Solar energy, now cheaper then coal!

[Giggilyomeromicon]

http://www.solveclimate.com/blog/20071219/1-watt-itunes-solar-energy-has-arrived

Wooo

[TheOutcast]

Meh... why should we care?

[Giggilyomeromicon]

Meh... why should we care?

Because now Solar Energy is now a cheap form of energy, and can be easily distributed. That seems good to me.

[TheOutcast]

People keep telling me that solar energy isn't reliable. Stupid people. :rolleyes:

[Faiien]

*goes to buy solar panel*
/places solar panel on top of fireplace
/lights fireplace
no light...lol
iam guessing not everyones gonna jump up at once and make the switch lol

[Black.Ice]

While it's cheaper to produce, the distribution is still very limited. It's only available to commercial people. I didn't read your article very thoroughly, but I heard about this about a week ago. I believe a German company was the first one to buy it.

Right now, it seems too early to tell if it's viable. I mean, it may be cheap but what if it takes years to produce? That won't be practical. But hopefully it'll lead to an era of cheaper fuel and greener energy.

[U-238]

Does this mean santa's going to give bad kids solar panels instead of coal in the future?

[kongurous]

While it's cheaper to produce, the distribution is still very limited. It's only available to commercial people. I didn't read your article very thoroughly, but I heard about this about a week ago. I believe a German company was the first one to buy it.

Right now, it seems too early to tell if it's viable. I mean, it may be cheap but what if it takes years to produce? That won't be practical. But hopefully it'll lead to an era of cheaper fuel and greener energy.

There are solar powered homes in this country that get pretty good energy rates. I'd say solar energy is pretty viable.

[Neo]

I'm actually really interested in solar power, since it seems so unobtrusive (Stick them on your roof, as opposed to a giant wind-thingy in the backyard) and pretty easy.

Problem has always been cost, so I hope this company explodes, and is able to offer this to us normal folk.

-Neo

[Toucan]

Solar powered homes in Australia are actually profitable for there owners, they produce more power than the home uses so the access is sold back into the power grid.

It makes a strong argument for putting solar panels on homes as a part of regular construction. Just like a hot water heater.

[West]

now, find a way to replace gasoline with water;)

[Faiien]

actually....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_power
mmmhm if i ever see fusion power at work while iam still alive i think ill cry.
all it takes is molecules of hydrogen
iam not an expert at this so i may be wrong lol but i saw the documentary on the history/science channel and it fascinated me to no ends (iam a science nerd)

[hammocksleeper]

While it's cheaper to produce, the distribution is still very limited. It's only available to commercial people.

Considering that commerical/industrial interests are by a long shot the largest consumers of electricity, I'd say that's not too bad. ;)

Just a little more progress towards the long-term inevitable and necessary goal of getting out of a fossil fuel economy, and creating the majority energy from tidal, wind, or solar sources. Solar energy is the most economical energy we have right now capable of replacing our current infrastructure, is completely viable, the only issue is that it requires a large upfront cost to purchase the infrastucture (solar panels)

[West]

uhh.. a little off-topic question, but i saw a commercial when i was half-dosed up and it looked like a car, ran by water, and it said in a loud voice "no pollution, just pure water vapor"

and i started freaking out. is that true?? if so..
Holy shit i want to get one :D

[TheOutcast]

Hahah! Omg! A car powered by water, what a fucked up idea, more or less a clever one too.

[hammocksleeper]

uhh.. a little off-topic question, but i saw a commercial when i was half-dosed up and it looked like a car, ran by water, and it said in a loud voice "no pollution, just pure water vapor"

and i started freaking out. is that true?? if so..
Holy shit i want to get one :D

doesn't run on water, it runs on hydrogen fuel cells, and the only emissions are water vapor. it has the possibility to be a very clean source of energy, depending on how the hydrogen itself is produced. but at the moment it is way too expensive.

