Solar's future's about to get a whole lot brighter thanks to the Moore's Law of PVs

[Ein~+ein]

Decentralizing energy production requires smart grids and storage solutions.


US senators introduce energy storage bill

The STORAGE 2013 Act is similar to the STORAGE 2011 Act in a sense that it offers investment tax credits for energy storage facilities. However ammendments have been made to the 2013 Act as highlighted by the bipartisan group of senators who introduced the Act last week.

The minimum size for a storage system to be eligible for credit is now 5 kWh. It was 20 kWh before. This thus makes sense for small businesses to participate and the hope is that it will incentivize storage companies to create leasing models for residential users considering how leasing models have been successful at increasing grid-connected residential solar in the U.S.

Home owners can also install their own storage solutions. The Act will provide for 30% tax credit for homeowners for on-site energy storage to store off-peak electricity from solar panels for use when needed during peak hours.

Read more: US senators introduce energy storage bill: pv-magazine

"After falling 15% in 2012, solar PV wafer production is forecast to grow 19% in 2013, passing 30 GW and recovering to the 2011 level." -Polysilicon and Wafer Supply Chain Quarterly

It's still just drops in the bucket but at what point is solar going to eclipse wind farm production?

[Ein~+ein]

As of Feb 2013:

Global solar: 101 GWs
Global wind 282.5 GWs

[Farmhand]

Sorry if this is deemed off topic but i'm a bit of an advocate for already proven
renewable energy tech.

Here's an example of the futility of the "paying for itself" thing.

The fact that a solar, wind or hydro setup can pay for itself in money terms is
awesome but it doesn't mean as much as we think, it's not important.

A fuel powered generator can also pay for itself.

Take for example a power company, they make profits.

If I was to buy a petrol (fuel) powered generator of electricity, and there was
no grid, all my neighbors did not have a generator and I could power all their
homes all I would need to do is charge enough money so that I made a profit
enough to cover failures, repairs, fuel and lots of profit. Then the fuel based
generator could easily pay for itself. That's how the power companies work.

It's the going price of power per Kw that determines things and companies
won't setup and operate at cost or losses for others benefit.

The problem will always remain if you want something from someone else then
to get it legally you have to pay them what they want for it.

In my opinion all Public utilities should be publicly controlled. Meaning if power production,
water treatment, ect. is so important to everybody it shouldn't be trusted to private
companies. Companies are not people and they operate for the strict benefit
of the shareholders by law, the shareholders can sue CEO's if they do not act
in the best interest of the shareholders.

But who can trust their government to run them anyway.

Cheers

[Ein~+ein]

But who can trust their government to run them anyway.

That's why Japan's #1 in solar installations---they've completely denuked.

[Ein~+ein]

Here's yet another news item on nano-solar:

Magnolia Solar Discusses Ultra-High Performance Nanostructured Antireflection Coatings on Large-Area Substrates
June 20, 2013 08:00 ET
Presentation Given at IEEE Photovoltaics Specialist Conference (PVSC)

Previously, Magnolia Solar has demonstrated ultra-high, broadband transmittance through coated glass windows over a wide range of incident angles. At normal incidence, the reflection losses at the glass-air interface have been reduced from approximately 4% to less than 1%. At large angles of incidence, the reflection losses have been reduced from over 25% to less than 5%. The measured improvement in transmittance results from coating the glass with a new class of materials consisting of porous silicon dioxide nanorods. During the recent PVSC presentation, Dr. Pethuraja described how similar results have now been achieved on larger area, six-inch diameter glass substrates. Magnolia's work scaling up the deposition process to larger areas has been done in collaboration with the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

Dr. Ashok K. Sood, President and CEO of Magnolia Solar Corporation, stated, "The antireflection technology described at the IEEE-sponsored conference can increase the power output of any photovoltaic module, including crystalline silicon and thin-film technologies by reducing the reflection losses. Fixed, flat-plate solar cell modules typically suffer significant reductions in power output due to reflection off the front glass encapsulant, most notably when light strikes the panel at glancing angles. Such reflection losses are especially severe early in the morning and late in the afternoon when the sun is lower in the horizon. Reflection losses also occur throughout the day, particularly as diffuse skylight can strike a solar panel at glancing angles."
Dr. Sood further stated, "Nanostructured optical coatings can increase the power output of fixed, flat-plate modules by minimizing reflection losses throughout the day. We believe the nanostructured coatings developed by Magnolia for photovoltaic applications significantly outperform conventional quarter-wavelength coatings at all relevant wavelengths and incident angles. This patent-pending technology has the potential to benefit a wide variety of specialized defense and commercial optical window applications."

