3 ms·

Solar, despite its fast accelerating installation rate, is still a very, very small fraction of the mix, most places.

• RestlessMind 4y ago
  To add concrete stats [1], solar is only 2.8% of overall US electricity generation in 2021. But if you look at the "billion kW per year" numbers since 2011, they are: 1.82, 4.33, 9.04, 17.69, 24.89, 36.05, 53.29, 63.83, 71.94, 89.20, 114.68. That's a ~10x growth in 10 years, ~25% growth for each of the last 2 years. At a 15% annual growth rate, you double in 5 years. Throw in economies of scale, tailwinds of regulations and social norms and a 10% electricity generation by 2030 looks probable. [1] https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/electricity-in-the-us.php https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/electricity-...
  • ncmncm 4y ago
    It will need to be accelerated. Maybe perovskites on rolls will enable that. I imagine fenceposts with bifacial film stretched between, in fence-rows running north-south in pastures everywhere, high enough to walk under. Cheap enough, it would be OK if they last only five years. Replacing them would be much cheaper than the original installation. Maybe they have foil along each edge, + one, - the other, and you staple or clamp the edges to aluminum bus bars. At one end, bars running between rows gather current from all the rows to a converter box. Voltage everywhere is low, for safety, maybe 24V. Since they are in productive land, density is not necessary. They are far enough apart to avoid shading one another even when the sun is low.