Re: Cheap Solar Power Coming

abelard wrote:
On 11 Mar 2007 03:59:09 -0700, "Mel Rowing"
<mel.rowing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 11 Mar, 09:12, "Redman" <redman1...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
And the BIG utility companies don't like it:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/02/19/ccv...
ml

Redman
First the link:

http://tinyurl.com/2qxy92

Pie in the sky I'm afraid!

Solar flux density is around 1.4kW/sq.m.

the generally quoted figures i have are

1. Since 1750, anthropogenic forcing is estimated at a little over
2.5 W/m² at the Earth’s surface.
2. On a clear day, at noon, the sun’s radiation at the surface is
about 1,000 W/m². This is then complicated by day and night
differences, seasonal changes, cloud cover. At any time, sunlight and
heat from the sun is about ten thousand times more than the whole
world’s present energy consumption

Hence to generate 1GW (a moderate sized power station) an area of 1 x
10^9/1.4 x 10^3

i.e. 7 x 10^5 sq. m or 2.6 sq kilometres of the stuff would be
required.

And this assumes 100% conversion/efficiency which in itself impossible
to achieve.

Add to this:

The form of the electricity produced would be DC current.

To be transmitted over considerable distance, this has to be converted
into AC current using a device called an inverter. Tens of thousands
of such inverters would be needed and each one represents an energy
loss as anybody who has ever used one will tell you how hot they get.

the general idea is that the current is produced locally and
fed back into the grid....thus using the grid as a battery....
the time of production tends to coincide with the peak usage
times....thus allowing a lowering of back-up capacity and
lowering the costs to users....
it is very likely that pv will be market driven by end users...

as the price goes down it is attractive to increasing parts of the
market....

Add to that that the roofs on which this material is said to be
placed, They will presumably be widely dispersed and will need an
elaborate network to collect all this energy. This will require high
capital cost and imply further ohmic and inductive energy losses.

the capital costs are decreasing rapidly....
to a tenth or less in recent decades.....

the efficiencies are also creeping upwards....

Add further still the fact that solar energy can obviously not be
generated by night. We are told that this system can generate
electricity on dull days. No doubt it can but certainly not at the
same levels of efficiency. Snow and even ice will temporarily put it
out of action. There is also the necessity of keeping these large
areas clean. Accumulations of dust, lichens and bird droppings will
all impede efficiency significantly.

most i read suggests upkeep is quite low....and think of
all the 'unemployed'....

I doubt whether the big energy corporations are o'er concerned!

"As for the oil companies, they are still treating solar power as a fringe curiosity. "There is no silver bullet," said Jeroen Van der Veer, Shell's chief executive."

That would change instantly if that barium titanate super battery pans out. Couple that to the house solar array and top up the electric car at night. No more oil.

--
Dirk

http://www.onetribe.me.uk - The UK's only occult talk show
Presented by Dirk Bruere and Marc Power on ResonanceFM 104.4 http://www.resonancefm.com
.

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