Solar power

[Funkworks]

... There is not enough Lithium mined on the planet to build the batteries necessary for the storage a state like California would need.

People are presently breaking their backs trying to get more mines, refineries and recycling plants going, so to me, at this point, shortages don't seem like a very serious concern. More like a distraction.



I hope Aptera has a future. I can think of no other car that better represents the term "efficiency".

 

[Funkworks]

Word of the day: "Agrivoltaics".





Despite a quarter million price tag, it looks like the Lightyear 0 might be the first solar car to hit the roads (at least in Europe).

Lightyear 0 Production Starts, Promising 388 Miles of Range

Lightyear 0 production has started in Finland, with the sedan promising 388 miles of range on a full charge, and much more from the sun.

www.autoweek.com

 

[Funkworks]

"A solar-powered car has made a record-breaking 1000km trip on a single charge fuelled by the sun.

The Sunswift 7 averaged nearly 85kph (53mph) in less than twelve hours to set a Guinness World Record."

Car makes record-breaking trip on single solar-powered charge

The car, designed and built by students at UNSW Sydney, travelled 1,000km without recharging

news.yahoo.com

 

[Greg Furtman]

One of the biggest problems here in the US for solar & wind electric generation is our national transmission grid and how different grids tie together. This is a good article about these problems.

Fixing the US power grid: A challenge for 2023 and beyond

Lack of investment in the country's transmission grids has become a huge roadblock to clean energy and reliable power. Will 2023 be the year things start to change?

www.canarymedia.com

 

[Greg Furtman]

Caltech just had a satellite launched today on a Falcon 9 Transporter-6 Mission. The experiment is to test the viability of beaming solar energy captures in space, converted to microwave, and then beamed down to the surface. Who knows, science fiction may again become science fact.

Space Solar Power Satellite Could Help Realize Our Sci-Fi Dreams of Unlimited Energy

A Caltech demo mission, launching Jan. 3, will test key elements of space-based solar power generation.

www.cnet.com

 

[Donnager]

One of the biggest problems here in the US for solar & wind electric generation is our national transmission grid and how different grids tie together. This is a good article about these problems.

Fixing the US power grid: A challenge for 2023 and beyond

Lack of investment in the country's transmission grids has become a huge roadblock to clean energy and reliable power. Will 2023 be the year things start to change?

www.canarymedia.com

I'm afraid it's the biggest one, and nobody wants to put a real number on it. It seems that the public wants to buy new clean power, and have fossil fuel reliability, but only at a certain investment level. Trying to sort out who pays for what part will be a long process.

from the article:

What’s more, the LBNL study found that the costs of grid upgrades have soared. Five years ago, the upgrades needed to connect a new project to the grid usually cost less than 10 percent of a project’s overall price tag. Now that’s grown to as much as 50 to 100 percent of the project cost.

There are many reasons for these growing delays and rising costs, but the most fundamental one is that the grid isn’t being expanded quickly enough to absorb the massive growth in clean energy projects. New transmission lines can cost billions of dollars, and arguments between utilities and state regulators over how to allocate and share the costs of those projects make for a fraught and contentious process that can often stymie ambitious expansions.

If we (Americans) make enough bad decisions for long enough, we will be forced to do something we don't want as a society. Me, I'm thinking about going off-grid. I'm not sure I want my personal power reliability tied to political winds driven by shaky logic.

 

[Greg Furtman]

Silicon Ranch raises $600M for its holistic take on solar development

The company owns solar plants for the long haul, grazes sheep among its panels and works to be a good neighbor in rural communities.

www.canarymedia.com

 

[Greg Furtman]

Another big investment to build solar panels here in the US.

Qcells to invest $2.5B in building out US solar supply chain

Inflation Reduction Act tax credits spur Qcells to make a major investment in Georgia solar factories and to expand its U.S. polysilicon supply.

www.canarymedia.com

 

[Funkworks]

JA Solar is a pretty big Chinese company making solar panels and they'll be building a plant in Arizona.

