Only fools believe in equality. But a lawful society usually tries to prevent the hugely advantaged from stomping on the disadvantaged just for the hell of it. It doesn't always work, but once in a while the underdog can reverse his position without violence or bloodshed.
But look on the bright side - as a fringe benefit, one US dollar is worth much, much less than in 2008. That way we don't get as many American tourists here anymore. All in all I consider it a plus.
Pedantic AC is pedantic.
Explode originally meant to drive off by clapping (ex - plodere), so you completely missed the obvious reason as to why explode was the wrong word to describe Columbia's demise.
$400,000 well spent.
Yes because eventually the world will run out of idiots with AK-47s - oh wait...
Hang on. You mean you seriously believe that, after over 9 years, the US is "winning" the "War on Terror"? Wikileaks did more to turn part of the world on its head in a matter of months than the billions and billions of dollars spent by the US "fighting terror" for a decade.
No, it is you who are willing to risk soldier's lives by having them play "peace ambassador" in a nation historically hostile to all outsiders, Me, I would save the bombs for targets that are meant to be bombed - fuel depots, factories, refineries, military bases, communication centers and other strategic assets my enemy would have. Not play air support to a bunch of cowboys who don't even know which bush the shots came from, much less what the hell their strategic mission is.
100 years? May I see a source please? Everything I have read states 25 years TOPS. And that is for regular use. When you bombard them with 1000x more light I'm sure you don't improve their useful life, either. You can't cheat entropy that way. Not in this universe, anyway.
Bottom line is if solar can get to $1 for every installed watt, you will be seeing solar installed everywhere
I agree with that, and believe me, I WANT solar to reach that price. It seems like a great energy source (after all, the sun powers all life on this planet) and a great use of wasted real-estate on our roofs. However I still think the OP's calculations were way off. You can't just take the cost/Watt x 24h x current kWh energy price and call it "profit" or "savings". It's a lot more complicated than that.
my point is their capital estimate is way low, even if their magic electricity and heat generating box were completely free
On this we agree - but this is typical for anything offered by a university. Scientific knowledge != business acumen. There are bound to be oodles of hidden costs in a brand new industry which are well known in an older, established one. That's why you never want to be the first one in the pool...
Hmm? I thought the whole reason we use AC (thanks to Edison winning the argument with Tesla) was because there is less loss over long distances when compared to DC. Edison wanted One Big Plant generating power, and Tesla wanted many small, local plants. I guess I will have to re-read this - I apologize, I'm a biologist not a physicist.
Peak electricity demand is lunch-time and supper-time. Lunch-time is pretty much covered with solar, and depending where you live, a good chunk of supper-time is too. "Powering lights" is by no means the biggest use of energy, even if lights is all you see when you look outside at night-time. The biggest energy consumption comes from things used to make heat (cooking, hot water) and everything with a motor (cooking again, air conditioning, laundry). Your light bulbs (especially nowadays with LED's and compact fluorescents) don't actually use all that much electricity.
Capital costs for coal and nuke run from $1.50 to $3.00 per watt installed.
Absolutely meaningless because I am damned sure a coal burning station or a nuclear power plant do not have exactly the same lifetime. When dealing with capital costs you are interested in a return on your investment. The only way to calculate this is by knowing not only how much it costs up front, but how much it will cost per unit of time and how long it's expected to work. If it stops working before you get your money and opportunity cost back, you don't invest.
Your argument about lunchroom costs is true regardless of the type of facility since all facilities need employees. Every business has its problems whether it's replacing damaged PV cells or spent fuel rods or a mandatory upgrade of the scrubbers for the smokestack. While it's very likely that the theoretical solar boys have forgotten to include a few real world practical costs, it's really an apple vs oranges comparison and you need ALL the numbers to make a decision. Your statement is just as general as the generic "cost per W".
1) Solar panels produce direct current, not alternating current. Direct current is almost impossible to transmit across any meaningful length of electric cable.
2) Converting DC to AC is possible, however there are efficiency losses and thermal losses - these come out of your "profit"
3) At some point you are going to need to replace your solar panels - they only last 15-25 years. You need to set money aside for this, unless you plan on shutting down your plant at the end of 15 years.
4) Energy companies do not buy electricity at the same price at which they sell it to you. Often there is a HUGE discrepancy. Ahh, monopolies.
5) The obvious one - the sun doesn't shine 8 hours a day so your 1MW system will probably deliver 300kW every hour on average.
6) To provide power at night you will need some means of storing energy. Batteries work, but they need maintenance and they do wear out over time. Less profit.
No because the sun doesn't shine 24 hours per day. Also solar panels do not product 100% of their rated output if partially covered by shadows, debris, etc. Also you normally don't see solar panels that move to maintain the optimal angle with the sun except in very expensive set ups. Therefore you often need many more Watts' worth of solar panels than what you calculate your electrical usage as.
$1/W means you pay $1 to be able to produce 1 W over the lifetime of the solar cell (usually 20 or so years). Not to be confused with your kWh, we're not measuring the same thing.
Just like if you use 2000kWh per month on your electric bill and try to set up a solar system, don't expect to be able to get away with only installing 2000W worth of solar panels...
Or perhaps you forgot that some school systems use a 4 point scale to calculate GPA, while other systems use a 5 point scale. Guess which one his school belonged to.
It's like those tricked out Hyundais you see here in Latin America. Dude, for all the neon lights, alloy wheels and fancy stereo and upholstery, it's still a fucking Hyundai!
If his rig is a "beast", I wonder what my 5 monitor 3 graphic card 8 core water cooled 4GHz system would be called... Yeah ok I paid more than $1000, but not much more - maybe double.
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In the long term the human race has no future. Perhaps we have a different definition of "long term".
Only fools believe in equality. But a lawful society usually tries to prevent the hugely advantaged from stomping on the disadvantaged just for the hell of it. It doesn't always work, but once in a while the underdog can reverse his position without violence or bloodshed.
But look on the bright side - as a fringe benefit, one US dollar is worth much, much less than in 2008. That way we don't get as many American tourists here anymore. All in all I consider it a plus.
Pedantic AC is pedantic. Explode originally meant to drive off by clapping (ex - plodere), so you completely missed the obvious reason as to why explode was the wrong word to describe Columbia's demise.
I guess you don't know anything at all about HTML 5 then, huh?
$400,000 well spent. Yes because eventually the world will run out of idiots with AK-47s - oh wait... Hang on. You mean you seriously believe that, after over 9 years, the US is "winning" the "War on Terror"? Wikileaks did more to turn part of the world on its head in a matter of months than the billions and billions of dollars spent by the US "fighting terror" for a decade. No, it is you who are willing to risk soldier's lives by having them play "peace ambassador" in a nation historically hostile to all outsiders, Me, I would save the bombs for targets that are meant to be bombed - fuel depots, factories, refineries, military bases, communication centers and other strategic assets my enemy would have. Not play air support to a bunch of cowboys who don't even know which bush the shots came from, much less what the hell their strategic mission is.
Oh good. So the $200,000 weapon will become the $400,000 weapon. All to drop on a single idiot with an AK-47 hiding in a house.
100 years? May I see a source please? Everything I have read states 25 years TOPS. And that is for regular use. When you bombard them with 1000x more light I'm sure you don't improve their useful life, either. You can't cheat entropy that way. Not in this universe, anyway.
I agree with that, and believe me, I WANT solar to reach that price. It seems like a great energy source (after all, the sun powers all life on this planet) and a great use of wasted real-estate on our roofs. However I still think the OP's calculations were way off. You can't just take the cost/Watt x 24h x current kWh energy price and call it "profit" or "savings". It's a lot more complicated than that.
On this we agree - but this is typical for anything offered by a university. Scientific knowledge != business acumen. There are bound to be oodles of hidden costs in a brand new industry which are well known in an older, established one. That's why you never want to be the first one in the pool...
