What is Digg?43 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Will it be ready to power my Eink display so I can play Duke Nukem Forever?
- nkthen, on 02/26/2008, -0/+1Yes, very interesting...
http://www.mysolarenergyathome.com - dhughes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1 The ability to use Infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum is just as significant as the spray-on part; 30% efficiency rather than 6% is pretty good!
Although I do think there are solar panels out now that can convert Infrared to power.
Every house should have solar panel shingles, it should just be a normal thing to do. - Jaan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They're been talking about this for years ... powering for film and video is what I do (solar, batteries) and if this ever works I'll be the first in line, but it don't mean anything if it's not in my hands. Like my country-fried friend always says; "If you throw all that in an empty sack, you still only got an empty sack". (c:
- tardmongerster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0So the energy cartels will expect us to continue to send them monthly payments for electricity just because they have a solar farm? Why wouldn't I paint my roof with this stuff and cut them off forever?
- rockforever, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Very interesting read
- HarryBauzonia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0We could spray it on our hats to power our personal cooling/heating devices. Hiking need never be uncomfortable again.
- wolphcry, on 10/12/2007, -0/+030% is great, but what happens at night? Storage is still a big problem, and batteries are very nasty thing to make.
- brink668, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0now thats what i call a digg!
- GrimmRaver, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This getsa a diff from me, but I've seen this a long time ago.
- CadMasterAdam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0OLD NEWS BUT STILL DIGGABLE
- ParadoxControl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"30% is great, but what happens at night? Storage is still a big problem, and batteries are very nasty thing to make."
Did you even read the article man? It harnesses power from Infrared Light; "So there actually is some power remaining in the infrared [spectrum], even when it appears to us to be dark outside" - dharh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0New news to me.
- eskimo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0wolphcry - it says right there in the article what happens at night. it pulls energy from infrared light put off by anything that generates heat.
- XrayCharlie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I took his class last semester at UofT. He's a brilliant guy. You can visit him at http://tedsargent.com/
- bugazzo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I know this guy at UofT. I took his class for a short time. He is my friend's thesis supervisor.
- wmpp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The BusinessWeek article linked to on his website goes a little bit more in-depth:
http://tedsargent.com/pdfs/article-businessweek-31jan2005.pdf
Says we can expect to wait up to 10 years to see this stuff commercially available. - manano, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is an old old article.....
January 14, 2005 - peakoil, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is a very old article. Why is it being dugg now. Give us some new information or where we can get our hands on some prototypes! No digg
- Rhinobird, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Hooray! Now we won't have to burn oil anymore...we'll have plenty to make plastic solar cells...er....
- airship, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Sweaters that generate electricity from heat? I had a girlfriend back in college who could power a small town with a sweater like that. :)
- HarryBauzonia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Thanks for your feedback pondster, powercow, and iaskedTGT.
- JasonPrini, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is old news, new news would be that it's actually shipping and costs $xx.xx/sq meter
As far as what happens at night, these IR PV's would still work into the evening, as all objects radiate heat.
You could use these PV's to line your pool and they'd run all day and all night. - plarf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0an older article but a good one that deserves a digg
- HarryBauzonia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@powercow.
I'm interested in knowing what your friends are doing to produce so much power. Are they using the heat to generate steam, or is the power being generated through photovoltaic cells?
I have a couple of extra acres I'm doing nothing with, and I've been thinking about how to rig up some kind of solar setup. I'm not quite sure how to begin though. - WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0quote from the article:
"plastic material could be rolled across deserts to generate enough clean energy to supply the entire planet's power needs"
Deserts, huh? So once again, the middle east is holding all the cards for energy production resources.
Instead of mining the deserts for oli, we'll cover them with plastic....and the plastic will probably made from the same petroleum we took from those deserts in the first place.
HAA HA
- pondster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have a couple of extra acres I'm doing nothing with, and I've been thinking about how to rig up some kind of solar setup. I'm not quite sure how to begin though.
Popular Science had an article on that earlier in 2005, check for back issues, they went into what you needed and cost. The guy they did the article on went completly off the grid. - iaskedTGT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Cool! We need to stop burning all this stuff for electricity, because we ARE going to run out of stuff to burn and at this point in time we are already burning to many things that have "Heavy Metals & Light Metals" in them. We are all dying of metal ash toxicity at this point.
If you did not notice....
