Good discussion, y'all! All of this talk about solar cells reminded me of an excellent article and technology I read about in Time. Basically, all it consists of is using mirrors focused on a tank of water to turn it into steam, send it to turbines to generate electricity, and it then goes to a cooling tank and is reused. A very simple idea, much like burning bugs with a magnifying glass. Plus, no pollution, byproducts, unstable areas of the world, or exotic materials needed (like photo cells). In areas that have no drinking water, the system also can turn desalinate brackish water or seawater into useable water. The energy can also be stored to use later when demand is higher or when there is no sun. It's already in use and here are some links to read further: http://www.ausra.com/technology/ http://whorledview.wordpress.com/2007/11/14/solar-thermal-energy-the-claims-just-keep-getting-better/ http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/04/14/solar_electric_thermal/ Very cool technology, IMHO. Let me know what y'all think. Later, Mark
________________________________ From: Fritz Holt [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Fri 6/27/2008 10:31 AM To: Don Cooper; [email protected] Cc: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: RE: [ot_caving] Texas solar power Good information Wavy. - Fritz ________________________________ From: Don Cooper [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, June 27, 2008 12:07 AM To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [ot_caving] Texas solar power A couple of things about solar panels: 1. They are very very expensive. 2. The current technology seems to only convert Infrared into electricity. Wide spectrum conversion is being done, but only on the panels that go into space - that kind of panel is 10 times more expensive. I know someone that put together somewhere around 200 square feet of panels. Something like 20 foot wide by 10 feet. It works great. This time of year, for 8 to 10 hours a day it generates 2Kw - around noon as much as 2.5Kw. (cooling them with a wate hose will momentarily boost them up to 3Kw) As long as the sun is out. Cloud shadow drops output to less than 1Kw. The cost - and he got them REAL chep - was about 25,000 dollars. Then consider a $5K gadget that puts that energy back on the grid. At even fifteen cents per kilowatt hour - how long do you think it will take for this to pay itself off? (Answer: Longer than those panels last - unless the cost for electricity exceeds .30 /per Kw hour) The government needs to SERIOUSLY consider MAJOR R&D tax credits, but until then Think Nuclear - WaVy
