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Solar Energy Becoming More Pervasive
TheUploader writes "RenewableEnergyAccess is reporting that Solatec LLC has released a stick-on solar panel kit that charges your hybrid while parked. In related news, the world's largest photovoltaic system will be built, not on the roofs of Priuses, but on the ground of Nevada, and will provide clean energy for the US military."
So often we hear fuss about our petrol supply running out. Sure, perhaps someday it will. But like usual, basic economics will take care of the situtation for us. When one energy source becomes increasingly scarce, it will become more expensive. Thus other technologies, such as windmills and solar panels, will become relatively cheaper. And thus people and businesses will switch towards them, as in this case. Anyone with any economics background would have known that decades ago.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
I thought that there are other more efficient ways to harness solar energy.
Like polishing up a bunch of mirrors and focusing them on a source of water. You boil the water, steam spins a turbine and you get electricity.
Do solar panels really give us the most bang for the buck?
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
.. remember the alternative sun being created by (or attempted by) the Chinese? But, solar and wind energy (unlike say Hydrogen) are so region specific, that they impose problems for wide-spread acceptability. And there arent any means found to store them successfully.
Let's triple or quadruple the cost of petrol, for instance, perhaps due to a stagnant American economy or an American attack on Iran. Now you may just see some benefits to such a system. Of course, if the prices rise quickly on such an essential commodity, things might change relatively fast. You may not have a job to drive to, for instance.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
And the Corolla has an MSRP of $14,105. At 40 mpg, it's gonna cost you $11,000 to get the same 200,000 miles out of it. Sure it's $3,000 more on gas, but you're coming out $7,620 ahead on the cost of the vehicle. Why buy a hybrid at all, then?
Now factor in rising gas prices and resale value...
That assumption of 200,000 miles is over the entire life of the car, right? At 20K/yr, this is roughly ten years. Will the photovoltaic panel continue to provide energy at the same efficiency over 10 years? Doubtful. Solar panels degrade in efficiency over time, maybe by as much as 10% per year.
In the first year, that $2200 kit will save you a whopping $66, assuming that the manufacturer's claims are accurate. You would do better to put that $2200 in a savings account earning 3% and use the interest ($66) to pay for the extra gasoline. Repeat that for 10 years and you'll be no worse off from the amount of money you spent on gas, plus you'll have $2200 in the bank instead of a 10-year old photovoltaic rig.
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. - Mark Twain
But such curtailing will happen automatically. As oil becomes more scarce, the price will rise. And thus will rise the prices of products which require oil for their production. So the price of plastics will rise, for instance. People will begin to choose relatively cheaper alternatives. So your toothbrush will likely cost a dollar. But it may consist of a wooden handle, rather than a plastic one.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
Yes, a particular product today may require oil. But as the price of oil increases due to increased scarcity, manufacturers will instead switch to relatively cheaper non-oil alternatives. So often times you'll end up getting the same products, but they'll be made of a different, cheaper material.
It's happened with coins, for instance. While certain coins one contained large amounts of copper, they now are made mostly of zinc with a thin coating of copper.
Remember, plastic is only used so often today because it is so cheap. Once the price of plastic rises, people will switch to other materials which are relatively cheaper.
I lived a good portion of my life before plastic became widespread. We used glass bottles instead of plastic bottles for many drinks, for instance. Somebody who grew up only using plastic might have a difficult time accepting the idea of not using plastic products. But it's more than possible, and was reality even just a few decades ago.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
Why are people even buying cars in the first place? If you city has good public transit, you could take the bus back and forth to work each day, and rent a car for the weekends for less then the price of owning a car. $15 a day to rent a car, plus $15 a day for insurance, that's $30 a day, times 8 days for weekends in a month, and you at $240 a month. That covers insurance, and your car. You'd never have to pay for repairs, and you'd never have to worry about your car breaking down. You probably don't even need a car every weekend, so your costs go down. If you just rented a car every time you really needed to use a car, you'd probably spend a lot less. I realize that some people need to commute long distances to get to work, but there's plenty of people who don't. If you don't need your car to get back and forth to work every day, you probably don't need a car at all.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Any system that simplifies or minimizes the logistical load on any military installation or deployment is good for the military. For them, the issue isn't so much the absolute cost, but the availability of electric power when they might need it. Might not have been trivial in an age where field telephones could be energized by hand cranks...but considering the amount of information technology that goes to war with a post-modern army, it's not a bad thing for the guys in uniform to be investigating. If photovoltaics mean that installations in the field will not need as many gallons of diesel fuel to run generators, that diesel can be put to better use ferrying other needed supplies, or evacuating casualties.