If you worry about what might be,
and wonder what might have been,
you will ignore what is. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0a few of my friends produce so much solar they sell back to the grid and get a monthly power check instead of bill. These are coming soon just takes time to filtr down the market.. loook at Oled's which also can be sprayed on or epaper.. tech takes time.. article is misleading about a point solar only costs 25-50 cents a KW if the power company harvests he power and then pipe it to your house. It is the moving of electricy that is inefficient and expensive. If you do your own solar.. it is far far cheaper.
also covering the earth with .1% of solar cells is actually a large area and would probably effect our albedo or reflection and cause a lot of problems. - OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Like all other alternative energy programs, this too will be sabotaged by the Saudi Texans and their fossil fuel and automotive company cohorts.
- knightmare, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0too good to be true.....MAKE IT HAPPEN PLEASE!
- HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The basic thing about solar power:
Sunlight is 10X stronger when you can see the sun (a sunny day) than when the sun is behind a cloud. It doesn't seem that big a difference because your eyes see things logarithmically.
But to a solar cell, it means there is only 1/10th as much power available when a cloud passes behind the sun (as it does all day on an overcast day) than on a clear day.
That means one simple thing:
By the time solar power makes sense in the average place in the US, it will be a slam dunk in sunny states (parts of California, Arizona, Texas, etc.) That is, if you have 30-50% cloud cover, you are only making about 50% as much power as someone in those states, if you have a lot of overcast (Seattle, Michigan) you are making only 10% as much power.
That means that by the time exists for you to pay off 50% of your electric bill with solar cells, someone in one of those sunny states simply CANNOT AFFORD NOT to have solar power. They'd be paying their electric bill back 3x over each day.
So, when you see solar being commonplace or ubiquitous in the sunny parts of the country and the people there talking about how much money they're getting back, then you'll know the average person should be looking at PV arrays. - OropheR, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I wonder what would be the climate changes if we were suddenly powering all electrical equipments on earth with solar cells... Its only a question though. I am dreaming about powering my pc with solar panels. And that would be a start. If they were selling house completely electrically independent , I would be the first to buy it.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0HarryBauzonia
Well the one guy that sells the most back to the state is 90% solar.. but has a windmill.. he also lives in a berm home (partially underground.. can heat it with a candle) Berm homes rock, can survive almost any natural disaster.. including earthquakes and as such, ins is mega cheapo.
The solar provided enough electricy to produce too much now and then.. with the windmill he always has too much. It' s not much most of his checks are for less than $20.
He really doesnt have all that much solar..i would guess the pannels are about 2 meters by 30 meters or so.. basically the length of his house. and about as tall as me.
Not all states will pay you for adding power to the grid.. people still add it though.. and call it guerilla power... would be better to give to the neighbours though as i doubt the powercompany would lower it's prices just cause somone is giving them free power. - thecoolestcow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0No pic? NO DIGG!
Just kidding. Yes digg. - jimbo92107, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Ever hear ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky?" That's what they're blowing up your ass right now.
The author first fails to qualify his "five times more" comparison with PLASTIC solar cells, leading some to believe he's comparing it to silicon ones, which get around 15 percent. A 75 percent conversion??? WOWIE!!
He corrects this later, but then supplies another hefty dose of blue sky with the magic words, "With further advances" (Translation: Don't hold your breath, homies). Then we get the researcher blue-sky from perfesser Peter Peumans, who lays down the limit of 30 percent conversion. Of course, he doesn't care to hazzerd a guesstimate-poo for when that'll happen, but hey, keep that grant money comin'.... - pondster, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0"So the energy cartels will expect us to continue to send them monthly payments for electricity just because they have a solar farm? Why wouldn't I paint my roof with this stuff and cut them off forever?"
Thats why we will NEVER see this, There is too much money buying off our government to allow this to pass. - smartpatrol, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0software2, I thought the same thing. . . then I noticed that the article is from January 2005! I still Digg this, though.
- iaskedTGT, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0You people a totally ignorant if you believe for one second the B.S. people say that it does not work.
My wife posted a LONG comment rebutting people like HappyScrappy post but the
SOLAR BIAS & OIL COMPANY SUPPORTING
DIGG.COM STAFF
DELEATED IT LAST NIGHT.
Don't believe-Call Her at Solartron 1-888-647-6527 Ext. 108
http://www.partsonsale.com/ - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Wow... I know the article's only from last month, but they developed this stuff a long time ago.
- iaskedTGT, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Solar WORKS
Solatron
http://www.partsonsale.com/
1-888-647-6527 - rhettnyedotorg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0that's sweet.
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