Slashdot Mirror

Where do you even get so much propaganda?

I pay 35 cents/kwH and my provider is a local, clean energy one. You can probably find cheaper power easily.

Prices are falling:
http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/40/40051/1.html

Solar is currently at almost 12%:
http://www.solarserver.de/solar-magazin/nachrichten/aktuelles/2013/kw37/photovoltaik-in-deutschland-119-solarstrom-anteil-im-august-2013.html

Really, where do you get your lies? Are they cheaper in bulk? :-)

idiot,

Calling them out on idiocy, of which you opine them...tsk, tsk.

the amount of power that hits the earth per square meter is NOT enough to run our cities.

I'll grant you it's not solely solar, but renewable energy is already contributing over 14 percent to the electricity supply in Germany. GP advocated common sense. It seems to me that common sense would advocate applying solar power in conjunction with every other renewable energy source under the Sun to come up with something that meets or exceeds power generated by non-renewable energy sources.

Yes, I know there is more to a solar panel than painting a piece of glass black. Happy? ;-)

However, let me point out that there are two types of solar panels out there: photovoltaics and thermal solar. The design I was talking about is, of course, a "thermal solar" type of panel, that does not generate electricity (that's a photovoltaics) but that uses the heat radiated by the sun.

Of course, someone out there is going to say: "Aha! But thermal solar can also be used to generate electricity", to which I reply: yes, but these use a Stirling Engine, and not the simple fluid-heating mechanism that I described in my first post. See here for an example of a Solar Stirling engine used to generate electricity.

A lot of people who think solar panels are inefficient and/or too expensive think about photovoltaics, and not heat-transfer solar panels. The latter being, of course, much more simple in design and less expensive, while still providing important functions.

According to this (and several other sites), it's about 1.4 kW/m^2 (at 1 AU, perpendicular to direction of Sun, in space). This is 0.9W/sq. in. or 130W/sq. ft.

So the article has got something badly wrong...either they've got the units wrong - 120W/m^2 sounds plausible, 120W/sq. ft. is theoretically possible but extremely unlikely as it would require 90% efficiency, 120W/sq. in. is totally impossible for Earth based solar - or they're being taken for a ride.

Hmm. . . Good point. . . It says here that it's 1.47 kW/m^2
That website says: "The maximum value on earth is between 0.8 and 1.0 kW / m^2."

Hmm. . . Good point. . . It says here that it's 1.47 kW/m^2 . . .

The only thing I could think of is that it's maybe one of those numbers is per Hz, or something. . .

Anyone else know?

Best of all, it's a fit-once solution that will last as long as any other material might be reasonable expected to, off-setting energy demand all the while. Oh, and the colour is a rather fetching blue-violet depending on where you view it from :)

Here's a few more examples:

Research on photovoltaics in cladding systems done here in the UK at Southampton Uni.

The German cladding manufacturer Schüco has a variety of well-developed photovoltaic cladding systems:

More European examples

A 60KW solar roof cladding installation in Berkeley, California.

That simply means you need quite some substantial area irradiated by bright sunlight to obtain a given amount of energy.

I think this is a limiting factor for many interesting ideas out there..

For active, use fans to circulate cooler air. Use an underground thermal sink to reduce the load on the A/C unit. (Can also be used to heat in winter).

Look at smaller, room-based A/C units designed for mobile homes (not the LPG powered ones).

I'm not that conservationally-minded, do some Googleing. In 30 seconds I found this page.

I have a solution to both the sorce of energy and any posible ozone holes that might hapen. A Solar Chimney can produce wattage compleatly cleanly. Pluss if we bild a realy tall one we can send ozone up it directly. On top of that the taller the chimney is the more power it will produce & the greenhouses an the bass could be used for farming.