Power the U.S. With Solar Panels!

[ding]

Prove it.

Sure. Your apocalyptic beliefs are slightly less apocalyptic than his crazy apocalyptic beliefs.

 

[dimensional]

It shows the total area in comparison to the U.S. it would take to power the U.S. But they don't have to be all in one spot.

Thank goodness. Moving power from California all the way to Chicago might not be very efficient.

All of that would power Chicago and everyplace else. Day and night. Summer or winter.

How would it do that? The sun doesn't generate power in the US 24 hours a day.

Next. ever see that glass that covers solar panels? Well guess what. It doesn't have to directly cover the solar panels. You could raise it up at an angle steep enough for any snow to just slide off.

You're putting the entire panel at an angle, or just the glass?

Next, for whatever energy may be needed anyplace, you just double the number of solar panels.

That is a great idea!

Half the energy could be used for nighttime use.

That could work in ideal situations. What happens when they aren't ideal?

I will answer the one of your replies that is worth replying to. Just the glass would be at an increased angle.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

I will answer the one of your replies that is worth replying to. Just the glass would be at an increased angle.

Sounds like you'll have condensation issues.

 

[saveliberty]

No, it does not say that. You know where I stand on this issue. I cannot support that claim. I will say that if fossil fuel use is not at least severely curtailed by that point, many humans will have died, a very large number will have been driven into poverty by the cost of dealing with rising sea levels, crop failures, loss of drinking water supplies, natural disasters and more. At our current pace, thousands of species will have gone extinct by then in any case.

Most of the world in poverty, can't afford your plans. That's about half the world's population. Then there's China that has no plans to follow your plan. I laugh at your suggestion in the next twenty-seven years we are going to wipe out large portions of the population due to fossil fuels.

 

[dimensional]

Sounds like you'll have condensation issues.

No, you or somebody else was talking about having 4 inches of snow on solar panels. Increasing the angle of the glass covering it would cause that snow to slide off.

 

[Flash]

This has been posted before in several different versions. He is correct.

Show me the calculations.

I want to see the assumption because they are usually bogus when it comes to solar.

I would put solar on my hose if it was economical but it is not. Not even in the Sunshine State. I know because I am an engineer and know when assumption are real and when they are bullshit.

The solar industry is famous for using bullshit assumptions.

If solar was enconomic there would be no need for government subsidies and stupid politicians like Potatohead driving up the cost of fossil fuels. it would stand on its on and it never does. There is a narrow sunbelt band in the SW where solar is economic but not in most of the rest of North America or Europe.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

No, you or somebody else was talking about having 4 inches of snow on solar panels. Increasing the angle of the glass covering it would cause that snow to slide off.

Yes, snow is an issue in Chicago.
If you have an empty space between the glass and the solar cell,
condensation could wreck it.

 

[Crick]

Yes, snow is an issue in Chicago.
If you have an empty space between the glass and the solar cell,
condensation could wreck it.

I have a house in Wisconsin. Every window in that house and every window in all my neighbor's houses have double panes - a space between two sheets of glass. None of us have the slightest problem with condensation.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

I have a house in Wisconsin. Every window in that house and every window in all my neighbor's houses have double panes - a space between two sheets of glass. None of us have the slightest problem with condensation.

Adding an extra layer of slanted glass on top of a standard solar panel would probably have less of an issue than leaving an air pocket in the panel. I wonder how much more expensive and less efficient that extra layer would make the panel?

 

[Crick]

Adding an extra layer of slanted glass on top of a standard solar panel would probably have less of an issue than leaving an air pocket in the panel. I wonder how much more expensive and less efficient that extra layer would make the panel?

I missed the first of this. Why do you want to put an air space above a PV panel?

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

I missed the first of this. Why do you want to put an air space above a PV panel?

The OP had a plan to prevent snow from covering solar panels.

 

[Crick]

The OP had a plan to prevent snow from covering solar panels.

Have you seen this article: Scientists put a semi-transparent solar roof on a greenhouse, and unexpected things happened

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Have you seen this article: Scientists put a semi-transparent solar roof on a greenhouse, and unexpected things happened

Less efficient, organic solar cells? Sounds like a winner!
How much do they cost per MWh compared to standard solar cells?

 

[Crick]

Less efficient, organic solar cells? Sounds like a winner!
How much do they cost per MWh compared to standard solar cells?

I have no idea, but the possibility of erecting panel fields and still growing crops under them could work out to be a win-win situation.

The panels could power automated planting, tending and harvesting equipment.

 

[toobfreak]

There is a narrow sunbelt band in the SW where solar is economic but not in most of the rest of North America or Europe.

I get about ten months of clouds a year around here.

 

[Flash]

I get about ten months of clouds a year around here.

I have done the calculations several times. Even with tax breaks it doesn't make economic sense here in Florida. I would put in solar if it was economical to do so. But it is not. Even with government subsidies and President Potatohead artificially running up the price of fossil fuels. The payback is simply too long.

We have lots of days in the summer where the sun shines in the morning but the afternoons are clouded over. We get good solar for a couple of months in the Spring and a couple of months in the Fall but not enough to generate enough electricity to make it worthwhile. And we are the "Sunshine State". It is a lot worse up north.

The sad thing is that these idiots believe the input factors that the Environmental Wackos and the companies that sell the systems put out that greatly over estimate the amount of electricity that can be generated.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

I have no idea, but the possibility of erecting panel fields and still growing crops under them could work out to be a win-win situation.

The panels could power automated planting, tending and harvesting equipment.

More expensive, less efficient.

Win isn't the word that comes to mind.

 

[dimensional]

Show me the calculations.

I want to see the assumption because they are usually bogus when it comes to solar.

I would put solar on my hose if it was economical but it is not. Not even in the Sunshine State. I know because I am an engineer and know when assumption are real and when they are bullshit.

The solar industry is famous for using bullshit assumptions.

If solar was enconomic there would be no need for government subsidies and stupid politicians like Potatohead driving up the cost of fossil fuels. it would stand on its on and it never does. There is a narrow sunbelt band in the SW where solar is economic but not in most of the rest of North America or Europe.

If you were talking about Alaska, you might be on to something. But for the rest of the U.S., solar panels can supply all our energy needs.

 

[Flash]

If you were talking about Alaska, you might be on to something. But for the rest of the U.S., solar panels can supply all our energy needs.

Nope! Not even close. It isn't economically viable on the individual home level or on the power grid level.

Shitty technology for power generation for a First World country.

That is why this idiot Potatohead is artificially running up the cost of fossil fuel. Because solar can't compete with real energy.

 

[Crick]

Nope! Not even close. It isn't economically viable on the individual home level or on the power grid level.

Shitty technology for power generation for a First World country.

That is why this idiot Potatohead is artificially running up the cost of fossil fuel. Because solar can't compete with real energy.

How is Biden "artificially running up the cost of fossil fuel"?

And, just for filler, the cost/kWh for solar PV beat petroleum well before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.