Although there is nothing wrong with your calculation per se, there are a lot of costs it doesn't include, so it is low by quite a bit. The 1 euro per W (peak Watt or average W - article doesn't say) is only the cost for just the solar cell at high volume manufacturing. At that point you are still quite a long ways from installing this on your roof cost-wise. You still have to put the solar cell in a module, then install it in a panel, then install the panel on your roof along with a rectifier (since your house expects AC) plus other equipment and power storage if you want to be competely off-grid - there are costs, of course, each step of the way.
The rule of thumb I came across when I was studying the econ of solar cells ~18 months ago was that for thin film cell solar to be viable (without govt subsidy) it had to be manufactured for $1/pW (or one euro, depending on exchange rate) and had to have at least 10% efficiency. If the 10% efficiency is not met then the downstream costs eat you alive because you have to install so much more area of solar cells to get the required power.
The current advances in flexible solar have been excellent and the solar market is growing at ~30% (although still >90% c-Si cells), but unless you are willing pay a price to be "green" or your govt gives you a fat subsidy for installing the solar power it will take you many years to repay your capital - on the order of 10 or more if you currently have ready access to the power grid. If you are remote from the grid, solar is actually a great deal cheaper today - but by using Si-based solar which is manufactured on relatively large scale today and has 15% efficiencies versus thin film.
Govt subsidies are still going strong in Japan - Germany is wavering. With G(lobal) W(arming) Bush in office the increase in solar in the US is going to be from the Eco-minded willing to take a bath $$-wise or off grid applications - well, there are also cats who are pretty good at utilizing passive solar power.
Google can just change the name with little pain and avoid legal fees. While the word scholar is generic, the ACS has trademarked it within a suite of products to search scientific literature. "Google Scholar" has the same function and might be confused as an ACS product - at least by an idiot lawyer. Certainly if you have a product that does something other than search scientific literature you can call it "Blowup Betty Scholar" - or whatever - and the ACS won't bother you.
But what's the big deal with Google changing the name to something else? Using the term Scholar certianly won't make or break the service for Google.
BTW, this definitely is not a pay vs. free issue as it states in the description - ACS says that Google can have it's literature search service - it just shouldn't call it Google Scholar.
Note that Google will need to do much better than the current beta product they're testing. Currently it's worthless without sophisticated booleans to smartly narrow the searches - or is there a way to do this that I didn't see when I played around with it?
Has anyone seen this recruiting tool? Similar to the billboards but with 21 questions: some math, some programming, some just down right silly. I saw it as an insert to the Sept 04 issue of Physics Today. I was going to submit as a Slashot article, but couldn't find a web site with the questions and I'm too damn lazy to scan them into my own web site. If you search GLAT in google you will find several hits on discussion groups and blogs that discuss it. When I first saw it Google gave no hits on GLAT.
Maybe slightly offtopic since most of Sawyer's predictions don't require superduper powerful computers, but regarding Sawyer's first comment: isn't Moore's Law thought to come up against a physics brick wall with the current CMOS-based devices around this time (2010s)? I think alternatives are still only in the basic research phase. Photolithography might even be in trouble before 2014.
Probably the more likely advances that will make Sawyer's predictions come true are not more powerful computers, but less powerful ubiquitous computers - ones with moderate performance but are fabricated by printing versus photolithography so that they are extremely cheap and made/sold/used in extremely large numbers everywhere.
Here are the patent abstract and claims from the USPTO site: Abstract: An existing video game system is modified to include additional communication and storage capability via a modem and hard disk drive. The modification may involve the use of an expansion device coupled to a video game system port. A cable TV tuner is also included in the expansion device to assist in providing a unique picture-in-picture video capability. TV signals are coupled to the expansion device via the RF input from either cable TV or off-air signals. These RF signals are blended with the output signals from the video game system. A user may, for example, watch TV while viewing overlay information from the video game console. A user may receive a TV channel guide downloaded via the Internet, spot a program which the user desires to view and immediately access, via an IR input, the desired channel through the expansion device TV tuner. A user may also watch TV while simultaneously logging onto the Internet. A hard drive permits downloading from the Internet of entire games.
Claims: We claim:
1. A home video game system for executing video game programs and for generating game play graphics in response to player controller control signals generated by a player operating a player controller for display on a television, said home video game system including a removable memory insertion port for receiving a removable memory storing video game program instructions, comprising:
a game processing system including a main processor, operatively coupled to receive video game instructions from said removable memory when inserted into the removable memory insertion port for executing a video game program, and a graphics coprocessor for processing graphics information under control of said main processor, and being responsive to said player controller control signal for generating game play graphics for display on a television;
communications circuitry, coupled in use to said game processing system and to a user's communications network, for linking said game processing system to the Internet and permitting communication from the player to another party over the Internet;
a writeable mass storage device coupled in use to said game processing system for receiving information downloaded from the Internet; and
cryptographic processing circuitry, coupled to said mass storage device, for decrypting at least some of said information downloaded from the Internet.
2. A home video game system according to claim 1, further including
audio circuitry coupled to said video game processing system.
3. A home video game system according to claim 1, wherein said communications circuitry and said mass storage device are housed in an expansion device and said video game processing system is housed in a separate video game console which is coupled to said expansion device.
4. A home video game system according to claim 1, wherein said communications circuitry comprises a modem, ethernet port, or wireless connection circuitry, and further including a controller for controlling said mass storage device and said communications circuitry.
5. A home video game system according to claim 1, wherein said mass storage device comprises a hard disk drive which stores a network browser program.
6. A home video game system according to claim 1, wherein said mass storage device is a flash memory storage device.
7. A home video game system according to claim 1, wherein said mass storage device stores information downloaded from the Internet.
8. A home video game system comprising:
a removable memory insertion port for receiving a removable memory storing video game program instructions,
a game processing system including a main processor, operatively coupled to receive video game instructions from said removable memory when inserted into the removable memory insertion port and a graphics coprocessor for processing graphics information under control of said m
Of course the first US patent is the one for the time machine -- or at least it will be when it gets invented. (Insert shameless plug for Cheapass games here)
Do you see the patenting of business models and computer code as a problem? If so, what is the best way to correct the problem? Through the judicial branch (patent courts)? Through the legislative branch?
Slashdot Mirror
Although there is nothing wrong with your calculation per se, there are a lot of costs it doesn't include, so it is low by quite a bit. The 1 euro per W (peak Watt or average W - article doesn't say) is only the cost for just the solar cell at high volume manufacturing. At that point you are still quite a long ways from installing this on your roof cost-wise. You still have to put the solar cell in a module, then install it in a panel, then install the panel on your roof along with a rectifier (since your house expects AC) plus other equipment and power storage if you want to be competely off-grid - there are costs, of course, each step of the way.
The rule of thumb I came across when I was studying the econ of solar cells ~18 months ago was that for thin film cell solar to be viable (without govt subsidy) it had to be manufactured for $1/pW (or one euro, depending on exchange rate) and had to have at least 10% efficiency. If the 10% efficiency is not met then the downstream costs eat you alive because you have to install so much more area of solar cells to get the required power.
The current advances in flexible solar have been excellent and the solar market is growing at ~30% (although still >90% c-Si cells), but unless you are willing pay a price to be "green" or your govt gives you a fat subsidy for installing the solar power it will take you many years to repay your capital - on the order of 10 or more if you currently have ready access to the power grid. If you are remote from the grid, solar is actually a great deal cheaper today - but by using Si-based solar which is manufactured on relatively large scale today and has 15% efficiencies versus thin film.
Govt subsidies are still going strong in Japan - Germany is wavering. With G(lobal) W(arming) Bush in office the increase in solar in the US is going to be from the Eco-minded willing to take a bath $$-wise or off grid applications - well, there are also cats who are pretty good at utilizing passive solar power.
Google can just change the name with little pain and avoid legal fees. While the word scholar is generic, the ACS has trademarked it within a suite of products to search scientific literature. "Google Scholar" has the same function and might be confused as an ACS product - at least by an idiot lawyer. Certainly if you have a product that does something other than search scientific literature you can call it "Blowup Betty Scholar" - or whatever - and the ACS won't bother you.
But what's the big deal with Google changing the name to something else? Using the term Scholar certianly won't make or break the service for Google.
