R U an RV Mutant too?

[Eez Moose]

Carl, I found a site on Insolation that either no longer exists or has changed its name so I can't post it for you but a precis of the information suggests that the lower the sun is on the horizon the less power the sunlight contains when it traverses all those extra miles of atmosphere. Wish I could find it again and if I do locate the information I will link it to you.

[bokobird]

Yea, that totally makes sense. I'm just saying, similar to radio waves from deep space, you just need more panels. If the price/performance ratio would improve enough to make even that viable economically, one could still use solar. But it's only as good as when the sun is available. Cloudy days my output gets cut to 1/4th what it should be (sometimes even less). This is why solar is just not viable for anything but a localized solution to small problems. I've been seeing some of the fields being built in Florida for solar, it's just nuts the size of these things. We can't dedicate enough land to make solar a solution for everything. Gen IV nuclear is where we should be, it's a joke all these other "green" solutions (solar, wind, etc.). They're unreliable if their main ingredient isn't available at the time the power is needed. Nothing can store the amount of electricity needed by the masses/factories/etc.

[huntnski]

Originally Posted by Eez Moose

Carl, I found a site on Insolation that either no longer exists or has changed its name so I can't post it for you but a precis of the information suggests that the lower the sun is on the horizon the less power the sunlight contains when it traverses all those extra miles of atmosphere. Wish I could find it again and if I do locate the information I will link it to you.

Don't tell anyone, but I'm working on a solar system that works in the dark. Forward the payment in cash (USD)and i will ship it to you.

[MartinC]

And another thing or two.

The UK has gone big on solar, also with very generous incentives - and their latitude is well into the 50s.

On batteries, our agent did not reckon much benefit would come from the investment. They should only be considered as peak loppers. Batteries are part of the private generating system, coupled to the grid. By law, if there is an outage of the grid, the whole system has to be decoupled within milliseconds to prevent line men being fried.
Batteries, therefore, cannot be considered as standby power.

[bokobird]

Those linemen sure respond quickly out your way, within milliseconds! I don't think they're as fast here in the east...

[Eez Moose]

Martin, north of you there are a few thousand huge panels just sitting there doing nothing. Huge solar arrays put in place by the local Liberal governments of the day trying to pretend how "woke" they were. The only t6hingt that was 'woke' was the bank accounts of the unscrupulous companies who sucked in those fool politicians.

If I was a politician those screwy deals would come with a performance clause. You don't get paid until the project proves its worth.

[Electra 225]

Good idea.

[Eez Moose]

Originally Posted by Electra 225

Good idea.

I'm full of good ideas.

Send me money and I will tell you some.
Whooo whooo

[Electra 225]

Same here! I should have said the same thing before my ideas were claimed by someone else.[emoji16] But I keep on going, because I'm a thinker and hopelessly a dreamer. My mind, I fear may have been much more fertile in my younger years though. Life does that to you I guess.

[okmunky]

There’s another type of solar power generator here in Arizona. It uses a parabolic trough to heat thermal salts that are pumped through pipes. The benefit of this is that the heated salt can be stored and used to generate power at night.

For more info https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solana_Generating_Station

[bokobird]

That's just too much land to dedicate for so little power. You'd need a little more than the entire state of Connecticut just to power the households of the US. That's ignoring all the business establishments, business buildings, factories, etc. It's just not a practical solution for the amount of energy consumed by all. And it's only going to become more in demand as the electric vehicle (both cars and planes) grow increasingly hungrier for more power.

[okmunky]

Electric airplanes???? That’s gonna take some really long extension cords or new lighter weight batteries.

There is no one solution for power generation in this country. Sadly, it tends to be weighted in favor of whatever industry has the most powerful lobbyists and not the best solution.

When you consider the environmental impact of the complete package, including manufacturing and disposal of the batteries, I hear that the Prius takes a higher toll than a Hummer. Now there is an electric Hummer coming?

[bokobird]

You would be amazed at the number of companies that have sprung up to build electric airplanes. It's a reality already with some smaller commercial aircraft already flying. And airplanes are plenty heavy, so replacing hundreds (if not thousands) of gallons of fuel with batteries is probably a wash.

[Eez Moose]

Originally Posted by bokobird

You would be amazed at the number of companies that have sprung up to build electric airplanes. It's a reality already with some smaller commercial aircraft already flying. And airplanes are plenty heavy, so replacing hundreds (if not thousands) of gallons of fuel with batteries is probably a wash.

One from Vancouver Island .....
https://www.harbourair.com/harbour-a...tric-airplane/