[jdodson]

The problem will always remain if you want something from someone else then
to get it legally you have to pay them what they want for it.

In my opinion all Public utilities should be publicly controlled.

What would you expect the government to do? They would have to sell it for a similar price, maybe less but they would still need to break even. Even the post office is losing billions...and all they are doing is delivering mail.
Competition is what reduces profits in the private sector. The biggest problem I have with major corporations is that they have become far too large monopolies.
Consuming the competition then raising their own profit margins.

The governments only job should be oversight. Regulate the major corporations to prevent them from consuming the competition so there will be an even playing field for multiple energy providers. That will reduce costs for the consumer.

Not to mention prevent another economic meltdown when these major corporations are careless in the risk they take for the service they provide.
There should be enough competition to prevent anything from being too big to fail.

That's why Japan's #1 in solar installations---they've completely denuked.

Was that due to Fukushima? Did they shut down all other reactors too?

[Farmhand]

What would you expect the government to do? They would have to sell it for a similar price, maybe less but they would still need to break even. Even the post office is losing billions...and all they are doing is delivering mail.
Competition is what reduces profits in the private sector. The biggest problem I have with major corporations is that they have become far too large monopolies.
Consuming the competition then raising their own profit margins.

The governments only job should be oversight. Regulate the major corporations to prevent them from consuming the competition so there will be an even playing field for multiple energy providers. That will reduce costs for the consumer.

Not to mention prevent another economic meltdown when these major corporations are careless in the risk they take for the service they provide.
There should be enough competition to prevent anything from being too big to fail.



Was that due to Fukushima? Did they shut down all other reactors too?

Well then how come a private company can make profits where a government
run setup doesn't, I say it is because of bad management and corruption, and
that needs to be weeded out not just allowed to continue.

Delivering the mail is not easy to make a profit from and it is an essential
service, I don't wan't a private company responsible for all my mail, If a
private company can make a profit then a government run company can break
even and employ people with good wages and conditions.

In Australia our government is selling companies that make billion dollar profits.
Telstra the telco, the power companies, the railways the list goes on. But
what happens when a private company runs a Utility into the ground then
goes broke and pulls out, I'll tell you the government must take over and run
it if it is an essential service.

I can only say what I see here in my own country and what I see is the
government is selling highly profitable businesses just to make quick cash,
most of the quick cash is to pay the loan sharks the "Central Bank".

What they have done is almost treason, they have robbed the Australian
people of billions of dollars in profits, they take from many and give to the few,
it's reverse Robin Hood tactics is what I call it.

Bottom line is the government knows we will keep working and paying high
taxes because if we don't what is the alternative to feed our children, they
want the taxes, they don't want people getting an easy ride and working less
because then they get less taxes to pay to their masters..

What possible reason could a government give to sell a company that is
producing multi billion dollar profits ? They should be in jail.

Telstra made multi billion dollar profits while run by the government and they
sold it, if they had streamlined the business and kept it it could have made a
lot more money.

Government should be responsible and is responsible for all essential services,
that means power, water, communications, roads ect. ect. when it is left to
private companies they can cut costs and workmanship to make insane profits
from the taxpayers then being a company no actual people can be held
accountable when the company goes broke and can't provide services or pay
compensation to people they hurt or harm.

Cheers

[Ein~+ein]

Was that due to Fukushima? Did they shut down all other reactors too?

Prior to the earthquake and tsunami ..., Japan generated 30% of its electrical power from nuclear reactors and planned to increase that share to 40%.