BTW, this definitely is not a pay vs. free issue as it states in the description - ACS says that Google can have it's literature search service - it just shouldn't call it Google Scholar.
Note that Google will need to do much better than the current beta product they're testing. Currently it's worthless without sophisticated booleans to smartly narrow the searches - or is there a way to do this that I didn't see when I played around with it?
Has anyone seen this recruiting tool? Similar to the billboards but with 21 questions: some math, some programming, some just down right silly. I saw it as an insert to the Sept 04 issue of Physics Today. I was going to submit as a Slashot article, but couldn't find a web site with the questions and I'm too damn lazy to scan them into my own web site. If you search GLAT in google you will find several hits on discussion groups and blogs that discuss it. When I first saw it Google gave no hits on GLAT.
Maybe slightly offtopic since most of Sawyer's predictions don't require superduper powerful computers, but regarding Sawyer's first comment: isn't Moore's Law thought to come up against a physics brick wall with the current CMOS-based devices around this time (2010s)? I think alternatives are still only in the basic research phase. Photolithography might even be in trouble before 2014.
Probably the more likely advances that will make Sawyer's predictions come true are not more powerful computers, but less powerful ubiquitous computers - ones with moderate performance but are fabricated by printing versus photolithography so that they are extremely cheap and made/sold/used in extremely large numbers everywhere.
Here are the patent abstract and claims from the USPTO site:
Abstract:
An existing video game system is modified to include additional communication and storage capability via a modem and hard disk drive. The modification may involve the use of an expansion device coupled to a video game system port. A cable TV tuner is also included in the expansion device to assist in providing a unique picture-in-picture video capability. TV signals are coupled to the expansion device via the RF input from either cable TV or off-air signals. These RF signals are blended with the output signals from the video game system. A user may, for example, watch TV while viewing overlay information from the video game console. A user may receive a TV channel guide downloaded via the Internet, spot a program which the user desires to view and immediately access, via an IR input, the desired channel through the expansion device TV tuner. A user may also watch TV while simultaneously logging onto the Internet. A hard drive permits downloading from the Internet of entire games.
Claims:
We claim:
1. A home video game system for executing video game programs and for generating game play graphics in response to player controller control signals generated by a player operating a player controller for display on a television, said home video game system including a removable memory insertion port for receiving a removable memory storing video game program instructions, comprising:
a game processing system including a main processor, operatively coupled to receive video game instructions from said removable memory when inserted into the removable memory insertion port for executing a video game program, and a graphics coprocessor for processing graphics information under control of said main processor, and being responsive to said player controller control signal for generating game play graphics for display on a television;
communications circuitry, coupled in use to said game processing system and to a user's communications network, for linking said game processing system to the Internet and permitting communication from the player to another party over the Internet;
a writeable mass storage device coupled in use to said game processing system for receiving information downloaded from the Internet; and
cryptographic processing circuitry, coupled to said mass storage device, for decrypting at least some of said information downloaded from the Internet.
2. A home video game system according to claim 1, further including
audio circuitry coupled to said video game processing system.
3. A home video game system according to claim 1, wherein said communications circuitry and said mass storage device are housed in an expansion device and said video game processing system is housed in a separate video game console which is coupled to said expansion device.
4. A home video game system according to claim 1, wherein said communications circuitry comprises a modem, ethernet port, or wireless connection circuitry, and further including a controller for controlling said mass storage device and said communications circuitry.
5. A home video game system according to claim 1, wherein said mass storage device comprises a hard disk drive which stores a network browser program.
6. A home video game system according to claim 1, wherein said mass storage device is a flash memory storage device.
7. A home video game system according to claim 1, wherein said mass storage device stores information downloaded from the Internet.
8. A home video game system comprising:
a removable memory insertion port for receiving a removable memory storing video game program instructions,
a game processing system including a main processor, operatively coupled to receive video game instructions from said removable memory when inserted into the removable memory insertion port and a graphics coprocessor for processing graphics information under control of said m
Of course the first US patent is the one for the time machine -- or at least it will be when it gets invented. (Insert shameless plug for Cheapass games here)
Do you see the patenting of business models and computer code as a problem? If so, what is the best way to correct the problem? Through the judicial branch (patent courts)? Through the legislative branch?
drphil@ptd.net
Send in the Clones?