Comments on: Solar Energy: Not So Clean Afterall

By: alternative energy

alternative energy — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 05:37:57 +0000

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By: Jasmine Ward

Jasmine Ward — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:31:49 +0000

hybrid cars are energy efficient compared to diesel or gas powered cars.;-’

By: Scott Kirwin

Scott Kirwin — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 03:30:20 +0000

One more thing I just realized.
With a decentralized model you could also probably do away with AC. I believe that the only reason we went the AC route was for transmission over distance. I suppose that we could avoid the power loss associated with inverting from DC to AC by going with a straight DC system.

Unfortunately I don’t know how you would transform the grid in time for this to make a difference with global warming. If the alarmists are correct, we don’t have that much time to change our power generation and use. We need to act fast – which means switching to non-polluting centralized power generation that’s available 24/7.

That says “nuclear” to me.

But then again, I personally don’t believe the alarmists.

By: Scott Kirwin

Scott Kirwin — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 03:07:45 +0000

Ryan
No, he does understand other methods. What he’s talking about is centralized power generation; what you’re talking about is a decentralized model. The problem with the decentralized model is that you lose efficiencies of scale. You also have problems with our grid because our grid is built on a centralized model.

If you have solar arrays large enough to power a city, to replace say, a 4,000 MW coal fired power plant, where are you going to store the energy you’re going to need after sundown? I doubt that you would be able to build a flywheel or set of flywheels that would be able to power that city at night.

As for hydro, I like rivers – undammed rivers. So do salmon and bass. I’d rather fire up a nuclear reactor than dam up a river.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 02:14:05 +0000

Obviously, this person did not understand other methods of storing energy. Just because you’re trying to convert wind/solar/whatever energy into electricity, doesn’t mean you can’t convert it to other forms to store it (of course there is some loss in doing so). Hybrid cars convert mechanical into electrical storage into batteries and super-capacitors. That might not work for solar, but what about hydroelectric dams? Can’t we pump water into storage tanks to store kinetic energy? Some companies are considering that. Also, generating energy from wave technology, tide changes, etc. What about flywheel technology (this would be ideal for small organizations, and is almost lossless)? Also, some solar collectors that convert heat into gas can store kinetic energy thermally either in the ground or through some transfer fluid contained in tanks and is very effective.

You have to think outside the box before you attack this question.

My personal opinion is that you generate electricity cheaply using vertical windmills. They are way more efficient and not as ugly as traditional windmills. Plus they are way easier to fix and maintain, and don’t make a lot of noise.

Check the link below:

Solar energy can supplement our energy during the day, when we use it most.

Ryan