lines, wiring, and even "simple" stuff like chimney repairs. I know the value of training and understanding the safety implications of technology. I'm not "afraid" of the technology, but I respect it, and understand the limitations of my own abilities.
In my employment almost every day I am working with radiation sources (some in the kilocurie range), and generating millions of watts of nuclear energy. But I am able to do that work safely because I have training and education in the relevant fields of study. I have going on 30 years of experience. I can do those things because I understand them with an in-depth knowledge that allows me to work safely with the technology. Not everyone does. I guess the one thing I have gained from being relatively educated is an appreciation for how much I don't know, and the best ways to manage my lack of knowledge when it comes to practical problems. And not everyone can work with high current circuits, or make safe connections to the grid, or deal with explosive gases. I know I can't, so I don't even try. Better to pay people who know.
124
posted on
11/20/2007 9:31:00 PM PST
by
chimera
To: Robert A. Cook, PE
The only reason I could justify investment in some kind of "off grid" alternative is if I was sincerely concerned that the "grid" was going away. If that was the case, I would go with a mix of solar and wind. We have LOTS of wind in southeast Idaho. Enough to justify a hillside of wind turbines just east of Idaho Falls. The solar PV discussed in this article would be interesting with the appropriate battery/inverter setup.
Pocatello just successfully attracted the construction of a new manufacturer of polysilicon materials to support their photo voltaic operations. The company is Hoku. The factory is under construction now.
125
posted on
11/20/2007 9:37:43 PM PST
by
Myrddin
To: chimera
And very, very few of today’s Americans will share your wisdom!
(I prefer to keep the kcuries behind the primary containment! HP steam and 180 tons of rotating metal at 1800 rpm is threat enough.)
126
posted on
11/20/2007 9:51:44 PM PST
by
Robert A Cook PE
(I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
To: Myrddin
I’ve successfully left Pocatello and Idaho Falls many years ago. Good luck. 8<)
127
posted on
11/20/2007 9:52:24 PM PST
by
Robert A Cook PE
(I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
To: Robert A. Cook, PE
I wouldn’t assume this is equipment that most would undertake installing themselves. Heck, most people call for a handyman for even the most minor stuff.
In most homes you’ll find things like oil tanks filled with a couple hundred gallons of diesel, gas or oil-fired furnaces blasting away, wood stoves, plenty of electrical hazards — the vast majority of people manage OK. And then some do stupid things.
To: MortMan
I was last living in Candor and have worked in the “City of Evil” as an Rn before my last job at Wilson Memorial in JC. I moved down here to Va., in 2003!
To: jas3
Well i would like to see more Nuke plants but even if the Enviro’s were all beamed back to their mother ships and a crash program of building new plants instituted, I would be an old man before the full benefits of the plants come on line. I would all be for more domestic drilly.
I don’t think the energy needs from all alternatives is going to be “insignificant” as you describe, but certainly won’t make an impact before the next 5 years or so. Part of the coming impacts is the revolution in electrical storage and the development of more efficient technologies that use less energy but run better and do more work for less. Intel’s new cpu chip sets for example come to mind, or my solar calculator that does scientific functions in candlelight! A single new product may not make much difference but many more efficient technolgies will in the aggregate!
But what my main focus has been and maybe I have not communicated it, if the intrinsic worth of energy independence. If we could supply all our own domestic energy needs of all types, even if the price were higher compared with what commodities we currently need to purchase from the outside, would that not be more desirable? I hate paying 3$ a gallon(equivalent ie electric, fuel,ect) to some foreign power out of sheer principle...but I don’t mind it so much paying it to domestic producers who supply jobs to our economy and pay taxes to our government!
To: SierraWasp
I get so tired of the un-ending, un-economical/impractical GANG-GREEN puss claims!!!I don't know, maybe you get the nail gun fer Christmas!!!!!
131
posted on
11/21/2007 7:55:03 AM PST
by
BOBTHENAILER
(One by one, in small groups or in whole armies, we don't care how we do it, but we're gonna getcha)
To: Robert A. Cook, PE
Ive successfully left Pocatello and Idaho Falls many years ago. Good luck. 8<)I moved to the Pocatello area to get away from the looney politics and overcrowding in California. Given your profession, you are likely happy to not be taking that long bus ride out to the site. Lots of my neighbors do that every day. Have a great Thanksgiving!
132
posted on
11/21/2007 8:40:56 AM PST
by
Myrddin
To: mdmathis6
Well i would like to see more Nuke plants but even if the Enviros were all beamed back to their mother ships and a crash program of building new plants instituted, I would be an old man before the full benefits of the plants come on line. I would all be for more domestic drilly.
Not true. The Chinese are able to bring a plant online in less than 5 years from design to power generation. Surely we could do the same without interference from "activists."
I dont think the energy needs from all alternatives is going to be insignificant as you describe, but certainly wont make an impact before the next 5 years or so.
Alternatives will not make an impact at all. They will never be more than 10% of US energy consumption unless we decide to cover an area the size of Kansas with solar panels and decide we want to pay 10 times the current rate for electricity from coal.
Part of the coming impacts is the revolution in electrical storage and the development of more efficient technologies that use less energy but run better and do more work for less. Intels new cpu chip sets for example come to mind, or my solar calculator that does scientific functions in candlelight! A single new product may not make much difference but many more efficient technolgies will in the aggregate!
