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35 Comments
- hankmt, on 10/11/2007, -2/+35Indeed, solar power is much more viable on Tatooine
- pvliii, on 10/11/2007, -0/+29Yes.
- KCourt, on 10/11/2007, -1/+25Yeah, it tracks the sun, and concentrates the light onto a very thin strip of PV material, decreasing the amount of silicon needed by like 90%...and thus halving the cost. Very cool, essential to getting ourselves off fossil fuels.
- Jayg28, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17A few years ago I heard about a Canadian company that developed an infrared solar cell technology that could be applied like paint or could be embedded in flexible sheets of plastic. They were supposed to be 1/10 the cost of silicone cells and produce more power. I thought by now I'd be able to buy something using that technology by now.
Why are these things so slow to make it to market?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/0114_050114_solarplastic.html - betacmag4u, on 10/11/2007, -0/+15The solar panels installed in the 1970's still put out approx 98% of rated power.... and will do so for many decades to come. Oil, coal or even nuclear cant say that.
- Livewire, on 10/11/2007, -0/+15@brianbennett (#6989516)
I agree; it's not really the source/materials, it's the labor and brains that goes into making the product. Paintings are only oils and cloth right? So why pay so much for them? - LibrarianEtarip, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12It's not the base silicon that's expensive, It's making the pure silicon crystals that are required to make the photovoltaic cells.
- edd17, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12i hate that they never talk about actual price
- thcobbs, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13How is silicon expensive these days?
It's ***** SAND. That's the reason it was chosen over GaAs as a semiconductor... even though GaAs had superior characteristics. - carpespasm, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8they said it uses a little of the power to track the sun
- moreminimal, on 10/11/2007, -7/+15All you need is two suns.
- inhaler, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9Sounds like it's already cheaper than global extinction. Ten years at status quo and that's what we're looking at.
Melodrama aside, I agree with you to some point, but I figure that's where our big buddy the federal government should come into play and help us foot the bill, with more incentive programs (federally paid solar cell installers? Tax breaks?). - jdonson, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9The problem with plastic based reflective materials is the dynamic change in it's resilience. As a plastic material is left out in the sun, especially the more flexible plastics, the material is weakened when it gets hit with UV light that is part and parcel with sunlight. What good is it to shell out a wad of money to get a nice solar panel paint if after a couple of years, it flakes off and is essentially worthless?
I'm dealing with the same problem for my undergrad research project redesigning the reflective surface of a sterling engine solar concentrator. When it was first built, they used mylar films on top of a plastic substrate stretched over aluminum rings and drew a vacuum underneath to get a paraboloid curvature. Unfortunately, the films were both plastic and since they had to sit out in the sun, the UV light broke down the plastic on a molecular level. It's now about as brittle as tissue paper. We're now pursuing shaped metal surfaces in order to have a more durable, long lasting surface.
Just a little first hand story about why cheap solar tech is not as easy as it seems. - justintsmith, on 10/11/2007, -5/+11^^^
and the virgin of the week award goes to.. - inhaler, on 10/11/2007, -4/+10We need to locate the manufacturing plants for these new solar cells in coal mining states, eg. WV, and giving individuals with coal mining experience first shot at employment at these jobs. Essentially they would get on the job training at the new factories. Hell, even have the Fed cut the business a tax break for hiring ex-coal miners.
Sounds like it'd work to me. - brianbennett, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6...so are camera lenses, and they're rather expensive.
- FizixMan, on 10/11/2007, -7/+11The power to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of two Tatooine stars powering a set of heliotube solar panel arrays controlled by mindless philosophizing protocol droids that know the binary language of moisture vapourators.
- digghasnoethics, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5Hmm, looks like a questionable idea. Trough systems have been around forever, no invention there. The main problem with an PV system, particularly concentrator systems, is heat build up in the collector material. Efficiency drops with temp, and they don't last long either. Nothing here says they are in any way dealing with that.
If you want smart ideas in concentrator system, look up the company doing concentrator systems via total internal reflection in a flat sheet. That's much more interesting. - wacki, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4silicon used to be $9 a kilo in 1991 it's now around $60 a kilo and rising. There is a huge shortage of supply.
- briguymaine, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3mmm... solar
- inhaler, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4"and the frame uses the power coming off the panel to tilt the tubes to track the sun."
Sunflowers do this naturally based on blue light emitted from the sun and a little turgor pressure. Heliotropism ftw. - dattaway, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Looks like more fun to clean out the leaves than the gutters.
- lettruthout, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Sure it would be nice if solar electric systems were cheaper but at current prices my system will pay for itself in about 13 years - based upon the incorrect assumption that electric rates will stay the same. For the next 10+ years they'll produce free energy.
Now I'm looking for other things that will pay for itself. Next up: solar thermal! - Azap, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3"The invention here is a Heliotube"...actually its called a parabola
- Technopundit, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Moving parts -- Next...
- thcobbs, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3Half the cost in silicon? How much in cost of manufacture, installation, and maintenance?
I'm all for solar... when it's truly cheaper than other opportunities. - rwallen, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2According to the article "These panels use 88% less photovoltaic material, but are almost as efficient per square foot as traditional solar panels." So the description submitted by burkinaboy is incorrect as these are not more effective. Maybe the next revisions will be but they aren't out until 2010.
- dazman05, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Might as well buy these instead http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1865651.htm
Daz - Placebo10, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Just remember, the more mirrors, lenses, or what have you, that you use to focus sunlight onto a solar cell, the more heat you generate onto the solar cell. Heat is a PV cell enemy; as it tends to shorten the lifespan of the cell. This is one of the current problems with PV cells. Also, silicon used in PV cells is not expensive because it's hard to make pure silicon. It's expensive because it's hard to make silicon with a certain level of "impure" silicon. (i.e. free charge carriers.) fwiw.
- brownb2, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Ignore me
- neoni, on 07/06/2009, -0/+0Solar power is much cheaper today. Almost everybody who owns a house can use it. Germany is one the countries which are leaders in solar power: http://www.gelsenpv.de for more information.
- leviasay, on 10/30/2007, -0/+0i just found out about Pure Energy Solar. these guys do really great work installing home solar energy systems. they are super cool guys and have a lot of great information on their website, http://www.pureenergysolar.net. if you are looking for someone to put together a solar electric system for you, or just need them to answer your questions, give them a call at 1-352-377-6527.
- Hananda, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Like the commenters on the article said, I can't wait to see what winter will do to these things.
Wonder if they'll come out with a heated model.
Also, wouldn't high winds just rip something like that off a roof? - trippinlikegod, on 10/11/2007, -2/+0Yeah why the hell are people just now realizing "Hey if we use a lens that magnifies the light onto the panel we could make them more efficient"... Come on everyone give me a big DUH. Anyone who's ever lived knows what a magnifying glass can do to a few ant hills, why not use the same idea and focus the light more directly onto the cells.
- rheaume, on 10/11/2007, -10/+1WTF are you talking about? Who gives a crap about some black lung dude from another era? You would not support clean energy because it takes jobs away from hard working Americans? Jesus Christ we *ARE* screwed with that attitude! And yeah, like some high tech company is going to want to train some dude whose sole work experience is blasting and moving rocks and dirt around, Im sure hell do great in the tech industry...
Maybe we should buy more SUV's too because refineries are in the states and we dont want them to lose their precious jobs do we?
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