[ale] Intelligent Power (was global warming) [OT]

[tom]

On Mon, 3 Mar 2008, Geoffrey wrote:

> JK wrote:
>> George Allen wrote:
>>> Still off topic but contains oblig. Linux ref.
>>>
>>> Just remembered an idea I had... that's tangentailly related to global
>>> warming.
>>>
>>> Say - as a spin-off to 'The Matrix,' to fulfill our renewable power needs...
>>> we used solar panels....
>>>
>>> Say - layout a grid-array of solar panels over say... most of Nevada...
>>
>> I read somewhere a while back that at current photovoltaic efficiency
>> levels, a 50x50 mile block of panels would supply the US's electricity
>> demand.  So there'd be plenty of headroom with a block the size of
>> Nevada :-)  And there's tons of empty space out here in TX...
>
> I've always wondered why they don't simply build homes with solar panel
> roofs?  You don't use up existing real estate..
>
>
I know I said I'd shut up. But ...

Same reason that frequently you didn't see properly insulated homes built 
for so many years is part of it. Up front/capital costs.

Also, solar will never give sufficient value until a good way to store 
energy cheaply on a huge scale becomes well known and tested. (I want to 
see a large scale test of carbon fiber flywheels. We know how to build 
megawatt scale devices with a life expectancy of several decades.)