# Is solar power the future?



## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

Slartibartfas said:


> True. Especially if you couple it with heat exchanger as is common in modern power plants of this sort. Than efficiency levels of 80-90% are possible. But I don't want to imagine, how many oil power plants one would have to build for that.


According to this graph (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/pages/sec1_3.pdf), all transportation consumption amount to 27,92% of overall USA energy consumption (2008) in terms of BTu. Because this figure includes aviation, shipping and trans too, and because shifting cars to electric-powered sources would increase efficiency, I don't think it would be unfeasible to think of an all-electric car fleet.


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## intensivecarebear (Feb 2, 2006)

dark_shadow1 said:


> The funny thing is that almost nobody knows about this simple device:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's true. I only heard about this very recently. But I think that's great that this sort of thing has been implemented on such a large scale in Israel. Do you think you could give us some historical background on how this came to pass?


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## dark_shadow1 (May 24, 2009)

intensivecarebear said:


> Do you think you could give us some historical background on how this came to pass?





> In the 1950s there was a fuel shortage in the new Israeli state, and the government forbade heating water between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. As the situation worsened, engineer Levi Yissar proposed that instead of the construction of more electrical generation plants, homes should switch to solar water heaters. He built a prototype in his home, and in 1953 he started NerYah Company, Israel's first commercial manufacturer of solar water heaters.[1] By 1967 around one in twenty households heated its water with the sun and 50,000 solar heaters had been sold.[1] However, cheap oil from Iran and from oil fields captured in the Six-Day War made Israeli electricity cheaper and the demand for solar heaters dropped.[13] After the energy crisis in the 1970s, in 1980 the Israeli Knesset passed a law requiring the installation of solar water heaters in all new homes (except high towers with insufficient roof area). As a result, Israel is now the world leader in the use of solar energy per capita (3% of the primary national energy consumption).[14]
> 
> As of the early 1990s, all new residential buildings were required by the government to install solar water-heating systems, and Israel's National Infrastructure Ministry estimates that solar panels for water-heating satisfy 4% of the country's total energy demand.[2] Israel and Cyprus are the per-capita leaders in the use of solar hot water systems with over 90% of homes using them.[15]
> 
> The Ministry of National Infrastructures estimates solar water heating saves Israel two million barrels of oil a year.[10]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Israel#Solar_water_heaters


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## tka84 (Feb 21, 2010)

Why is the USA so behind the times lately? These types of things should be a requirement in certain locations.


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## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

tka84 said:


> Why is the USA so behind the times lately? These types of things should be a requirement in certain locations.


It is the downside and part of the hurdles of being a country where individual rights are highly valued, and where state intervention is less welcomed than everywhere else. 

The tricky thing is that you cannot have "good" government intervention like requiring roof solar panels without risking bad government intervention like increasing gas taxes to induce demand in public transportation or to pay for some pork project.


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## siamu maharaj (Jun 19, 2006)

Why'd anyone need hot water in the summers anyway? In Pakistan, we only turn on our water geysers in the winters and then they go into hibernation in the summers.


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## ukiyo (Aug 5, 2008)

I believe we should use solar power as much as possible... we have sunlight..we can get energy from it so why not use it as much as possible? 

I am sure we can improve the ugly design and make it more efficient if we tried


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## ardamir (Jul 10, 2009)

Not really solar but still promising, the Bloom Box Server:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/18/60minutes/main6221135.shtml


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## wjfox (Nov 1, 2002)

From Ray Kurzweil, the world's leading futurist:

http://boingboing.net/2010/01/04/interview-with-ray-k.html

"... We're applying nanotechnology to solar panels. The cost per watt of solar energy is coming down dramatically. As a result, the amount of solar energy is growing exponentially. It‘s doubling every two years, reliably, for the last 20 years. People ask, "Is there really enough solar energy to meet all of our energy needs?" It's actually 10,000 times more than we need. And yes you lose some with cloud cover and so forth, but we only have to capture one part in 10,000. If you put efficient solar collection panels on a small percentage of the deserts in the world, you would meet 100% of our energy needs. And there‘s also the same kind of progress being made on energy storage to deal with the intermittency of solar. There are only eight doublings to go before solar meets 100% of our energy needs. We're awash in sunlight and these new technologies will enable us to capture that in a clean and renewable fashion."


