Solar Power Becoming More Affordable 355
prostoalex writes "With both startups and large companies such as Boeing working on solar power, the technology is becoming more affordable, MIT Technology Review says. Solar power concentrators are all in rage now: 'The thinking behind concentrated solar power is simple. Because energy from the sun, although abundant, is diffuse, generating one gigawatt of power (the size of a typical utility-scale plant) using traditional photovoltaics requires a four-square-mile area of silicon, says Jerry Olson, a research scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Golden, CO. A concentrator system, he says, would replace most of the silicon with plastic or glass lenses or metal reflectors, requiring only as much semiconductor material as it would take to cover an area the size of a typical backyard. And because decreasing the amount of semiconductor needed makes it affordable to use much more efficient types of solar cells, the total footprint of the plant, including the reflectors or lenses, would be only two to two-and-a-half square miles.'"
Talk About Global Warming... (Score:4, Funny)
Let's see, four square miles of sunlight focused onto my back yard. Conversion efficiency ~30%. Melting point of silicon 1414 deg C.
Unless I've got a backyard the size of Bill Gates, lifetime of new solar plant = one sunrise.
I've heard they're fast (Score:2, Funny)
I've heard that Photon Consulting is really fast.
Here Comes the Sun (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I've heard they're fast (Score:4, Funny)
They are, only problem is that you can't know both what their position is on an issue, and how fast they want to implement it.
Also, I think they have a dead cat, or something....
Reflector Layering (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I've heard they're fast (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Passive solar heating... (Score:2, Funny)
Hallelujah! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The Forever Headline (Score:3, Funny)
Solar power is reliable as hell. What's not reliable is our atmosphere!
Dyson spheres, anyone?
Re:The Forever Headline (Score:5, Funny)
Dude, the whole impetus for developing an electric power infrastructure in the first place was the desire for lighting when it's dark out.
KFG
Re:Talk About Global Warming... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:This is why Solar isn't taking off! (Score:3, Funny)
I'm sick and tired of you naysayers and skeptics bringing up conservation laws. Didn't the conservatives just get thrown out of congress? Now those pesky conservation laws can get repealed once and for all!
And maybe they'll do the laws of Thermodynamics while they are at it.
Re:What's a 'libratarian'? (Score:4, Funny)
(Stop that snickering, you in the back!)
Re:The Days of 100% Efficiency Solar Panels... (Score:3, Funny)
What? You've never heard of the were-car?