JA Solar Holdings - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

JA Solar Announces First U.S. Solar Module Manufacturing Facility In Phoenix

The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) is the state's leading economic development organization with a streamlined mission to grow and strengthen Arizona’s economy.

www.azcommerce.com

When Tesla builds a car plant in China (a few years ago), and China builds a solar plant in Arizona, isn't that great news?

 

[Greg Furtman]

JA Solar is a pretty big Chinese company making solar panels and they'll be building a plant in Arizona.

JA Solar Holdings - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

JA Solar Announces First U.S. Solar Module Manufacturing Facility In Phoenix

The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) is the state's leading economic development organization with a streamlined mission to grow and strengthen Arizona’s economy.

www.azcommerce.com

When Tesla builds a car plant in China (a few years ago), and China builds a solar plant in Arizona, isn't that great news?

That's good news. TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co) is building some plants in Arizona and I I believe some battery manufacturers are building plants there too.

 

[Titan II]

https://www.ourenergypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/avian-mortality.pdf

 

[kuririn]

https://www.ourenergypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/avian-mortality.pdf

234 bird deaths?
Tragic.
Meanwhile:

Avian mortality at oil pits in the United States: A review of the problem and efforts for its solution - PubMed

Oil production operations produce waste fluids that may be stored in pits, open tanks, and other sites accessible to wildlife. Birds visit these fluid-filled pits and tanks ("oil pits"), which often resemble water sources, and may become trapped and die. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

"Based on Forensics Laboratory and USFWS field data, oil pits currently cause the deaths of 500,000-1 million birds per year."

 

[Funkworks]

234 bird deaths?
...
"Based on Forensics Laboratory and USFWS field data, oil pits currently cause the deaths of 500,000-1 million birds per year."

And also:

Cats kill more than one billion birds each year

New analysis doubles estimate of avian death tolls, revealing that hunting felines take bigger bite out of wildlife than expected.

www.sciencenews.org

And:

National Chicken Council | Per Capita Consumption of Poultry and Livestock, 1965 to Forecast 2022, in Pounds

1/ Includes beef, pork, veal, and mutton/lamb, but excludes edible offals.Note: All poultry and livestock products are on a retail weight basis, except

www.nationalchickencouncil.org

 

[kuririn]

And:

National Chicken Council | Per Capita Consumption of Poultry and Livestock, 1965 to Forecast 2022, in Pounds

1/ Includes beef, pork, veal, and mutton/lamb, but excludes edible offals.Note: All poultry and livestock products are on a retail weight basis, except

www.nationalchickencouncil.org

Tragic.
Utterly tragic.
Maybe we should all go vega...........
Never mind.

 

[Funkworks]

A video that mirrors what I see when I come here.

 

[AeroTech]

Efficiency in PV is not that important. If PV's were 100% efficient then the temperature of the panel supports underneath would plunge to absolute zero and destroy themselves.

Well, except for the heat transfer of the air flowing around them...

 

[AeroTech]

I am an avowed solar panel and electric car booster. I would give a car with cameras instead of mirrors an awfully hairy eyeball. Especially to get a mile of range. You can pick up 10x that by just being a little easier on the accelerator off the line. If they were getting me 25-50 miles I might think about it.

I've also more or less done the math that @jderimig did above. For regular car travel, solar panels are way better on your rooftop than on your car. It's really hard to get a meaningful difference in range as noted above. I recognize that this calculation is different for renters and for people going far away from an electrical outlet.

I especially agree with your second paragraph after over 8 years of experience.

 

[Funkworks]

Aptera news:

“While our delivery timeline is funding dependent, our goal is to begin production by the end of 2023,”

Aptera's Launch Edition is Here | Aptera

Aptera's Launch Edition is Here Aptera’s Launch Edition Offers Unique Solution to Universal EV Adoption and Energy Independence FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE San Diego, CA, January 20, 2023 — |

aptera.us

They're looking for investors and I hope they succeed. The specs on this vehicle are truly amazing.