Electrical storage solutions would be helpful, but the primary problem is in generation, not storage. Intel's new CPU chipsets will have an impact on US energy consumption too small to even measure. The same is true for solar calculators. Most energy is consumed in processes that are at or near their efficiency limits. For example, replacing incandescent lights with LEDs means I'll have to spend more energy heating my home.
But what my main focus has been and maybe I have not communicated it, if the intrinsic worth of energy independence. If we could supply all our own domestic energy needs of all types, even if the price were higher compared with what commodities we currently need to purchase from the outside, would that not be more desirable?
No. That would not be more desireable. It is most desireable for the lowest cost producer of any product or service to provide it. Malinvestment in any product or service serves to reduce productivity and comparatively impoverishes us all.
I hate paying 3$ a gallon(equivalent ie electric, fuel,ect) to some foreign power out of sheer principle...
What difference does it make?
but I dont mind it so much paying it to domestic producers who supply jobs to our economy and pay taxes to our government!
Foreign oil producers are some of the largest investors in the United States and "supply jobs." As for paying taxes to our government, I am generally opposed to any measures that increase taxable revenue to any branch of government.
jas3
133
posted on
11/21/2007 9:05:49 AM PST
by
jas3
To: mdmathis6
“I hate paying 3$ a gallon(equivalent ie electric, fuel,ect) to some foreign power out of sheer principle...”
Trade is not a bad thing. If we want other countries to buy American products, then they need dollars to buy them with. They get those dollars by Americans buying something they have.
A Trade DEFICIT is a bad thing, and oil is currently a huge contributor to that deficit. Trade that is so necessary that you are forced to overlook differences in philosophy, security, human rights, etc. is also a bad thing. That is not ‘free’ trade, since you have become dependent on that trade partner.
I agree that in the current situation we should be energy independent, or at least reduce our imports to the point where we are in balance with what they need to buy from us.
134
posted on
11/21/2007 9:17:00 AM PST
by
Kellis91789
(Liberals aren't atheists. They worship government -- including human sacrifices.)
To: Myrddin
[The only reason I could justify investment in some kind of “off grid” alternative is if I was sincerely concerned that the “grid” was going away.]
Or ... if you really wanted to live a little further off the beaten path. Get a mile away from existing power lines and see how much the utility company wants to charge you to run power to your property.
As solar PV systems come down in price, it will allow people to spread out more without waiting for the grid to expand. For people like me that don’t want to live in tract housing, cheaper PV is key.
135
posted on
11/21/2007 9:33:00 AM PST
by
Kellis91789
(Liberals aren't atheists. They worship government -- including human sacrifices.)
To: KarlInOhio
There will be some additional costs for energy storage so you can turn on a light bulb at night and use power at a higher surge rate than the sun is providing.In warm climates the highest energy use is during the sunniest part of the day. Energy companies actually pump water from lower lakes to higher lakes at night and generate electricity during the day as the water flows back down through the turbines. Electricity consumers can also sign up for programs that charge less at night.
What this means is that photo-voltaic cells on individual homes and businesses would be connected to the power grid and would supplement the power supply during heavy load periods. If enough of them were used, then the coal-fired and natural gas plants could be throttled down.
If a home had enough cells and the occupants were not at home during the day using electricity, their meters would run backwards.
No storage system is needed.
136
posted on
11/21/2007 9:39:51 AM PST
by
Jeff Chandler
("Liberals want to save the world for the children they aren't having." -Mark Steyn)
To: Robert A. Cook, PE
Depends who you believe. The NREL chart shows Michigan as a 4.0 and Florida as a 5.0, and Atlanta as a 5.0 when even Arizona desert is only a 6.5.
The NREL chart says it takes into account “cloud cover, aerosol optical depth, precipitable water vapor, albedo, atmospheric pressure and ozone.”
So 80% Michigan vs. Florida appears correct.
137
posted on
11/21/2007 10:04:03 AM PST
by
Kellis91789
(Liberals aren't atheists. They worship government -- including human sacrifices.)
To: Kellis91789
My wife and I travel to Yellowstone National Park on a regular basis from April until October. In that journey, we pass through an area called Island Park. There are some very nice areas along the road with custom built log cabins dotting the hillside. That would be a great place for a retirement or vacation home. There is just enough connectivity (1xRTT) to permit me to work if I wanted to do so. Living in that area would require real discipline in shopping runs...even for basic necessities. It's just a little too far off the beaten path for the requirements of my current employment.
138
posted on
11/21/2007 10:40:48 AM PST
by
Myrddin
To: jas3
“Alternatives will not make an impact at all. They will never be more than 10% of US energy consumption unless we decide to cover an area the size of Kansas with solar panels and decide we want to pay 10 times the current rate for electricity from coal”
You sound like luddites who said we would never fly or that we could never get a train to go faster than 30 miles per hour or that we could never break the sound barrier!
To: Kellis91789
That’s all I was trying to get at...get our energy needs balanced to a point that we don’t threaten to fall prey as a nation to foreign black-mail...that we could survive as a viable nation even if some dhimmitude loving foreign power says to us...convert or no oil!
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