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> think they can build way out into the desert …but they can, all it takes is the lifeblood of civilization: energy. It need not even be oil-driven, though of
by FredPret 5y ago
> think they can build way out into the desert
…but they can, all it takes is the lifeblood of civilization: energy. It need not even be oil-driven, though of course in their case it is.
- sokoloff 5y agoThis strikes me as a case particularly well-suited/well-matched for solar.
- FredPret 5y agoExactly, when the sun is hottest, the AC is blasting. The only catch is that you might need to heat at night even in summer in some parts.
- blacksmith_tb 5y agoYou would think there would be traditional solutions for that, why not a put a cart full of dark stones in the sun during the day and then roll it inside in the cold of night? Modern variations on that theme could store thermal energy in plenty of equally-simple ways.
- throwaway0a5e 5y agoThere are all sorts of things that are technically possible but the materials handling requirements do not make them cheap/efficient enough to do practically without electricity. See aluminum ore processing for example.
- blacksmith_tb 5y agoA house may be "a machine for living in" but the scale of the solutions needed aren't as serious as industrial processes like mining surely? I haven't lived in a structure using them, but there are Phase Change[1] insulations out there, for example. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-change_material https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-change_material
- FredPret 5y agoProbably less work to just have a lot of blankets!
- Retric 5y agoYou want to maximize how much the house cools at night to minimize daytime temperature. Then to maintain a comfortable temperature just add thermal mass.
- Ar-Curunir 5y agoIn the Middle East, during summer, you don't need heating at night; it's still easily north of 30C
- FredPret 5y agoLet's rephrase that to needing energy at night - heating or cooling. There are some spots that go down to 10C in summer according to Google
- toast0 5y agoSolar panel efficiency goes down in high temperatures, so it wouldn't be great in really hot places.