The last of Japan's 50 reactors (Tomari-3) went offline for maintenance on May 5, 2012.,[18] leaving Japan completely without nuclear-produced electrical power for the first time since 1970. Despite protests, on 1 July 2012 unit 3 of the Ōi Nuclear Power Plant was restarted.[19] As of September 2012, Ōi units 3 and 4 are Japan's only operating nuclear power plants, although the city and prefecture of Osaka have requested they be shut down.[20]- Wikipedia

In addition to solar, Japan should join join India and China in thorium R&D:

Some countries, including India, are now investing in research to build thorium-based nuclear reactors. A 2005 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency discusses potential benefits along with the challenges of thorium reactors.[25] India has also made thorium-based nuclear reactors a priority with its focus on developing fast breeder technology.[26][27]

Some benefits of thorium fuel when compared with uranium were summarized as follows:[28]

Weapons-grade fissionable material (233U) is harder to retrieve safely and clandestinely from a thorium reactor;

Thorium produces 10 to 10,000 times less long-lived radioactive waste;

Thorium mining produces a single pure isotope, whereas the mixture of natural uranium isotopes must be enriched to function in most common reactor designs. The same cycle could also use the fissionable U-238 component of the natural uranium, and also contained in the depleted reactor fuel;

Thorium cannot sustain a nuclear chain reaction without priming,[29] so fission stops by default in an accelerator driven reactor

.

When used in a breeder-like reactor, however, unlike uranium-based light water reactors, thorium requires irradiation and reprocessing before the above-noted advantages of thorium-232 can be realized, which initially makes solid thorium fuels more expensive than uranium fuels.[19] But experts note that "the second thorium reactor may activate a third thorium reactor. This could continue in a chain of reactors for a millennium if we so choose." They add that because of thorium's abundance, it will not be exhausted in 1,000 years. - Wikipedia

[Ein~+ein]

Imagine the benefits of driving on Solar Roadways!

- provide limitless range for EVs
- double as smart-grids
- eliminate the need for solar and farms
- no more petroleum-based asphalt roadways that heat up the environment
- can melt snow or ice in winter
- etc, etc

[Farmhand]

So the roads would harness the solar energy and turn it into electricity, then
what ? For the cars to be able to use the energy it would need to have some
kind of contact for conduction (which would be dangerous) or the energy would
need to be riding on AC so it could be used by way of induction.. Which would
also induce eddy currents in other stuff and cause waste and problems.

How would it work ?

One thing is for sure it would cost a lot of money even to just lay pipes in the
roads to harness the heat.

I think, then any road cuts from washouts or other such problems would
require the repair of the power infrastructure in the road as well as the road
crew itself.

Cheers

[Ein~+ein]

How would it work ?

Good point, Farmhand.

I was going to post that and all the other impracticalities but I was curious how others would respond. Like so many pie-in-the-sky ideas, this one won't go far beyond the conceptualization stage.

Rooftops already provide more than enough real estate even at low-efficient solar. For example, if the average house is 40 ft (12 m) x 60 ft (18 m), that represents 222 sq m. If under ideal (STC) conditions, 1 square meter at the current 15% efficiency can generate 0.15 KWs, then shouldn't that house be able to generate up to 33.3 KWs.

Those of you with installed solar, tell us about your system and what it typically generates--early morning/mid morning/noon/overcast?

[jibbguy]

Look at businesses with large flat roofs; such as car dealerships. They can often generate enough to get 150% credits (when credits are allowed in that State), and their power bills are often now upwards of $10,000 a month (from all the lighting they use, sometimes significantly higher).

Go in there smiling with a package of 20kW of PV Grid Tie and all-LED lighting for extreme efficiency and see some heads turn! In many states, large and mid-size businesses can get tax credits for solar installs where residents and small business can't.

But on your team you will probably need (each state differs): 1) Licensing from your State to do solar PV (for an engineer or equivalent). 2) A certified Roofer. 3) A certified electrician. 4) a Permit (sometimes takes 6 months).

Another nice alternative is parking lot "Solar Carports" (open sided coverings). They do double-duty in creating shade for vehicles.

[Ein~+ein]

In many states, large and mid-size businesses can get tax credits for solar installs where residents and small business can't.

Perfect job opp for the enterprising un(der)employed setting up a mid-sized business to 'rent' residential/small business rooftops--a real win-win-win.