Who wants a silent car? We want a car with a soundtrack to be noticed by.
;)
I want a silent car. I don't want or need to be noticed by everyone, just as long as I'm not literally invisible so they run in to me.
I feel no need to impress people on the street with the sound of my car's motor. Don't care what they think.
Well....what exactly is the 0-60 mph of the Honda Accord? That's what I'm interested in. I don't want 'sedan' performance numbers. I want something that can hit 60 in about 5 sec or less...preferrably less. What I'm wanting...is a 'green' version of the Z06 Vette or a Viper. Something that looks amazingly good, and has true performance.
I'd go green in a heartbeat if they could do that.
It isn't being superficial...it is getting what I want. Life is way too short not to do and get what you want to make your life happy.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
You're wrong about the economy marketing. Hybrids tend to be expensive, government handouts notwithstandings.
Perhaps you're not understanding the difference between "marketing a hybrid engine as a economy feature" and "a hybrid engine being an economy feature." In any case I know four people with hybrid cars. They all drive to work in a medium sized town (public transit is workable for some here, but not all). Three of them are computer geeks and one is a young, idealistic, hippy type. Two of the former who explained their purchase said that the subsidy from the feds and the state combined with their opinion that oil prices were on the rise made it a reasonable financial decision. Also they liked the added range in a state with long empty stretches of highway.
who are too misinformed and ignorant1 to realize a hybrid does nothing for mother nature, unless you drive it in the city.
Hybrids get greatly increased mileage for the first dozen miles of so, no matter what the driving environment. You can argue about the energy that went into production versus the gas saved or something, but to characterize anyone who buys one as "misinformed and ignorant1[sic]" is pompous in the extreme.
It isn't being superficial...it is getting what I want. Life is way too short not to do and get what you want to make your life happy.
That sums up everything that is wrong about modern consumer society in two sentences.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
So, obviously, none of your transit system offer monthly passes. At 9.50 a day, that's $285 a month. I don't know of any public transit system that charges that high of a rate for a monthly pass. It's usually under $100 for most transit systems. A quick look at the BART website shows that you can get deals if you don't buy your tickets one at a time. Plus it's a little more convenient to not have to buy a ticket every time you need one. Also, your 36 minutes in the car that you are driving is 36 minutes in which you can do nothing but drive. If you spend 98 minutes on the bus/train each day, then there's other things you can be doing with your time that you spend commuting. You could even to work, and see if you can bill for the time since you are actually working. Does it really matter that you aren't physically in your office. Plus according to the AAA, driving a car on average costs between $5500-$7000 a year. So maybe you're on the lower end of the average, but I don't think your numbers are that accurate.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
The major selling point for any car is image. Thus these hybrids need more grunt in their exhaust.
Maybe, if you're sixteen. Me, I'm interested in 60mpg. I'd drive a neon pink VW bus if it gave me 60mpg.
And while we're talking image, do you think that the only viable image is some neon riced-out rollerskate with a thousand dollar exhaust system? I'd rather have the image of someone who gives a crap about our current oil problems rather than a guest extra from 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
That figure of "0 battery packs replaced in prius ever" is misleading. Toyota is quick to make this claim...but it's based on some tricky definitioning. I have seen several accounts in different forums of people getting their battery packs replaced in the prius under warranty. Toyota claims that no batteries have been replaced for being "worn out". The way they get away with this is by labelling all the batteries they have to replace as "defective" instead of "worn out". I find it difficult to believe though that someone could have their car a year and put 70 - 100,000 miles on their car before deiscovering that their battery pack is "defective". Linakage: http://www.hybridcars.com/discussion/discussthread .php?thread_id=254&replies=9