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> Are wind and solar just vanity projects? Solar is great for lots of non-grid applications, such as places without a grid connection or satellites. The entir

by nsl73 6y ago

> Are wind and solar just vanity projects? Solar is great for lots of non-grid applications, such as places without a grid connection or satellites. The entire technology isn’t vanity.

macspoofing 6y ago
Sure. Vanity as grid-scale power source. If you want to charge your phone battery while camping, solar is great.
- Brakenshire 6y ago
  Solar is currently close to being the cheapest way of generating a unit of electricity that has ever been existed. Very strange definition of vanity. Anywhere near the equator the technology is going to totally replace all other generation within 20-30 years.
  - macspoofing 6y ago
    It could be free and still would be vanity because you still need that base-load, for evenings, night, and cloudy days. But solar isn't free. Panels are high-tech devices that require destructive mining for exotic minerals, in addition to massive land-use. Climate change isn't the only problem we have. There's also environmental collapse. >Anywhere near the equator the technology is going to totally replace all other generation within 20-30 years 20 years away in perpetuity..just like cold fusion.
    - pfdietz 6y ago
      > because you still need that base-load, for evenings, night, and cloudy days. If you are claiming that one needs base load power plants, ones that operate at very high capacity factor, that's wrong. A combination of intermittent power plants, and dispatchable power plants (including possibly storage) to fill in the gaps, would work just fine. There is no need for a steady demand to be supplied by power plants individually producing steady output. Base load supply can be synthesized from non-base load components. > 20 years away in perpetuity..just like cold fusion. Solar is already being installed at the many GW scale. Equating that to cold fusion is the height of dishonesty.

by nsl73 6y ago

> Are wind and solar just vanity projects? Solar is great for lots of non-grid applications, such as places without a grid connection or satellites. The entire technology isn’t vanity.

macspoofing 6y ago

Sure. Vanity as grid-scale power source. If you want to charge your phone battery while camping, solar is great.

Brakenshire 6y ago
Solar is currently close to being the cheapest way of generating a unit of electricity that has ever been existed. Very strange definition of vanity. Anywhere near the equator the technology is going to totally replace all other generation within 20-30 years.
- macspoofing 6y ago
  It could be free and still would be vanity because you still need that base-load, for evenings, night, and cloudy days. But solar isn't free. Panels are high-tech devices that require destructive mining for exotic minerals, in addition to massive land-use. Climate change isn't the only problem we have. There's also environmental collapse. >Anywhere near the equator the technology is going to totally replace all other generation within 20-30 years 20 years away in perpetuity..just like cold fusion.
  - pfdietz 6y ago
    > because you still need that base-load, for evenings, night, and cloudy days. If you are claiming that one needs base load power plants, ones that operate at very high capacity factor, that's wrong. A combination of intermittent power plants, and dispatchable power plants (including possibly storage) to fill in the gaps, would work just fine. There is no need for a steady demand to be supplied by power plants individually producing steady output. Base load supply can be synthesized from non-base load components. > 20 years away in perpetuity..just like cold fusion. Solar is already being installed at the many GW scale. Equating that to cold fusion is the height of dishonesty.