[Ein~+ein]

New solar cars defy sci-fi reputation
Designs seek to mimic sedans over sports vehicles

There are many ways to describe the solar-powered cars of today. A flying saucer with wheels. A teardrop with a cockpit. A drivable airplane wing. One word that never seems to come to mind----- is 'practical.'

A new generation of engineers is hoping to change that perception by introducing solar cars that nearly anyone could see themselves driving around...
------
Helping hybrids with solar
On top of that, currently available battery technology is unable to store enough energy for trips exceeding a few hundred kilometres, giving drivers "range anxiety" and stifling public acceptance of electric vehicles in general, says da Luz.

Until commercial solar cells can convert more of the sun's rays into useable power, or batteries can store more energy per kilogram, the most likely option is to combine solar and electric technology in a single vehicle.

"What is practical is using solar as an augment to charge an electric car," said da Luz.

He points out that the Nissan Leaf, a fully electric car currently on the market, has a small solar panel on its rear spoiler. The panel is used to charge a battery that runs electrical components within the car.

Da Luz is hopeful that the cruiser class competition will encourage engineers to find a balance between practicality and efficiency, and integrate more solar panels on hybrid and electric vehicles.

"These cars are labs on wheels," said da Luz. "They represent an opportunity to test drive and innovate new technology."

[Farmhand]

Well I can do some checking, but in a general sense we had our 5 Kw system
installed about 6 weeks or so ago not exactly sure, (I don't keep track of time much).
But anyway it has produced over 533 Kw hours of power, which is over
a half of a Mega Watt hour of power. And it's winter.

We have two strings of 10 panels putting out up to 360 volts each, the grid
tie inverter applies it to the grid at up to 280 volts or so, the peak input to the grid
so far is 5050 Watts.

With a grid tie system what matters is average Power output over one whole
year, on an average year, anything less than a year is inaccurate.

As a side note everything works better now during the day, there is much less
voltage drop during the day when high power devices are turned on.

I still see no reason why solar systems need to pay for themselves. The grid
connection doesn't pay for itself.

Setup a house on a block of land with no power and put the house a Kilometer
or two from the main road where the power poles are, then get the power
company to give you a quote on how much it will cost to install poles to the
house site, wire's and fuse box, so that the house can be powered.

Then have a think about how that will pay for itself.

Paying for itself is a false condition imposed to make solar look unprofitable,
but it has nothing whatsoever to do with profit, it has everything to do with
providing power so our home can utilize energy for our comfort and
convenience.

With an source of emergency power like a generator available then grid tie is
the most practical option. It works like a huge battery bank but without the
emergency power option, though now there are systems that can charge a
battery bank first then output to the grid, which is a good option but still
requires batteries. We went with a 6 KVA petrol generator and a 5 Kw grid tie
solar system.

Anyone who installs a solar system to try to make money from the power
company is a moron in my opinion, because end users will only ever make as
much money as the power companies will allow. They can put whatever price
on power they like. As well as put any price they like on feed in power they
pay to system owners for power. What they cannot do is stop people from
getting free Kw hours and if the solar system puts out on average more than
the home uses the bill should be zero. That way no matter what price they
put on power it will be free from the sun.

They could charge 1 dollar for power supplied by them and pay 0.50 cents for
power from solar system owners if they want to. But they cannot charge one
cent for the power produced by the solar system.

If the power companies want to pay less money out to solar farms they can
just pay less for the power or if tariffs are locked they just raise the price of
power for everyone. So the greedy solar farmers who get loans for huge
amounts of panels to try to make money are playing a futile game and raising
the price of power for all. Greed, greed, greed. Why not just try to get what
we need why try to make money from it. It's futile and counter productive.

Being private companies they will do whatever they need to to maintain a high profit.

Cheers

P.S. And as far as electric cars go the best ones will be simple (not complicated)
and modular so replacements can be done by the handyman, they will be not
overly expensive or "fancy" just good for charging from the grid "tie free power"
and zipping around town, no need for air con and electric windows and all the
other silly stuff, just a motor and drive train to move a cockpit for some
people around at a reasonable speed.

Simplicity is beauty.

Actually there could be made some kind of "expressways" for electric cars so
that when the car is driven on the dedicated "electric" expressway between
towns or such thing the batteries are charged or not required. Maybe Tesla's
railway patent could give hints as to how it might be done.

..