Re: Cheap Solar Power Coming

On Mon, 12 Mar 2007 23:50:52 +0000, Dirk Bruere at NeoPax
<dirk.bruere@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Mark Williams wrote:
"abelard" <abelard3@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uksav2d432p3pj3ftca9dhfrkm5t5l1ilp@xxxxxxxxxx
On Mon, 12 Mar 2007 12:48:18 -0000, "Mark Williams"
<spam.me@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

"Mel Rowing" <mel.rowing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1173698269.253220.219270@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On 12 Mar, 10:01, "Mark Williams" <spam...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Mel Rowing" <mel.row...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
And solar and wind sources in particular also have low energy
densities. Why did the old millers install steam engines if they got
the wind for free?
Because the steam engine is not limited by natural resources such as wind,
and hence the business is not contrained. Nobody would build an energy
intensive business based on solar, but is still makes sense for domestic
use.

Well if you can do that then no doubt you can explain to me why
governments (note the plural) oblige the distribution companies to
accept every unit of "renewable" or "alternative" energy offered at a
premium price? Why can't the brutality of the market place resolve
these issues?
Because it is an incentive (driven by policy) to encourage switching
faster
than market forces would drive the change. With gas prices at over £1 per
therm as they were last year, just about every form of biomass beats
gas-fired electricity production, but there has been a lot of investment
in
gas fired generation since 1990, so energy companies are hardly
incentivised
to switch. At less than $1 per MW capital cost, photovoltaic beats
gas-fired electricity hands down.
i think you mean $1 per watt

I think you are right.

And if the price falls to $1 per watt, there is no reason why it should
stop there.
If it falls to 10c per watt then the world is in for a revolution,
although we will probably have to wait 15 years for that kind of price drop.

watts per sq metre would be more helpful.....
i reckon that you'll be reasonable to expect get 20 watts per sq m in
the real world....(that'd still be 2kw for 100 sq ms)
i'm very distrustful of claims expresed in $s per watt without
qualification....

see my recent fred on covering london

regards.....

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Relevant Pages

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    (uk.politics.misc)
  • Re: Cheap Solar Power Coming
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    ... And solar and wind sources in particular also have low energy ... And if the price falls to $1 per watt, there is no reason why it should stop there. ...
    (uk.politics.misc)
  • Re: Cheap Solar Power Coming
    ... And solar and wind sources in particular also have low energy ... And if the price falls to $1 per watt, there is no reason why it should stop there. ...
    (uk.politics.misc)
  • Re: Cheap Solar Power Coming
    ... And solar and wind sources in particular also have low energy ... And if the price falls to $1 per watt, there is no reason why it should stop there. ...
    (uk.politics.misc)