Solar happenings

[vfx]

Butterflies are free.
Natural Solar Collectors On Butterfly Wings Inspire More Powerful Solar Cells

[JRP3]

Regarding Solyndra:

Each of the company's cylinders is actually two glass tubes, one nested inside the other. Rather than silicon, the solar cells use a mixture of copper, indium, gallium and selenium deposited on the inner tube.

Those don't sound like inexpensive materials to build with, not to mention I believe Nanosolar is in competition for the same elements for their thin film panels.

[vfx]

One Billion Dollar 200 MW Solar thermal plant announced in Arizona.

The Arizona Department of Commerce and Albiasa Solar of Spain will announce Monday a $1 billion solar-thermal power plant will be built near Kingman next year, generating enough power for 50,000 homes at once when it opens in 2013.
...
Solar-thermal power plants don't use the common black panels to make electricity. Instead, they use mirrors to focus sunlight on liquid-filled tubes. They use the hot fluid to make steam and spin turbines, much like coal, natural-gas and nuclear plants operate, but without the need for fuel.

[vfx]

Concentrating Solar Power (“CSP”) is a core climate solution, indirect dry cooling systems (also known as “Heller” systems) will be a crucial enabling technology, since large-scale CSP will be located in desert regions.


Climate Progress » Blog Archive » The secret to low-water-use, high-efficiency concentrating solar power

[doug]

Startup Skyline Solar Comes Out Shooting for Grid Parity — Can It Deliver?

[vfx]

Solar Tech: Not Just on the Roof Anymore


Not sure how everyone can keep "inventing" thin film Solar but it just keep happening.

[EVnut]

The time to payback is a bit long right now for most folks, I think.

That's what most folks tend to think... but that's normally because they don't take all the benefits into account. I can't think of many other investments that immediately and consistently pay you back - tax free - just about forever. The folks who took out some investment money to buy their PV systems last year - couldn't image a better investment. Most folks found more of their money vaporized than they paid for their systems.

And a final note - my payback period was *instant*. The moment I turned my system on, I started saving money. This is due to having an EV and Time of Use Metering. I couldn't have afforded to NOT have PV.

I think people are nuts for not installing solar PV systems.

You and me both, brother!

[BBHighway]

The payback would be much quicker if the price of using coal wasn't artificially cheap. The way it works now the coal industry doesn''t pay the cost of destroying mountains or the cost of using the atmosphere to dump their pollution. That's how corporations work in general, externalize costs, internalize profits.

Still, most people wouldn't buy solar without incentive money because you have to pay all the cost up front and get paid back later. Our society encourages just the opposite behavior; get instant gratification now, pay for it later, or maybe not at all.

[JRP3]

I can't remember the name but there is a company that will install panels for you with no upfront costs, you just lock in a monthly rate with them for a contracted period of time.

[graham]

That's what most folks tend to think... but that's normally because they don't take all the benefits into account. I can't think of many other investments that immediately and consistently pay you back - tax free - just about forever.

The power in my neighborhood is kind of lousy. With a PV/Battery system I started a return on investment immediately on the electronic equipment I was not having to replace due to brownouts.

Not to mention the convenience of always having power -- certainly that is worth something above and beyond just the lack of having to pay electric bills.