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> Fusion energy does not suffer from diseconomies of scale. As we produce more solar panels it becomes more expensive to produce more solar panels. As we place
by elihu 8y ago
> Fusion energy does not suffer from diseconomies of scale. As we produce more solar panels it becomes more expensive to produce more solar panels. As we place solar panels in the best location the next batch will have to use the second best location. These diseconomies of scale also apply towards the current generation batteries that solar panels relay on.
Is this true? Why would solar panel cost go up if you make more? Is there some rare-earth element that's a bottleneck resource?
Also, we're nowhere near using up space for putting solar panels. They're less efficient in places with cloudy weather or in latitudes far from the equator, but otherwise any place to install a solar panel farm is as good as any other; choice of location is dominated mostly by convenience, cheapness of land, proximity to power lines, local politics, and so on. We've only used up a tiny percentage of all the "good spots" to put solar panels.
- max76 8y agoThe current diseconomies of scale hitting solar panels is that we have a limit on the number of batteries we can produce, as we are expanding our battery production as fast as humanly possible. We can use solar cells to offset peak performance, but until the storage problem is solved we can't consider using them as a primary power generation at scale in markets demanding 24hr energy access.
- elihu 8y agoI agree that storage is a problem if you get most of your energy from solar, but in most places we're still in the mode of "on a sunny day we just burn a less coal or natural gas". In the long run it may become a bigger problem. Pumped hydroelectric storage should work great in places where the geography is amenable, and regular battery technology is getting better.