The state of solar panel technology (especially thermal) is stuck where it was 30 years ago because the government is subsidizing projects using that old technology rather than investing in research into new more efficient was to capture solar energy. Here in Florida we have a glaring example of how much of our tax dollars the government can waste while making a select group rich. This solar project will never produce the energy it is suppose to.
http://www.fpl.com/environment/solar/martin.shtml
But that’s OK because the "green" energy traders will make millions off it and so will FPL Group from tax credits.
And when a hurricane or hail storm wrecks the glass collectors, guess who will fund rebuilding it all over again.
"Solar panel technology is stuck where it was 30 years ago"? Are you kidding me? Solar panel research is ongoing and is cutting edge. Conversion efficiencies have skyrocketed in the past few years and we’re now seeing thin-film solar technology that can be affixed to windows and roof tiles and such. We’re at the point where solar power is reaching price parity with natural gas. Give it a few more years and it’ll be economical to have it widespread.
Sure, solar research could always use more money, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t put money into the end product. If no one is buying the fruits of the research, what’s the point of the research?
As for hail and storms, many modern panels are built to resist all but the worst impacts. In areas where this is a problem engineers take this into consideration and prepare for it.
Solar is the way of the future as it’s the only fuel source that is available world-wide and will never run out (ok, maybe in 5 billion years). Pair it up with natural gas in the short-term and hydrogen production in the long-term and you have an electric grid that’s clean and doesn’t depend on the whims of OPEC.
We already have the technology to pull electricity out of thin air and power the world. we arnt using it because the government cant tax it.
Why are people putting me thumbs down? i’m completely serious, the new nokia cell phone that charges itself uses this technology.
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nokia tesslar
oh yes you are completely right. i utterly agree. utterly. haha. cows have utters. I wonder if sheep have utters too.
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I’m not from the US, but I agree that solar power is just not the way to go (even in a storm-free country such as the UK) because the panels do not produce that much power and they are horribly expensive to build and use a lot of chemicals.
We’ve been using solar power for centuries anyway – what do you think clothes lines are? People run clothes drying machines in place of simply putting the stuff outside to dry.
Those drying machines use kilowatts of power .. the simple measure of _not_ buying a machine and putting clothes outside provides about the same power saving as a solar panel, but nothing has to be manufactured and then run for 10 years to pay itself off.
All this crap about "Green" measures just seems too freaking Orwellian it’s not funny, they aren’t actually that environmentally sound at all.
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you nailed it on the head.
Unfortunately the government makes decisions based on lobbying companies. Government gets funded by these companies therefore they return the favors by financing their projects. Same idea as the Electric car. Instead they are wasting their money on hydrogen fuel cell technology that will never work! They already have great technology to make electric only cars but Oil companies lobby against them by telling everyone "you don’t wan that puny car!" you want a huge freakin Hummer instead!
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Who killed the electric car
We all know that Charlie got married to throw off the gay scent off. Anyway,there are other countries working on solar power technology that actually work. instead of wasting money on research,we should just buy photoelectric polymers from those who successfully developed it.
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"Solar panel technology is stuck where it was 30 years ago"? Are you kidding me? Solar panel research is ongoing and is cutting edge. Conversion efficiencies have skyrocketed in the past few years and we’re now seeing thin-film solar technology that can be affixed to windows and roof tiles and such. We’re at the point where solar power is reaching price parity with natural gas. Give it a few more years and it’ll be economical to have it widespread.
Sure, solar research could always use more money, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t put money into the end product. If no one is buying the fruits of the research, what’s the point of the research?
As for hail and storms, many modern panels are built to resist all but the worst impacts. In areas where this is a problem engineers take this into consideration and prepare for it.
Solar is the way of the future as it’s the only fuel source that is available world-wide and will never run out (ok, maybe in 5 billion years). Pair it up with natural gas in the short-term and hydrogen production in the long-term and you have an electric grid that’s clean and doesn’t depend on the whims of OPEC.
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We learn from mistakes. You’re right: we need to build on that experience and develop new and better solutions. When we get stuck in a paradigm…we’re stuck. There are new solar energy panels that are much more efficient and durable. Yes, we need to invest in the future. Do you expect a government program for that? They are still trying to sell Global Warming so they can increase taxes on energy.
What we need (what I would go for) is a plan to make the United States independent of foreign sources of energy. Even if it meant energy taxes. But they can’t use a high-pressure catastrophe sales tactic. All they need to do is say "American ingenuity, American industry, American power". We need leaders (not politicians) that will do this.
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Solar technology hasn’t been stuck in the last thirty years, the current record for photovoltaic efficiency is 42.8% and quantum dots are expected to bring that up to 65%. People citing efficiencies of 5 and 10% are dealing with information from the 70′s. Commercially available photovoltaics will lag behind a bit so it would be common to see only 15% efficient panels being installed but keep in mind the maximum theoretical efficiency of photosynthesis is 6.6% and so far, we’ve mostly been using energy from photosynthesis (fossil fuel is from ancient photosynthesis). We’ve even made hydrocarbon fuels like gasoline and diesel from solar power, CO2 and H2O.
Solar thermal is suitable for large power plants because it recovers energy from all wavelengths of the incident light and is a mature technology whereas solar photovoltaics is still advancing at a rapid rate and it would behoove a government to abstain from a large photovoltaic investment for a while.
Florida has a hurricane resistant solar installation code so it’s unlikely that significant damage would result from a hurricane.
Maybe you should put a little into research before forming an opinion.
References :
http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/004418.html
http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/002789.html
http://www.upei.ca/~physics/p261/Content/Sources_Conversion/Photo-_synthesis/photo-_synthesis.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071208150135.htm
http://www.multihousingnews.com/multihousing/content_display/industry-news/e3ia6dc904e032a3e87bf3387d0643e1992
http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/going/are-solar-panels-safe-in-hurricane-prone-environments/