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Arctic shipping will eventually be commonplace during the northern hemisphere summer, bringing both sea- and land-based activity to the region for half of every
by niftich 10y ago
Arctic shipping will eventually be commonplace during the northern hemisphere summer, bringing both sea- and land-based activity to the region for half of every year. Since north of the arctic circle the sun won't set during this time, the there is opportunity to use (some) solar resources throughout the day.
I expect solar-assisted propulsion systems for ships, solar-assisted power generation, solar-assisted desalination, greenhouses, heating, etc. to power an arctic boom. But since the region will still be far from hospitable, other industries like prefab homebuilding, insulation, and (paradoxically) resource and/or fossil fuel extraction stand to benefit too.
- zaroth 10y agoI was curious about efficacy of solar at the poles - trading off low azimuth for one long period of constant daylight. I found this report [1] on panels installed at the South Pole, which seemed to indicate that this does work, although the panels never exceed about 50% of their rated maximum power point. A 175W panel there generates about 1500kWh per year. By comparison, I think the same panel in the US would generate about 2200-2500 kWh per year. (1.3m^2 * 5kWh/m2/day * 365) [1] - http://www.southpolestation.com/0809/solarenergyatpole012209rsa.pdf http://www.southpolestation.com/0809/solarenergyatpole012209...