Solar Energy

[manshimajin]

This sounds either like an amazing breakthrough or snake oil...hope it's the former

 

A new way of capturing the energy from the Sun could increase the power generated by solar panels tenfold, a team of American scientists has shown.

 

Solar Energy

[Slim]

Looks to be a pretty sound principle, but concentration still causes heat, they don't mention how this helps that.

[mollag]

Problem for us is that when we need the max energy, winter, we have the least solar energy available.

The USA though has a max demand in the summer, for a/c, when solar energy is at a max---they will always do better than we will.

 

Half a loaf though is better--------

[manshimajin]

Problem for us is that when we need the max energy, winter, we have the least solar energy available.

The USA though has a max demand in the summer, for a/c, when solar energy is at a max---they will always do better than we will.

 

Half a loaf though is better--------

Talked with an architect yesterday who works on shopping mall type development. He hadn't seen this and got quite excited as they are under a lot of pressure to minimise energy costs. He saw a big use for this type of technology in atrium type situations. He thought that if the panels were significantly more efficient than present solar panels and would let light through (as they are supposed to) then some of the heat disadvantages could be more than offset by the fact that the extra energy could be used in part to run cooling systems. He thought they would be great for stadia with large covered roofing. Millenium Stadium power station.

 

I wonder also if the panels work on light not just sunlight?

 

This seems one to watch as it may be at least as effective as wind power if it works - the power being delivered at the point of use. Suspect that just like wind power though back up power would still be needed in this case for winter/night etc...

 

Incidentally the Scottish and Irish Governments are now in discussion about an inter-connector system to allow better utilisation of wind power between the two countries. Wonder if the Manx Government are going to get involved?

[Slim]

Problem for us is that when we need the max energy, winter, we have the least solar energy available.

The USA though has a max demand in the summer, for a/c, when solar energy is at a max---they will always do better than we will.

 

Half a loaf though is better--------

 

You can use energy storage though. There's lots of ways to achieve longer term energy storage, for example using excess electricity to drive pumps to pump water back uphill to power hydro electric later when you need it, or using excess electricity from solar to fill hydrogen cells.

[triskelion]

They're all crap though, with the possible exception of pumped water storage, for which there is little decent potential in the British Isles that is not already exploited.

[Slim]

They're all crap though, with the possible exception of pumped water storage, for which there is little decent potential in the British Isles that is not already exploited.

 

Hey, thanks for the reply Mr Chip-pisser!

 

Hard to say how you think there's no potential for pumped water in the uk, bizzare statement. As too all energy storage being crap, my arse they are. Some aren't fully developed, like Hydrogen, some are developed well and improving daily like batteries, some aren't obvious like geological compressed air, and using energy in the peaks to make things needed in the off peak like, for example, farming does. Summer food stored for the winter is an example of energy storage, harvesting biomass for incineration in the winter, etc.

 

As energy prices rise, such things become more economical too.

[mollag]

I love the idea of solar but the plot is often lost on amounts of energy. Pumped storage is generally done at night when we have excess energy in the transmission systems, some generating sets cannot be swiched off , so pumped water can be stored, on off peak , and allowed to flow at max demand--it improves the overall efficiency of the system. Solar being a day thing is not a viable method.

Street lighting and motorway lighting, off peak discounts are all methods used to capitalise on excess energy available at night from the grid, this being the case one wonders how much worth there is in switching off standby appliances.

[Alias]

I love the idea of solar but the plot is often lost on amounts of energy. Pumped storage is generally done at night when we have excess energy in the transmission systems, some generating sets cannot be swiched off , so pumped water can be stored, on off peak , and allowed to flow at max demand--it improves the overall efficiency of the system. Solar being a day thing is not a viable method.

Street lighting and motorway lighting, off peak discounts are all methods used to capitalise on excess energy available at night from the grid, this being the case one wonders how much worth there is in switching off standby appliances.

Pumped storage can be committed at any time, it's only committed at night because currently our power generation is fairly constant (compared to solar anyways) whilst our demand obviously isn't. If we change the supply-time curve then obviously the time when pumped storage is needed will change - and if solar's scaled enough then the time it would most occur would be daytime.

[Slim]

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/t...nge-865830.html

 

From yesterdays indy, a texan oil baron who's sensibly waking up to the fact that far too much money is being spent of foriegn oil and is bigtime into wind farms. This caught my eye:

 

"A farmer who gives up a quarter of an acre to a wind farm can earn $10,000 a year from it – some 3 per cent of the value of the electricity it produces. If he planted corn for ethanol he would earn $300. "

[manshimajin]

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/t...nge-865830.html

 

From yesterdays indy, a texan oil baron who's sensibly waking up to the fact that far too much money is being spent of foriegn oil and is bigtime into wind farms. This caught my eye:

 

"A farmer who gives up a quarter of an acre to a wind farm can earn $10,000 a year from it – some 3 per cent of the value of the electricity it produces. If he planted corn for ethanol he would earn $300. "

You may also like this if you are into farmers being productive:

 

Cowpower

[Jimcalagon]

I wonder also if the panels work on light not just sunlight?

 

Light is pretty much light - if it looks white then its probably got a similar spectrum to sunlight and could be used in photovoltaic reactions to generate electricity.

[mollag]

Just watched a Net Geo prog on a solar power station outside of Las Vegas. Using a heatstore method they can raise steam for 15 hrs after loss of sunlight.

Directional mirrors heat a light oil to 450 f which is then stored in a tower as a thermal flywheel. Calorifiers raise steam to drive the generating sets.

20Mw output which is sold to the grid-----facinating prog. Another method used in France uses molten salt as the heat store medium.

Not the end of fossil fuels but definatly another iron in the fire.