Renewable Energies Cost Less
Renewable energies not only cleaner, but also cheaper, especially in
the long run Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
California's big push for renewable energies
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/renewableEnergiesCostLess.php
California's solar power increasingly Chinese made
BY Todd Woody
18 JAN
http://www.alternet.org/story/149389/vision%3A_2011_must_be_the_year_where_we_get_serious_about_wind_and_solar_power?page=entire
2011 Must Be the Year Where We Get Serious About Wind and Solar Power
Even without federal policies to catapult the U.S. to the world's
leader in renewable energy,
Hi James;
Well we are in complete agreement there. Solar thermal however has the
great advantage that it can capture much more of the available solar
energy because it doesn't rely on the band gap of a material which is
only responsive to certain wavelengths in sunlight. The challenges iare
I think you need to add a diesel generator. Eg:
Dear Sirs: For the past few years I have been heating my home with
a waste vegetable oil powered generator. I use a diesel engine,
which is connected to a 3 phase motor that I converted to a
generator. I use straight waste vegetable oil as well
Let me chime in that the price of silver is going to be tough on solar
PV production. It was $18 / oz in Aug and it's ~$31 for a 12 mos. high.
There is ~ 2/3 oz of silver in flat plate PV. I am a big fan of solar
thermal. I use to work for a large SW util Solar Test facility. I have
(5)
There is a good and bad side to everything. I work in an alternative
energy research facility. I use 250 kwh energy to turn 20 kg of
polycrystaline silicon into a meter long monocrystal. The energy input
to manufacturing solar panels is disgusting. This doesn't even count the
energy used
Joe,
Stirlings aren't ready for prime time. They are still having seal and
ring issues. However, I hope to have an update on some new units that
may have that problem solved. The magic 10,000 hrs MTBF (diesel)
rating is the goal. BTW that was with land fill gas not solar. That is
another
Hi James
When I pull a silicon crystal the melt is sitting at ~1450 deg C so I
have some feel for the problems you are hinting at without ever having
touched a stirling engine. The point I was going for was that diversity
is key. One of my friends who is off grid has no problem producing more
Joe,
The point I was trying to make is that solar thermal has it's
challenges. If you're not familiar, Stirling Engines were used from
1817 until the advent of cheap gasoline. They were large and not very
efficient. But, they were very sustainable. There was the ST-5
