solar voltaic power
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Umbra on thin-film solar panels
Dear Umbra, I read that thin-film solar panels are now being produced on a wider scale. I always hear that they can be sandwiched into window glass, but are there any companies that are actually using the technology in architectural products? How does thin film compare to the traditional PV panel? Jen Oakland, Calif. Dearest […]
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Why we gotta knock solar?
Can we please, once and for all, stop decrying solar energy for being too area-intensive? See, for example, the oft-cited statistic that to power its economy, the U.S. would need "10 billion meters, squared, of land." America isn't exactly short on square meters, and awfully sunny ones at that. But 10 billion square meters sounds a lot bigger than it really is.
10,000 square kilometers (100km x 100km) form a square you could drive around entirely, at legal highway speeds, in four hours. (Less if you speed.) 10,000 square kilometers is also roughly one-fortieth the area that the human species has already occupied for hydroelectric reservoirs -- all to produce, according to the IEA, 15 percent of current global electricity demand. (This certainly overstates the efficiency of large dams, which do not produce 100 percent of the world's hydroelectric power.)
Get that? For vastly less space than we already consume for the pittance we get from hydroelectric dams, we could power the world. Space is not the limiting factor -- and soon enough, cost won't be either. Which will leave mulish stupidity the remaining roadblock.
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Regulatory infrastructure will be crucial
I was traveling last week and missed "solar's inevitable dominance."
I disagree. There is nothing at all inevitable about solar. Sure, the technological potential exists. But the problem is not technology. The technology works great. The problem is policy.
Right now, if solar panels were free -- handed out on street corners -- you still would not see market uptake anywhere near the technical potential. Why? Because we do not yet have the right regulatory infrastructure.
Let me give you an example. Last year, the Arizona Corporation Commission passed a huge increase in the state's renewable energy standard. It will require upwards of 2,000 MW of solar, and there's somewhere around a billion dollars worth of funding to help.
So what happens?
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Solar is making boats go now — take that, wind!
Wind, you think you are so badass. I tell you, solar is creeping up on you where you least expect it:
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Don’t fight it
Energy wonk Robert McLeod has long post filled with statistics and graphs, arguing a simple point: if historical trends continue, solar power is going to dominate. Soon. (You’ll recognize this as substantially similar to the argument made by solar booster Travis Bradford.) If you’re into statistics and graphs, read the whole thing. If not, here […]
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Making a market for solar in Eugene, Oregon
Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) offers to buy solar power produced by customers at 15 cents/kWh.
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It could be fantastic, but nobody’s built any
CNET’s summary of its own story perfectly captures the highs and lows of solar thermal: Bottom line: A large-scale solar power plant with a large energy-storage system that is close to other solar-power systems and the customers they serve could produce electricity for about the same cost as that from standard utility plants. Such a […]
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Solar that doesn’t need direct sunlight
Solar that doesn’t require direct sunlight: [G24i] uses nano-sized titanium crystals, which turn sunlight into electricity in a process similar to photosynthesis (the method plants use to store the energy from sunlight in sugars). Because G24i’s technology is more powerful than other solar cells, it does not need direct sunlight to generate electricity and can […]
