World’s First ‘Solar Road’ Is Generating Even More Power Than Expected

[somebozo]

Solar energy is a farce. It is grossly inefficient.

With rapid cutting of silicon prices and fall in oil (energy input) the prices of solar are not able to compete vis a vis traditional oil and HFO power plants.

 

[KediKesenFare3]

Swanson's law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Echo_419]

India is also doing its part:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/b...-india-with-the-sun-and-small-loans.html?_r=0

Don't know if you are appreciating us or trolling us

 

[Dungeness]

Don't know if you are appreciating us or trolling us

The LA times article is positive about India's effort to bring solar power to off-the-grid poors. I just want to share this story with Indian members here.

 

[Echo_419]

The LA times article is positive about India's effort to bring solar power to off-the-grid poors. I just want to share this story with Indian members here.

You would understand my skepticism

 

[ultron]

Solar panels are health hazards. Break one and there would be massive contamination. Heck, western countries don't even legalize mining of rare earth metals which are terrible environmental disasters.

Solar Energy Isn’t Always as Green as You Think - IEEE Spectrum

On the other hand, fossil fuels is environmentally friendly.

 

[Dungeness]

You would understand my skepticism

Sure. I may not be the nicest guy to "superpower" big mouth and "democracy" nutcase, but I am all for poverty elimination and social equality.

 

[ssethii]

70 meters track harnessed about 3MW in 6 months, not so good.

Solar panels are health hazards. Break one and there would be massive contamination. Heck, western countries don't even legalize mining of rare earth metals which are terrible environmental disasters.

Solar Energy Isn’t Always as Green as You Think - IEEE Spectrum

On the other hand, fossil fuels is environmentally friendly.

seriously?

 

[ultron]

Solar has terrible efficiency compared to fossil fuels. Solar efficiency only 10%. Fossil fuels efficiency 50%. No one uses solar because it is cost prohibitive. Only some liberals put up a solar panel and say wa wa we save the Earth wa wa.

 

[ssethii]

Solar has terrible efficiency compared to fossil fuels. Solar efficiency only 10%. Fossil fuels efficiency 50%. No one uses solar because it is cost prohibitive. Only some liberals put up a solar panel and say wa wa we save the Earth wa wa.

Solar is the most efficient electrical system out there as there are no mechanical mechanism involved. It only requires an inverter and you can directly use it to power things but a typical system comprises of a charger, batteries along with inverter for reliable use round the clock. OTOH the energy from burning oil/coal is used to boil water and the steam from that process along with exhaust gases are used to rotate a turbine which is connected to a generator. A generator has a typical efficiency of 30-40% and I'm ignoring other inefficiencies in the system.

So I'm not sure how you are saying that the solar is an inefficient way to generate electricity. Solar is free energy. The only problem with solar system is unreliability and high setup and operating cost also there are space constraints as well for a typical solar system output equivalent to a thermal power plant.

 

[ultron]

Solar is free energy.

No it's not. You need a solar panel to harness solar energy. The material that make up a solar panel come from none other than under the ground, just like iron ore, just like fossil fossils. If you think fossil fuels is not renewable, you might as well think solar energy is not renewable.

In fact, solar will always be more expensive than fossil fuels. It is grossly inefficient and very expensive to mine and manufacture.

Solar panels are prohibitively expensive to manufacture in the US, not to mention mining for the needed materials will never get past US environmental regulations, it's that dirty.

 

[bongbang]

No it's not. You need a solar panel to harness solar energy. The material that make up a solar panel come from none other than under the ground, just like iron ore, just like fossil fossils. If you think fossil fuels is not renewable, you might as well think solar energy is not renewable.

In fact, solar will always be more expensive than fossil fuels. It is grossly inefficient and very expensive to mine and manufacture.

Solar panels is prohibitively expensive to manufacture in the US, not to mention mining for the needed materials will never get past US environmental regulations, it's that dirty.

Whatever you are trying to prove in this forum. Today or tomorrow fossil fuels will be extinct. We need alternative and people are moving with that.

 

[ultron]

Today or tomorrow fossil fuels will be extinct.

Hydrogen and carbon are the first and fourth most abundant elements in the universe. Hydrocarbons extinct? Not in a quintillion years Humans think they are so big and powerful. In reality, humans are puny compared to Earth. Humans compared to Earth is like an ant compared to a mountain. After 200 years of geoengineering, the atmosphere only changed by a puny 0.01%, and the atmosphere is only like 0.000000000000000000001% of the Earth as a whole.

 

[Dungeness]

Solar has terrible efficiency compared to fossil fuels. Solar efficiency only 10%. Fossil fuels efficiency 50%. No one uses solar because it is cost prohibitive. Only some liberals put up a solar panel and say wa wa we save the Earth wa wa.

New 2nd Gen PERC PV cells now promising 21% efficiency.

 

[ultron]

New 2nd Gen PERC PV cells now promising 21% efficiency.

Well then the government should put a solar tax on them. Solar is bad for nature. Fossil fuels is good for nature. So users of solar should pay a penalty and users of fossil fuels should get a benefit.

Spain's government approves the “sun tax”: pv-magazine