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## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

Suburbanist said:


> According to this graph (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/pages/sec1_3.pdf), all transportation consumption amount to 27,92% of overall USA energy consumption (2008) in terms of BTu. Because this figure includes aviation, shipping and trans too, and because shifting cars to electric-powered sources would increase efficiency, I don't think it would be unfeasible to think of an all-electric car fleet.


Well, that sounds realistic, but its the total energy consumption. What is the current share of electricity on total energy? I don't have the number in mind but I have the strong feeling that todays energy capacities would have to multiply at least several times to cater for a substantial part of (electric) car energy demands.


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## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

siamu maharaj said:


> Why'd anyone need hot water in the summers anyway? In Pakistan, we only turn on our water geysers in the winters and then they go into hibernation in the summers.


You don't need warm or hot water during summer? Well, I'd guess many people do. 

For example for washing the dishes, or those who also like to have a shower warmer than the 20 °C or so they'd get without heating. I know, decadent society... but thats how it is.


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## Dimethyltryptamine (Aug 22, 2009)

I read on QLD Gov't website that they plan on having solar panels in EVERY state school by 2011.  That is a good start.


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## ukiyo (Aug 5, 2008)

*Home solar panel market heats up thanks to power buy-back deals*


> Energy-efficient houses, in particular those equipped with solar panels, are growing in popularity as home buyers seek out environmentally-friendly options.
> 
> One factor behind the rising demand for eco-friendly houses was apparently the start in November of a system in which electric power companies buy surplus electric power from such households at 48 yen per kilowatt--double the previous price.
> 
> ...


http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20100303TDY03104.htm


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## ukiyo (Aug 5, 2008)

*Firms plug into solar power generation*


> Major electric appliance manufacturers are pouring resources into improved solar power generator lineups and production capacity.
> 
> The companies displayed their latest products at PV Expo 2010, a three-day trade show of solar power generation products that ran through Friday in Tokyo's Ariake district.
> 
> ...


http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T100305006256.htm


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## Blackraven (Jan 19, 2006)

The solar power market will continue to grow locally and internationally. It's a given fact.

Still, I am curious. How long does it take to improve solar panel technology???

Right now, Sharp says that it has the highest at 35% energy efficiency.

So the gain is like 1% every year then? (at that pace, solar panels would reach 100% energy efficiency by year 2075???)


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## siamu maharaj (Jun 19, 2006)

It's not possible to have 100% efficiency. It's physically impossible. Talking realistically I think they'll reach 50% MAX.


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## muc (Sep 29, 2005)

This are common sights these days in Germany:



















The solar boom in Germany was induced by high feed-in tariffs that electricity providers are forced by law to pay to providers of solar energy, including private households. These tariffs are guaranteed for 20 years. Now the tariffs for new installations are being gradually reduced. It remains to be seen how the market will cope with that.

The popularity of roof mounted solar cells is even an asthetical problem now. Owners of houses in medieval towns that are classified as landmarks want to install solar panels, too. There is an ongoing discussion if they should be allowed to do so.


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## tommy949 (Feb 8, 2010)

China uses them in like some cities and mostly rural areas.China is the largest provider of solar panels and wind turbines after all  .


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## maurocsf (Jan 30, 2007)

Solar water heaters it became popular in Brazil.









In sao paulo the government installed in homes of poor peaple



















And a cheap Solar water heater made of PET bottles


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## Atmosphere (Mar 15, 2009)

tommy949 said:


> China uses them in like some cities and mostly rural areas.China is the largest provider of solar panels and wind turbines after all  .


Yes when I was traveling by train in China, I was very surprised too see those things literally everywhere on every roof in rural areas.


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