5 ms·
Solar is not going to work in many states the way it can in say CA, AZ or NV. Beyond that though, I really wonder how they are going to find enough resources t
by beezle 9y ago
Solar is not going to work in many states the way it can in say CA, AZ or NV. Beyond that though, I really wonder how they are going to find enough resources to build a robust enough system of backup/peak use storage not just in CA but the entire country? I thought this was already going to be a challenge as electric car/truck share grew.
- eliaspro 9y agoWhy shouldn't it? It works just fine for Germany which gets the same amount of sunshine as southern Alaska.
- acidburnNSA 9y agoThey only get like 6% of their total energy from solar. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2017/10/10/why-arent-renewables-decreasing-germanys-carbon-emissions/#6766188868e1 https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2017/10/10/why-arent...
- ars 9y agoGermany has among the highest electrical prices in the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_pricing#Global_comparison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_pricing#Global_com... Only some isolated Islands were higher.
- usrusr 9y agoToo close to the equator and/or lack of regular rainfall and you get problems with dust accumulation on the panels. Also, heat does not really help PV efficiency. The latitudes in Germany may not be perfect for PV, but they seem to be much less bad than one would initially expect. (I do find PV-covered landscapes visually less appealing than wind farms though, but of course PV must be much less annoying to live close nearby, haven't tried either. PV is competing with agriculture in a way that wind does not, so maybe we shouldn't overdo PV buildup on arable land..)
- walrus01 9y agoHave you seen how much sunlight a place like Kennewick, WA gets in one year? Yes it is considerably north of CA, not as much kWh production in December, but it is a sunny, dry, desert climate.
- wbl 9y agoSeason shifting doesn't have great economics.
- singularity2001 9y agoI was convinced of solar when I read the solar efficiency is >60% of the output in the Sahara in most states, which is enough. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Solar_land_area.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Solar_la...