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I believe that (expensive, politically problematic) high voltage DC lines can transmit electricity across the US (or europe, or china) with minimal losses. The

I believe that (expensive, politically problematic) high voltage DC lines can transmit electricity across the US (or europe, or china) with minimal losses. The more serious problem may be that the sun doesn't shine 24 hours a day. Though that can probably be tackled by charging all our electric cars during the day, building dams for pumped storage, charging different rates for electricity at different times, etc. So, if solar has a cost per KWH the same as coal, it will hugely expand, but it won't put coal out of business unless it becomes even cheaper (or coal becomes more expensive).

nir 17y ago
German companies are investing $555 billion on a huge solar farm in the Sahara to supply electricity back to Europe: http://www.solarfeeds.com/recharge-news/7540-german-group-to-take-lead-on-sahara-solar-power-farming.html http://www.solarfeeds.com/recharge-news/7540-german-group-to...
jjs 17y ago
> The more serious problem may be that the sun doesn't shine 24 hours a day. Can someone in the Eastern hemisphere confirm this? ;-)