3 ms·

There's still the question as to whether photovoltaic is as effective as we would like. It might just be the case that producing them takes more or not much les

by arrrg 17y ago

There's still the question as to whether photovoltaic is as effective as we would like. It might just be the case that producing them takes more or not much less energy than they produce. The low tech solutions have the advantage that they are cheap and available. The problem of energy storage certainly remains.

Retric 17y ago
Not really, Spending 10,000$ on a solar cell system in a good area, gives you far more energy over it's lifetime than buying 10,000$ in electricity from the grid today. The reason they are not cost effective is the diminishing value of future returns. AKA 100 dollars today is worth a lot more than something that would give you 100 dollars in 15 years. PS: There is nothing low tech about a high effecency consentrating solar plant. It's a highly complex system that seems easy to understand, but the devil is in the details. Such as automaticly tracking the sun over the course of the day for years and buiding high effecnecy turbines ect.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- arrrg 17y ago
  Relativly low tech, i.e. existing, working tech. And I am not so much talking about costs, rather about whether photovoltaic is really sustainable.
  - Retric 17y ago
    PV is used on a far larger scale today than solar thermal power generation. Solar adoption is currently constrained by manufacturing capacity which is why it can quickly scale. It's 0.15% of total electric use today. But instilled capacity is doubling every 2 years. The maximum efficiency of PV is far larger than solar thermal systems and they have been improving far more quickly both on cost / watt and peak efficiency. PV systems are easier to install and maintain than solar thermal systems. PS: Looking the cost / adoption curves PV is only looking more attractive each year. But, suggesting there is no long term energy crisis does not generate a lot of publicity. Also there is a perception that PV is magic and hard to understand even though manufacturing it is a well understood process. Edit: If you have a more secefic issue with PV I would gladly address it, but it looks like PV is going to provide atleast 10% of our electricity needs within 20 years.

by arrrg 17y ago

Retric 17y ago

Not really, Spending 10,000$ on a solar cell system in a good area, gives you far more energy over it's lifetime than buying 10,000$ in electricity from the grid today. The reason they are not cost effective is the diminishing value of future returns. AKA 100 dollars today is worth a lot more than something that would give you 100 dollars in 15 years. PS: There is nothing low tech about a high effecency consentrating solar plant. It's a highly complex system that seems easy to understand, but the devil is in the details. Such as automaticly tracking the sun over the course of the day for years and buiding high effecnecy turbines ect.

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
arrrg 17y ago
Relativly low tech, i.e. existing, working tech. And I am not so much talking about costs, rather about whether photovoltaic is really sustainable.
- Retric 17y ago
  PV is used on a far larger scale today than solar thermal power generation. Solar adoption is currently constrained by manufacturing capacity which is why it can quickly scale. It's 0.15% of total electric use today. But instilled capacity is doubling every 2 years. The maximum efficiency of PV is far larger than solar thermal systems and they have been improving far more quickly both on cost / watt and peak efficiency. PV systems are easier to install and maintain than solar thermal systems. PS: Looking the cost / adoption curves PV is only looking more attractive each year. But, suggesting there is no long term energy crisis does not generate a lot of publicity. Also there is a perception that PV is magic and hard to understand even though manufacturing it is a well understood process. Edit: If you have a more secefic issue with PV I would gladly address it, but it looks like PV is going to provide atleast 10% of our electricity needs within 20 years.