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At least here in the UK, our solar panels generate 5x as much in the summer as in the winter. And yet home energy demand peaks in the winter, for heating (most
by michaelt 4y ago
At least here in the UK, our solar panels generate 5x as much in the summer as in the winter.
And yet home energy demand peaks in the winter, for heating (mostly natural gas, but we probably need to move off that) - just when rooftop solar is at its worst.
Putting the same solar panels nearer the equator would produce power with less seasonality - and more total power too.
- HopenHeyHi 4y agoSolar panels on the moon are even less seasonal. How far away does it actually make sense to place them? Is your solar capacity and storage maxed out? How much would it cost to max it out? Is there a difference in practice between dependence on foreign gas vs foreign solar? Hint: you can store a lot of gas in case of supply disruption and immediately buy more from alternative suppliers. Whereas one UHV cable cut and you are left with no recourse for quite some time. Is Morocco a stable country? Per chance does it have any disputes with aggressive neighbors?
- ben_w 4y agoFWIW, 20,000 km with existing HVDC cables is 60% losses, and PV is so cheap that's not even a bad choice. Moon, however, needs wireless, and I still need to write up that blog post about what I don't like about space based energy…