I should also add that I can envisage nanotechnology being applied to wind technology too, with greater efficiencies in production being achieved as well as current problems being overcome or significantly ameliorated like the problem of conditions being too windy or the wind being too light.
To put this in more simple terms: The minimum we want is a plastic panel which can convert 50 watts per square metre (20% of available energy) and which costs 25 euros per square metre. At that price and at that energy the Irish rail network can generate 260MW of power for an installation cost of 130 million euros. This is equal to today's installation cost for gas-fired plants.
At the moment it costs about 100 euros per square metre to buy silicon panels retail. Silicon panels use 200-300 microns thickness of silicon but already further back in the thread I spoke of low cost thin film technology using super thin wafers of silicon - 5 microns - which has already been developed. 200 microns to 5 microns is one fortieth of the cost of at least 1 input into silicon cell costs that has taken place in just the last couple of years.
Given all these facts what do you think is about to happen?
What will happen is that the target of the 25 dollar, 20% cell will in all probability be broken within the next 5 years.
Last edited by Civic_critic2; 14th August 2009 at 02:46 PM.
Once again, during the winter here, the sun sets around 4pm and rises around 10am, while energy usage spikes to its highest point of the year. 20% of nothing is nothing.Originally Posted by Civic_critic2
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
That's a nice positive contribution.
So you agree that economically solar is about to smash through all barriers in the next few years? Then we are left with 2 problems - nightime and storage.
So we have solved the problem of how to get the juice reliably and in large enough amounts. The question really is storage.
Well at least you didn't use the word bickering.
So, you want to store 6 months minimum of energy supply for the entire country. More like 8 months to be honest. On top of the short term storage for night time during the summer months.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Remarkable lack of numbers in your responses dios.
A 1 square metre plastic panel which averages 50 watts per m2 produces 500 Wh per day and 15000Wh (15kWh) per month - that's around 1% of a household's needs. 10 square metres will give 10 per cent of their requirements. A cell which is 40% efficient gives them 20% of their requirements and 20 square metres of that will give them 40% of their requirements. This is plastic solar sheeting that can be stuck on walls, roofs, doors, awnings, pub umbrellas, patios, along footpaths etc. At a certain price for the ordinary consumer buying sqaure metres of this material makes economic sense. At that point it will begin to become as ubiquitous as flat screen tvs and mobile phones.
Last edited by Civic_critic2; 14th August 2009 at 03:08 PM.
Em for the fourth time, the sun doesn't shine at night, and we get more than our fair share of night here in Ireland.
I'm going to leave you to the carbon nanotube electrical grid, 40% efficient solar panels on sticks that work at night, storing the entire energy consumption of the country for eight months, and infrastructure buildout that doesn't involve the construction industry now.
Good luck with that.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
The problem is storage, we have the juice. There is no energy crisis.
Took a look at the average roof area of a house in Ireland which turns out to be 75m2. If that entire roof was covered with solar tiles or sheets plus another 10 metres was added by sticking these on a wall or patio or wherever and if we assume that these sheets can only pick up an average power all told of a miserable 7% per square metre then the power generated by this system would be 7/100 x 2500 = 175 Wh per day per square metre or 446kWh per month - about 25% of a household's needs. If the efficiency was 14% then it would supply 50% of their needs, 21% would supply 75% of their needs and 28% would make them 100% energy independent.
It is perfectly reasonable to suggest this may be met in the next 10 years. The science and the economics back this up based on the state of play today, this is not speculation it is extrapolation. It will happen.
Last edited by Civic_critic2; 14th August 2009 at 05:47 PM.
By the way on the above assessment it would take 30 teams of 30 people 5 months to lay sheeting along the entire Irish railway network. If I'm wrong and it turned out to take 4 times longer then it could be accomplished in just over a year and a half.
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote