02-04-2007, 02:53 PM
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#137 (permalink)
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| Guest | Re: Do not feed the Dinosaur!
Bill Baka <bbaka@comcast.net> wrote:
>Mark Hickey wrote:
>> nobody@nospam.pacbell.net (Bill Z.) wrote:
>>
>>> Bill Baka <bbaka@comcast.net> writes:
>>>> Why not? Even at only 20% efficiency they are better than fossil
>>>> fuel. That is the sticking point for right now. All kinds of money is
>>>> being spent on research to find a solar cell that goes to even 30%. If
>>>> we would just start buying what is available now instead of waiting
>>>> for the Nirvana of more efficient solar cells we might be digging out
>>>> of our oil problem.
>>> The problem is the capital cost versus the power you get out of it.
>>> Right now, buying electricity from a utility costs you less than
>>> interest + depreciation on a solar-panel installation. It is
>>> improving each year, but we are not at the break-even point yet. One
>>> thing being done to help things along is to provide tax credits, with
>>> a goal of increasing demand in order to get economies of scale.
>>
>> Yeah, but that's just because the rest of us are stuck in a universe
>> with different physics than Bakaworld... y'see, Bill's got if figgered
>> out. He's just going to stick a 100:1 transformer in series with the
>> solar cells and then they'll produce 100x as much power (reference
>> gearing vs. gas mileage threads). ;-)
>
>You don't want to even try to cut down on coal/oil burning plants?
Sure, but not by using more resources to build solar panels that won't
return the energy (much less the cost) for many years to come.
>Signs of a hard core Repuglican are starting to show.
If by that you mean "pragmatic and practical, rooted firmly in
reality", yup. The fact I agree with others that the solar panels are
no solution at this point is inarguable.
>I have a 5" solar panel that powers my portable AM/FM/Shortwave radio
>quite nicely. That was a small effort on my part to obtain the
>mini-panel to power the radio, even up to LOUD, and I never have to
>worry about buying batteries and adding to the dumps overflowing mess of
>disposables.
Or you can simply use a radio that's plugged into the wall and
probably consume no more than a few cents worth of electricity a month
to power that portable radio (even at very loud volumes). Try funding
a solar panel on that (after looking up "opportuntity cost" and
understanding the concept, which may be a "Republican thing", of
course, since it's not subject to debate or spin).
Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame
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