Solar employs more U.S. workers than Apple, Google, and Facebook combined

Hey, one of the smartest things that the VA did here in Amarillo was to put up solar panels over the top of their parking lot. Not only does it provide shade for parking, but it also provides electricity for the hospital.

And yeah, with the tech that is now involved with solar, as well as the advances made by Musk in battery tech, solar is going to become one of the main power sources for this country in the next 10 years.


I was going to say informative but in ten years?


No fucking way...



.

You know, up until a couple of years ago, I would have been just as cynical as you, but there are two new developments that were pioneered by Elan Musk in power generation, and it's batteries and sustainable power. First, he made an island nation that although is close to the equator, is totally energy independent and gets all it's power from solar. That is the first one.

Second one, is that Musk offered to do the same thing for a remote area in Australia, and said that if he couldn't get it up and running in a certain amount of time, he would let them have it for free.

When entire countries and large parts of other countries start to get onboard because the technology looks like it is now workable, it's just a short time before other countries see what is going on and decide to try it out as well.

No, I think the 10 year timeline is right.
 
RGR, nobody in their right mind is arguing against oil or coal as an industrial stock.

Oh, are you sure? These folks seem awful serious about it. Wouldn't be surprised if there are more than a few loitering around even a place like this, ready to jump in at a moments notice to pitch out their misanthropy.

Deep Green Resistance Radical Environmental Group (DGR)


Old Rocks said:
That use is not putting GHG's into our atmosphere. Now, if Goodenough's new battery can be put into manufacture, there is no reason that you cannot have an EV that runs on electricity.

The wife already has one of those. Getting EVs is easy-peasy nowadays, even without GoodEnoughs battery.

Old Rocks said:
And no one has suggested that the use of oil for fuel would cease overnight. However, as the number of coal companies in bankruptcy shows, it will probably happen quickly enough to catch many companies short.

Coal companies are going bankrupt because electrical generation was preparing for EPA 111(d) rules under the CPP, and with decreased coal demand comes decreases in coal prices. But what you CAN'T stop is the decommissioning of a coal fired power plant once it has begun, even a little. Saw this up close and personal here:

https://www.aep.com/environment/PlantRetirements/docs/MuskingumRiver/MuskingumFactsheet.pdf

One of the more amusing aspects of Trumps claims for American energy independence is him wanting to bolster both coal and natural gas electrical generation, when they are competitors. So it becomes a race to the bottom for both, lower prices for both, and bankruptcies all along the way until it all plays out.
Whee, I meant to write an electric SUV or pickup. An electric pickup that is used for towing or heavy hauling would make good sense, since the highest torque for an electric motor is at 0 rpm.
 
Whee, I meant to write an electric SUV or pickup. An electric pickup that is used for towing or heavy hauling would make good sense, since the highest torque for an electric motor is at 0 rpm.

Well, I had a Gen I hybrid sedan before first me and then the wife acquired a Gen II pluggable hybrid. I also owned a Gen I hybrid AWD SUV (2007 Ford Escape) and imagine Ford could drop the same kind of drivetrain the wife has in the Fusion into an Escape and presto...EV AWD SUV. Wouldn't have the range of the Fusion probably, but you could throw another kWh or two its way to level the playing field. Right now though, with gas prices low, I'm betting it has slowed down the market saturation speed of the pluggables and outright EVs, but the prices of lightly used EVs are fantastic right now. I am seriously considering a lightly used Leaf to take full advantage of the wife's free fuel work benefit, but she is objecting. Plus we both like the Bolt, and are wondering if the best thing to do is to just trade off the Ford on a long range EV rather than having 2 shorter range ones.
 
Decisions, decisions. And then they will probably bring this new battery Goodenough has developed online, and the present Bolt and Tesla will be considered short range.

Which brings up another question. The Tesla battery can be changed out quickly, is that true of the Bolt? If so, then when the inevitable higher density battery is brought out, you can just trade the present one in. I think Tesla already has a protocal on that.
 
Hey, one of the smartest things that the VA did here in Amarillo was to put up solar panels over the top of their parking lot. Not only does it provide shade for parking, but it also provides electricity for the hospital.

And yeah, with the tech that is now involved with solar, as well as the advances made by Musk in battery tech, solar is going to become one of the main power sources for this country in the next 10 years.


I was going to say informative but in ten years?


No fucking way...



.

You know, up until a couple of years ago, I would have been just as cynical as you, but there are two new developments that were pioneered by Elan Musk in power generation, and it's batteries and sustainable power. First, he made an island nation that although is close to the equator, is totally energy independent and gets all it's power from solar. That is the first one.

Second one, is that Musk offered to do the same thing for a remote area in Australia, and said that if he couldn't get it up and running in a certain amount of time, he would let them have it for free.

When entire countries and large parts of other countries start to get onboard because the technology looks like it is now workable, it's just a short time before other countries see what is going on and decide to try it out as well.

No, I think the 10 year timeline is right.

What was the ACTUAL cost involved in powering a tiny island with few supermarkets and hospitals -- if any? I don't the eco-nauts appreciate the SCALE of the grid generation REQUIRED in the US. If that island gets gets socked in for 4 days by a monsoon -- it's no big deal. CLEVELAND would have dead people by the 3rd day..

And there's NO scaling of solar or battery back-up to keep Cleveland alive for 3 or 4 days of NO PRIMARY power... Not even SUSTAINABLE if there was. Because of the limited lifetime of battery farms that humongeous.
 
OK, and just why would Cleveland have no primary power for 3 or 4 days? If the grid were down, then you would use the battery power for emergency use only. And if there were no solar, that would mean you were having problems far greater than just the grid. Also, if the grid is down, why would it make any difference whether the primary power was solar or coal, you don't have any way to get the power to Cleveland.

Mr. Flacaltenn, in your eagerness to denigrate solar power and grid scale batteries, you have descended into illogic and silliness.
 
OK, and just why would Cleveland have no primary power for 3 or 4 days?

Cloudy_day-_Hosur_eway.JPG
 
Decisions, decisions. And then they will probably bring this new battery Goodenough has developed online, and the present Bolt and Tesla will be considered short range.

Not really. Range is relative to the user. I used hybrids just because they were more efficient than comparable ICE only machines. I bought the Volt because of range anxiety. Turns out, I never used a full charge, so what I really had was an overweight EV. And I took it for a road trip, and its mileage was pretty run of the mill. That experience then led to buying a different pluggable, but which worked better in both circumstances. It was a full sized sedan with plenty of room, and enough range to do what the wife wanted to do, and it was far more efficient than the Volt on the open highway, being a parallel hybrid powertrain rather than a serial one. So we CHOSE less range. The wife getting free fuel brings another criteria to the table, and suddenly even though 20 miles of EV works, if I had triple or quadruple that, the kids could start getting involved in this great deal.

And none of it presupposes what a "short" range means, only the amount of free fuel we can get. But I like the idea of a Bolt because I can't see ever driving 200+ miles in a single day without it being a road trip, and for the foreseeable future, that is still ICE country. So a Bolt would still need to be Car #2. That appears to be the real disadvantage to electrics, they are usually Car #2, and the owner needs an ICE in Car #1

Old Rocks said:
Which brings up another question. The Tesla battery can be changed out quickly, is that true of the Bolt? If so, then when the inevitable higher density battery is brought out, you can just trade the present one in. I think Tesla already has a protocal on that.

I think Tesla has the lock on fast charging. In my families circumstances, it doesn't matter, but if the goal is to make your EV Car#1, and you lead an active driving life during the day, fast charging is critical.
 

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