Right now solar is very decentralised - people are starting to cover their roof with solar panels and sell electric back to the companies during the day. That's starting to upset the big generator industries, and some are pushing for legislation against it.Atekimogus wrote:Nevertheless....you are probably right about fusion being the way to go, solar energy plants by definiton would be more dezentralized and folks don't like that.
The total area of solar panels it would take to power the wo
- Graham Kennedy
- Site Admin
- Posts: 11561
- Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:28 pm
- Location: Banbury, UK
- Contact:
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
Give a man a fire, and you keep him warm for a day. SET a man on fire, and you will keep him warm for the rest of his life...
-
- Lieutenant Commander
- Posts: 1193
- Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:10 pm
- Location: Vienna
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
Well, that is what I meant with folks, big energy.Graham Kennedy wrote:Right now solar is very decentralised - people are starting to cover their roof with solar panels and sell electric back to the companies during the day. That's starting to upset the big generator industries, and some are pushing for legislation against it.Atekimogus wrote:Nevertheless....you are probably right about fusion being the way to go, solar energy plants by definiton would be more dezentralized and folks don't like that.
Even with the current shitty effectivness I remember reading a study how much energy could be produced in middle europe just be making it a requirment for new homes and buildings to have a photovoltaic on the roof.
If I had my way, I would make THAT a legislation.
I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite store on the Citadel.
- Graham Kennedy
- Site Admin
- Posts: 11561
- Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:28 pm
- Location: Banbury, UK
- Contact:
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
The worst aspect of that is that the peak generating time for solar is the afternoon... which is the time of minimum demand for electricity in the home. By the time domestic use peaks in the evening your solar is pretty useless.
I suspect it would be better to push for every factory and office space in the country to have solar panels all over them. At least then you're focusing on the people who actually use power in the day.
I suspect it would be better to push for every factory and office space in the country to have solar panels all over them. At least then you're focusing on the people who actually use power in the day.
Give a man a fire, and you keep him warm for a day. SET a man on fire, and you will keep him warm for the rest of his life...
- Tholian_Avenger
- Lieutenant jg
- Posts: 356
- Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2008 5:51 am
- Location: Here, just past there.
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
In America, you could cover automobile parking lots with solar panels to provide shade and collect power...
6 Star Admiral of the Loyal Water Buffaloes and Honorable Turtles
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
I suspect they've got some way to go with hail proofing before solar panels on buildings are going to be a good idea in most of the places I've lived. If they've got it sorted out they aren't advertising it.
- Teaos
- 4 Star Admiral
- Posts: 15368
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 4:00 am
- Commendations: The Daystrom Award
- Location: Behind you!
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
Heavy duty PVC?
What does defeat mean to you?
Nothing it will never come. Death before defeat. I don’t bend or break. I end, if I meet a foe capable of it. Victory is in forcing the opponent to back down. I do not. There is no defeat.
Nothing it will never come. Death before defeat. I don’t bend or break. I end, if I meet a foe capable of it. Victory is in forcing the opponent to back down. I do not. There is no defeat.
-
- 3 Star Admiral
- Posts: 13024
- Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:27 am
- Commendations: The Daystrom Award, Cochrane Medal of Excellence
- Location: New Hampshire
- Contact:
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
That'd get dented and scratched up and torn and messed up. It'd be easier to replace, but it'd still need to be replaced.Teaos wrote:Heavy duty PVC?
-
- Lieutenant Commander
- Posts: 1149
- Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 3:34 am
- Location: Georgia, United States
- Contact:
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
Cheaper than replacing the panels though.RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:That'd get dented and scratched up and torn and messed up. It'd be easier to replace, but it'd still need to be replaced.Teaos wrote:Heavy duty PVC?
Just have a bunch of PVC panels stored on site, and when the hail is over you send out a bunch of people to replace them (free coffee and sandwiches provided). The damaged/broken panels then get loaded into a series of trucks, and sent back to a factory for reuse. Find the right plastic so it is clear, easily remeltable, no chemicals special features, and you could even reprocess the panels on-site. Just have a team of people go out, bring in the old panels, and stack them near the melter. Another team takes the panels, and loads them in the melter. A third team takes the redone panels out, and stacks them for replacing. A fourth team then reinstalls them. If you need to keep the panels covered, you'd have extras that are initially taken out, while the melter gets warmed up.
Relativity Calculator
My Nomination for "MVAM Critic Award" (But can it be broken into 3 separate pieces?)
My Nomination for "MVAM Critic Award" (But can it be broken into 3 separate pieces?)
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
I haven't heard of a solution like pvc being proposed. One thing to note is that a lot of the energy coming from the sun isn't within the visible spectrum. While I don't know the optical properties of PVC, I do know that glass tends to absorb UV and higher frequencies and sometimes infrared and lower. Broad spectrum transperancy might actually be pretty rare.
-
- 4 Star Admiral
- Posts: 21747
- Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:38 pm
- Location: Forward Torpedo Tube Twenty. Help!
- Contact:
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
Some of the flexible, roll-out panels I've seen are hail-proof.
http://www.siliconsolar.com/flexible-solar-panels.html
http://www.siliconsolar.com/flexible-solar-panels.html
There is only one way of avoiding the war – that is the overthrow of this society. However, as we are too weak for this task, the war is inevitable. -L. Trotsky, 1939
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
Searching that particular sight for hail didn't find anything, so maybe they don't make the claim. I suppose I could see flexibility and a soft backing being a way to achieve hail resistance, though that depends on maintaining flexibility at very cold temperatures.Tsukiyumi wrote:Some of the flexible, roll-out panels I've seen are hail-proof.
http://www.siliconsolar.com/flexible-solar-panels.html
- Teaos
- 4 Star Admiral
- Posts: 15368
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 4:00 am
- Commendations: The Daystrom Award
- Location: Behind you!
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
Global warming is a long term solution to hail I suppose...
What does defeat mean to you?
Nothing it will never come. Death before defeat. I don’t bend or break. I end, if I meet a foe capable of it. Victory is in forcing the opponent to back down. I do not. There is no defeat.
Nothing it will never come. Death before defeat. I don’t bend or break. I end, if I meet a foe capable of it. Victory is in forcing the opponent to back down. I do not. There is no defeat.
- Graham Kennedy
- Site Admin
- Posts: 11561
- Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:28 pm
- Location: Banbury, UK
- Contact:
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
In the end, fifty years from now we will be generating electricity from a combination of fission (or hopefully fusion) along with wind and solar. Maybe a few surviving coal and oil plants around the place.
Give a man a fire, and you keep him warm for a day. SET a man on fire, and you will keep him warm for the rest of his life...
- Teaos
- 4 Star Admiral
- Posts: 15368
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 4:00 am
- Commendations: The Daystrom Award
- Location: Behind you!
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
Fifty years I am not even going to guess, anything beyond 10-20 is pure guess work.
What does defeat mean to you?
Nothing it will never come. Death before defeat. I don’t bend or break. I end, if I meet a foe capable of it. Victory is in forcing the opponent to back down. I do not. There is no defeat.
Nothing it will never come. Death before defeat. I don’t bend or break. I end, if I meet a foe capable of it. Victory is in forcing the opponent to back down. I do not. There is no defeat.
-
- Fleet Admiral
- Posts: 35635
- Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:04 am
- Commendations: The Daystrom Award
- Location: down the shore, New Jersey, USA
- Contact:
Re: The total area of solar panels it would take to power th
I unfortunately believe that in 50 years, the nutjobs that have all the major fission support projects tied up in spurious litigation will have spawned a new generation of like-minded nutjobs.
I can't stand nothing dull
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer