Very high efficiency solar

[preciseenergy]

Really it helps a lot..I liked the concept...

 

[flacaltenn]

Old Rocks:

No numbers or even tech clues in that release. I'd sooner believe in Soc Sec being there for me..
DOE told you how to get better efficiencies.. All you got to do is to mine TONS of Arsenic and make the panels out of GaAs. That's an enviromental plus eh?

Most conservatives and liberals that I know are absolutely delighted at the idea of renewable clean energy, particularly if it can be done on an individual basis, and supply energy both for the home and vehicle. Most 'Conservitives' react to the idea as if someone were threatoning to crucify them.

I'm no Conservative, I'm worse than that. I'm an true Classical Liberal.. The kind that believes that SCIENCE and CONSUMERS should decide on the tech winners -- not the govt. And certainly not by polling..

But maybe us "other" enviromentalists are "threatened" cause we're tired of the unproductive hype. The truth is that Solar can only ever be about 20% of the grid supply. Because the load at 10PM in the summer is about 80% of day time peak. And that's on a good day. Beyond that -- you have to propose enviromentally disastrous ideas for storage. The adoption of electricity took LESS TIME and EFFORT than has been spent on solar and wind. The "bench" for alternates is not that deep or impressive..

 

[flacaltenn]

Old Rocks:

Yes, the brave new world of alternative energy is coming to be. Wind alone now has over 40 gw of generating capacity in this nation. Iowa gets 15% of its power from wind.

Yes I've checked the numbers and that is quite impressive. Or is it? First off, the Iowa wind farms run at the expected average production rate of about 30% of specified turbine power. Ok -- that's not a problem except for cost and efficiency.. But the worse news is that Iowans have to pay twice for power plants on the days when the wind aint blowing and the turbines only produce 4 or 8% of their needs. And the diff isn't linear subtraction because it's hard to idle or throttle back a coal plant without severe inefficiencies. Two sets of generating gear, two sets of maintenance crews, two sets of power lines, and THESE COSTS are NEVER included in the highly touted costs..

For instance:

""windfarmrealities.org/?p=716"" I'm a newbie and not allowed to post links...
"""windfarmrealities.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/ontario-nov-2010-wind-coal-generation.jpg""""

As you can see, the variability in daily production is deep and severe over many many days. And the expected amount of throttling back the coal production comes nowhere near the addition from wind on the good days.. Now MAYBE -- we can get better than with practice. And certainly fast Nat Gas peaker systems are a better backup to wind. But there's also problems with juggling wind when your principle back-up is hydro.. To Wit...

Turns out birds aren't the only species at risk from wind farms. Last week, the Bonneville Power Administration and salmon in the Columbia River Basin had a close call (Hat tip to Gore Lied). As reported by The Oregonian:

Columbia Basin river managers had a close call this week when they were forced to cut back on hydropower after a surge in wind energy blasted through the system.

The surge forced them to spill more water over dams, risking the health of migrating fish.

Problems began Monday afternoon when wind speeds jumped far beyond levels forecast by wind-farm operators. BPA, responsible for adjusting hydro generation to accommodate the wind, realized by evening that it could no longer handle the sustained surge without increasing spills to dangerous levels

Not quite ready to declare victory for wind or solar.. But I hope the war is over soon...