[West]

oh, lol, ok.
thank you :D

[FrankZ]

Talking about solar energy and power-saving cars, I just found this interesting article about a solar-powered car by the University of Michigan. Check it out.

http://www.engin.umich.edu/solarcar

[Thedutchjelle]

actually....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_power
mmmhm if i ever see fusion power at work while iam still alive i think ill cry.
all it takes is molecules of hydrogen
iam not an expert at this so i may be wrong lol but i saw the documentary on the history/science channel and it fascinated me to no ends (iam a science nerd)

Well, you need deutrium and tritium which are hydrogen molecules, but I don't know how hard it is to make/get/find those.

[Mr.Bad]

Also, some time ago there was a show on NPR about some scientist figuring out how to actually burn water. I can't remember the details, but it was considered to be a possible alternative to gas.

[Dark_Soul74]

Water does not have much energy on its own. You guys should know that. :P

Only way to actually get more energy out of it than you put into it is to have it used with other reactants, or to bust it down into hydrogen and start a fusion reaction(which actually ends up taking us more energy than it creates with our current technology...).

[singo]

(which actually ends up taking us more energy than it creates with our current technology...).

Which is why so much money is being put into getting some shinyer technology to do it with, go ITER!

[Faiien]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pwlOw7iCNrI


Do you wanna light water on fire? Heres a tutorial...Anything you do, i cannot be held accountable for lol
http://my.break.com/content/view.aspx?ContentID=415623

[DarkMirror]

HOLY CWAP! Thats amazing. Hotter than the sun, yet cool. Wow.

[hammocksleeper]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pwlOw7iCNrI


Do you wanna light water on fire? Heres a tutorial...Anything you do, i cannot be held accountable for lol
http://my.break.com/content/view.aspx?ContentID=415623

Yeah, this is what Mr.Bad was talking about. Unfortunately it's not a viable source of energy because in order to make that cool effect you see, he is using loads of electricity, defeating the entire purpose.

[King_Critter]

Now that's sweet. I can't wait 'till they go into full scale production.

now, find a way to replace gasoline with water;)

It's called the electric car. :P

[Basan]

Not long ago when I was at the Uni' one of my Physics teachers told us about a developing power plant trying to harness the kinetic strength of the sea waves but the problem was to keep the waves' influx at a constant input level and rate. If those irregular wave patterns can be solved I think that we might have a cheaper energy source on the go. :)

[Faiien]

nowadays there are so many ways to harness energy whether it be though water, wind, hydrogen, ect. The only problem is these types of energies are either very expensive to harness and wont produce a profit until years and years later or they are unstable and unconstant. I dont think we're gonna be running on something other than electricity until mayb 1 or more decades.

[Thedutchjelle]

HOLY CWAP! Thats amazing. Hotter than the sun, yet cool. Wow.

The surface of the sun. That's 'only' 5000 degrees Celsius or something.

Nice vid but it's not possible to make the entire world run on this, because as peopel said before, you need large amounts of electricity to create the gas he uses.

[Faiien]

Nice vid but it's not possible to make the entire world run on this, because as peopel said before, you need large amounts of electricity to create the gas he uses.which in turn defeats the purpose of its creation in the first place lol

[kongurous]

which in turn defeats the purpose of its creation in the first place lol

Thank you Captain Obvious for restating what was, of course, obvious and what was already said on the same page of the thread.

[Faiien]

Thank you Captain Obvious for restating what was, of course, obvious and what was already said on the same page of the thread.thank you captain likes to point out obvious statements. Iam so sorry i posted that totally obvious statement...plz find it in your heart to forgive me for repeating someone. Oh gosh i feel so bad. Now what was the point of your post again? at least i was adding to the discussion, even if it had already been said but your post...did...?

heres another fascinating video i found about water power
http://youtube.com/watch?v=I4oU3Kcx780

i also thought you guys would find this interesting
http://www.celsias.com/2007/12/23/nanosolar-update-first-panels-now-shipping/

[Leosam096]

There are now cars that are run by air. http://www.theaircar.com/
I watched it too on Discovery Channel. Go air!

[DarkMirror]

There are plans for power plants that use Tornadoes. It creates a tornadoe miles high, and then the fans that started it double as... wind... collector... thingies.

[King_Critter]

I dont think we're gonna be running on something other than electricity until mayb 1 or more decades.

Um... we use those alternative sources of energy to generate electricity... but I think I get what you mean. :P