Is there anything that you or anybody who owns a car plug in at night? If so, then you have your power grid.
How's the power grid charging up the cars at night with no solar?
Whatever solar you collect, you just collect twice what you need. The rest, you store for nighttime use. There are many ways to do that. On a small home scale, you could use rechargeable batteries, capacitors or a heavy flywheel that continuously speeds up during the day. At night you can feed off that rotational momentum. These can be used on a large scale too. Another large scale way would be to heat up sodium. At night that heat could be turned into steam to power turbines.
Whatever solar you collect, you just collect twice what you need.
So instead of just covering my roof with solar panels, I should also cover my neighbor's roof?
And what happens when, here in Chicago during winter, we have cloudy skies for a solid week?
Not to mention only 9 hours of sunlight?
On a small home scale, you could use rechargeable batteries, capacitors or a heavy flywheel that continuously speeds up during the day.
Is this more free stuff I need to take advantage of free solar?
I don't really know how many solar panels you would need. But I know the technology works. Because people use it. You could have some solar panels on your roof. Some on your garage and some on your shed if you have one and need it. Also, during the day, many people are at work. So their home usage at that time could be stored also. For people who do stay home, they probably aren't using that much power. Especially when they're collecting twice what they need. Also, solar panels work best in direct sunlight. But they will work in indirect light too.
Next, I live east and north from Chicago. It is never cloudy for a week. Even then, solar panels will collect some energy even on a cloudy day. For the rest, as I said, it can be transmitted in from places where it isn't cloudy. Next, yes. Everything would be free. And even if you do get charged a little something, so what. You wouldn't have to be paying for heat in the winter, air conditioning in the summer or gas to drive around on. Assuming you had an electric car. Which is cheaper to maintain than a internal combustion powered car.
But I know the technology works.
Yup. Lots of technology that is more expensive and less reliable than natural gas......works.
Isn't economical and doesn't make sense, but works.
It is never cloudy for a week.
It is here.
Even then, solar panels will collect some energy even on a cloudy day.
So 30% or less during 8 hours of daylight.....if I'm lucky.
For the rest, as I said, it can be transmitted in from places where it isn't cloudy.
How far away do we have to move solar electricity during the winter?
Just how much excess is generated in these other places?
Next, yes. Everything would be free.
Building a $40K system to give me unreliable power isn't free.
And even if you do get charged a little something, so what.
A little something? Is that what California is paying now to cover their renewable shortfall?
You wouldn't have to be paying for heat in the winter, air conditioning in the summer or gas to drive around on.
Considering my solar power wouldn't cover any of those, let alone all 3, I would be paying.
Assuming you had an electric car. Which is cheaper to maintain than a internal combustion powered car.
Until I have to replace the $10,000 battery. Which I can't recharge at night, in the winter, with my solar panels.
1. The only reason why solar may be expensive at all is because all of the patents have been bought up by people with DEEP bulging pockets. The energy companies. Next, once you had it you would probably find that it is reliable enough. After all, there are many expensive satellites in space that use them. And there is nobody around to maintain them., Next, considering all of the expenses involved in fossil fuels, it is economical.
2. No it isn't. I live in the same general region of the U.S. and it is never cloudy for a week here.
3. As I have been saying, any solar energy would have to be supplemented with a power grid. Just as a safeguard. At other times you would be producing more energy than you need.
4. You are assuming that energy would have to be transmitted at all. It could very well be that it wouldn't need to be. Also, Germany has moved to a solar energy system. From what I hear, they don't get as many sunny days as the U.S. But they are making it work.
5. Sunlight is reliable. The earth gets it constantly.
6. I don't care what California does. They let themselves be conquered by mexico. They can all eat shit and die for as much as I care.
7. As I said, I don't exactly know how much power you can get from solar panels. But surely it would be enough to cover the things you mentioned. But if you leave your windows open, then it probably wouldn't.
8. Batteries can be expensive. I don't know how abundant lithium is these days. But battery technology is improving all the time. Also, if you added up all of what you spend on gasoline, that $10,000 wouldn't be that big of a bite. Next, as I said, you can recharge it at night. Using stored energy from solar panels.