Hmm? I thought the whole reason we use AC (thanks to Edison winning the argument with Tesla) was because there is less loss over long distances when compared to DC. Edison wanted One Big Plant generating power, and Tesla wanted many small, local plants. I guess I will have to re-read this - I apologize, I'm a biologist not a physicist.
Peak electricity demand is lunch-time and supper-time. Lunch-time is pretty much covered with solar, and depending where you live, a good chunk of supper-time is too. "Powering lights" is by no means the biggest use of energy, even if lights is all you see when you look outside at night-time. The biggest energy consumption comes from things used to make heat (cooking, hot water) and everything with a motor (cooking again, air conditioning, laundry). Your light bulbs (especially nowadays with LED's and compact fluorescents) don't actually use all that much electricity.
But the moving parts are far cheaper to replace... a burned out PV cell can throw your whole panel off.
Absolutely meaningless because I am damned sure a coal burning station or a nuclear power plant do not have exactly the same lifetime. When dealing with capital costs you are interested in a return on your investment. The only way to calculate this is by knowing not only how much it costs up front, but how much it will cost per unit of time and how long it's expected to work. If it stops working before you get your money and opportunity cost back, you don't invest.
Your argument about lunchroom costs is true regardless of the type of facility since all facilities need employees. Every business has its problems whether it's replacing damaged PV cells or spent fuel rods or a mandatory upgrade of the scrubbers for the smokestack. While it's very likely that the theoretical solar boys have forgotten to include a few real world practical costs, it's really an apple vs oranges comparison and you need ALL the numbers to make a decision. Your statement is just as general as the generic "cost per W".
my bad - there is no edit button - point 5 should read: the sun doesn't shine 24 hours a day...
1) Solar panels produce direct current, not alternating current. Direct current is almost impossible to transmit across any meaningful length of electric cable.
2) Converting DC to AC is possible, however there are efficiency losses and thermal losses - these come out of your "profit"
3) At some point you are going to need to replace your solar panels - they only last 15-25 years. You need to set money aside for this, unless you plan on shutting down your plant at the end of 15 years.
4) Energy companies do not buy electricity at the same price at which they sell it to you. Often there is a HUGE discrepancy. Ahh, monopolies.
5) The obvious one - the sun doesn't shine 8 hours a day so your 1MW system will probably deliver 300kW every hour on average.
6) To provide power at night you will need some means of storing energy. Batteries work, but they need maintenance and they do wear out over time. Less profit.
Oh - suddenly it's not so profitable anymore.
No because the sun doesn't shine 24 hours per day. Also solar panels do not product 100% of their rated output if partially covered by shadows, debris, etc. Also you normally don't see solar panels that move to maintain the optimal angle with the sun except in very expensive set ups. Therefore you often need many more Watts' worth of solar panels than what you calculate your electrical usage as.
$1/W means you pay $1 to be able to produce 1 W over the lifetime of the solar cell (usually 20 or so years). Not to be confused with your kWh, we're not measuring the same thing. Just like if you use 2000kWh per month on your electric bill and try to set up a solar system, don't expect to be able to get away with only installing 2000W worth of solar panels...
Or perhaps you forgot that some school systems use a 4 point scale to calculate GPA, while other systems use a 5 point scale. Guess which one his school belonged to.
not at all :)
And do you feel better, now?
You cared enough to post. U mad?
So your point is that the US, after 10 years of war, still has not been able to deal with a handful of individuals? Oh dear oh dear...
It's like those tricked out Hyundais you see here in Latin America. Dude, for all the neon lights, alloy wheels and fancy stereo and upholstery, it's still a fucking Hyundai!
If his rig is a "beast", I wonder what my 5 monitor 3 graphic card 8 core water cooled 4GHz system would be called... Yeah ok I paid more than $1000, but not much more - maybe double.
charged != convicted.