 

[Greg Furtman]

They are building a new terminal at JFK Airport and creating a microgrid with 13,000 solar panels!

A giant solar microgrid is coming to New York City’s JFK airport

Some 13,000 solar panels will cover a new terminal being built at JFK, giving the airport a clean power supply that can keep operations running even in a blackout.

www.canarymedia.com

 

[Funkworks]

Big rise in solar and wind in the last decade.

In 2021, 20% Of Electricity In The US Was Generated From Renewable Sources

Due to the rise in electricity generated from wind and solar, 20% of electricity net generation in the US came from renewable sources in 2021.

cleantechnica.com

 

[Funkworks]

Hey look at that, the Sun is still shining.

 

[Bravo52]

Hey look at that, the Sun is still shining.

That's interesting...according to Al Gore, it shouldn't be...

 

[Funkworks]

That's interesting...according to Al Gore, it shouldn't be...

Better off getting your info from people like them instead:

Solar News Archives

We are here to bring you the latest solar news, progress and innovations, and everything else that you need to and want to know about the solar industry.

solarmagazine.com

Or for a deeper understanding:

Energy transformation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Energy Transfers and Transformations | National Geographic Society

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transferred and transformed. There are a number of different ways energy can be changed, such as when potential energy becomes kinetic energy or when one object moves another object.

education.nationalgeographic.org

 

[Tyeeking]

That's interesting...according to Al Gore, it shouldn't be...

Gore’s recent performance at Davos was hilarious. Pure comedic genius. What’s that you say . . . he thought he was being serious.

 

[Funkworks]

What it looks like to have an EV solar charging station delivered:

Sustainable EV Charging, Lowest TCO and Fastest to Deploy | Beam Global

The EV ARC™ solar EV charging system is the fastest deployed, most scalable, lowest TCO option available; no electrical work, no construction required.

beamforall.com

 

[kuririn]

Musing:
I wonder if there is such a thing as fast charging an EV via rooftop solar/battery combo instead of charging from the grid?
Power requirements?
Enough energy from solar to power both home and EV?
Cuz you can put way more solar panels on a roof than on a cars' roof, trunk and hood.
Zero greenhouse emissions from the vehicle.
Zero greenhouse emissions from the electrical generation.
End of musing.

 

[Funkworks]

Musing:
I wonder if there is such a thing as fast charging an EV via rooftop solar/battery combo instead of charging from the grid?
Power requirements?
Enough energy from solar to power both home and EV?
Cuz you can put way more solar panels on a roof than on a cars' roof, trunk and hood.
Zero greenhouse emissions from the vehicle.
Zero greenhouse emissions from the electrical generation.
End of musing.

The only one I know of is from Tesla but I think it's also connected, not 100% solar. They say it's in their plans to make more, but just aren't there yet.

Tesla's Gigantic Solar Powered Super Charger Station | Torque News

Tesla has a gigantic solar powered super charger station and there will be more of these that spring up over time.

www.torquenews.com

The Tesla powerwall (and alternatives) is for charging both a car and a house (from solar and/or the grid), but there is no use for fast DC at a house (too expensive for too little benefit), 240VAC is plenty sufficient.

 

[kuririn]

I was sitting in the back yard the other day, taking a break from mowing the lawn. Of the nine houses I could see, six had solar panels on the roof.

 

[Greg Furtman]

I didn't know whether to post this under wind or solar as it is both. A very interesting concept.

 

[Funkworks]

I didn't know whether to post this under wind or solar as it is both. A very interesting concept.

Fine here. For anything wind turbine only, you can post in the “aerodynamics" thread. The thread I had started specific to wind power has been locked. Or maybe you can try starting a new thread. Who knows what would happen. I'd use it.



Here's a recent guide to home solar systems:

A beginners guide to solar panels for home: Are they worth it where you live?

2023 Solar Panels for Home Guide: Shows the cost, savings and payback period you can expect from installing solar on your home given your location and power use

www.solarreviews.com

A third of Australian houses have solar?!?