nytimes.com — Here on Mr. Gärtner’s 200-acre pig farm, the fields are now covered with 10,050 solar panels, which soak up the sunshine and convert it into electricity. The ambient hum in the air is not the sound of insects but of transformers carrying a high-voltage current to the villages nearby. Mr. Gärtner makes more than $600,000 a year.
Jul 29, 2006 View in Crawl 4
ernsthotJul 29, 2006
diggmaddyYes, the heat from the sun... It has everything to do with solar power, it just uses a slighty less direct process to go from electromagnetic waves to electricity.
Closed AccountJul 29, 2006
"Don't worry, he could still produce power using his pigs' manure."True...but he'd have to move the whole operation underground...in the middle of a desert.
coolbruJul 29, 2006
It might be less direct, but it's both cheaper AND more efficient than photovoltaics.
blackb0xJul 29, 2006
$600,000 - $250,000 = $350,000 per year in pure profit$350,000 - ~33% in taxes = $234,500 in real pure profit. I don't see the problem. only interest though
asoggywaffleJul 29, 2006
i think investing 5 million into a solid stock is a much better way to make a lot in 25 years
everfallingJul 30, 2006
no. i just watched that movie insomnia once. ha ha. again, just playing around with an idea, nothing serious ^_^
alx359Jul 30, 2006
Kudos for the guy, but feel he's sitting in a thin beam in the long-term. When other desperate farmers start doing the same in awhile with probably cheaper technology, he will get lot of competition w/o having paid the loans yet. Think he needs to diversify (or sell) until he's profitable ASAP. For example, outsourcing an industrial fridge service in some other part of his land, or anything else that adds extra value from electricity in the summer.
mos6507Jul 30, 2006
The amount of money he will make is a function of energy prices.Do you really think the price of electricity will remain static in 15 years (after inflation)?However, I'm still waiting on a breakthrough in solar pricing. It takes such a large surface area to generate enough electricity to power a comfortable modern home that it's just not cost-effective yet.
blackdiamond555Jul 31, 2006
Inefficient at the moment yes, but if the gov't doesn't encourage solar technology now in 10 years when we really need cheap solar power, it won't be there. 3x the price will spur new solar techs thus lowering price and increasing their use and generate more electricy keeping prices lower in the long term. That's when the Germans will turn around and laugh at the US who isn't encouraging solar's use (as much) And yes, there is an energy shortage as we're seeing in California again with 3 days last week of record usage. The local utility where I live raised prices 25% this year with plans to raise them further in the future. At some point the prices might go up to the gov't current levels
hawk2007Aug 10, 2006
Cool idea, but expensive to setup.