Solar Power

…how much of that 1-second burst of energy is directed at the Earth?

I agree that solar power has huge potential and is a barely tapped energy source. However, the costs associated with harvesting solar power and converting it into electricity are still very high (compared to other fossil and alternative fuels).

Daylight can easily be used to save considerable energy right now. Incorporate lighting controls in all spaces where daylight might replace electric lighting during portions of each day.

Many states offer rebate programs to offest the costs associated with such lighting upgrades. There is significant research showing energy savings from 25-75% in applications using properly-commissioned daylight controls and occupancy sensors.

With respect to the costs associated with harnessing the bountiful energy production of the sun, they do indeed present themselves as being on the steep side. To remedy this, a single company would but need to establish first a reliable product, and then market it effectively. It is impossible to argue that there is no market. Look at what Ford accomplished with his efficiency of the assembly line. Within seven years of production, over half of a million people were enjoying the comforts of the automobile, and at a reasonable price too. If a universal model for harnessing solar energy was created and marketed at a price comparable to that of say, the annual cost of other means of energy, the concept of solar power as the principal means of energy is seemingly plausible.

This is a very elementary way to look at solar power. When I say elementary I mean that it is the quality of that of an elementary student. Sure that energy is out there but can someone harness it and provide it to my house for less money than conventional methods?

Well, while the article leaves room for doubt, the economic fundementals are improving as manufacturers improve solar panels, and also as the price of Crude moves ever upwards.

Its the energy savings that make this so workable.

Solar Power is the future. We need to stop thinking of a cure all for our engery problems and think of the engery issues as a complex ecosystem. Solar engery, hydrogen fuels, etc will all play a part in helping to solve our engergy problems.

There are new technologies discovered using nano-enabled polymer photovoltaic materials that are lightweight, flexible and more versatile than traditional solar materials. They can utilize all sort of passive light and can even collect energy from heat making it possible to use it in textiles so even clothing could potentially collect energy from our body heat.

Check out http://www.konarka.com

They aren’t the only ones getting ready for mass production but they are the innovators.

Actually, you have to be careful here. This graphic of yours is misleading and overlooks some important concepts. First, we can’t harness (at least not yet) the energy of the sun that isn’t incident on the earth. And of that amount, ~45% is absorbed by the atmosphere or reflected by the atmosphere back into space, meaning 45% of the sun’s energy doesn’t even reach the surface of the earth and is not useful for energy production. Of the 55% that does hit the earth’s surface, 4% is reflected back into space. That means 51% is absorbed by the earth. An excellent graphic clearly showing all this can be found here:http://marine.rutgers.edu/mrs/education/class/yuri/erb.htmlSo, if you take anymore than 4% of the sun’s energy that reaches the earth’s surface, you start messing with the weather and ecosystem in that environment. We all know how they say only a couple degrees change in the earth’s temperature can cause havoc in many ecosystems. But now imagine causing a much bigger change than that because you have taken a huge chunk of the heat out of the environment.Now, if you do the math, 4% of the sun’s energy incident on the earth is still enough to provide all our power needs. However, remember that most of that is over the ocean, so that is out. Sure, if you could solar cells all over the landmass of the planet equally, then we’d be fine. But there’s no way we can do that. Instead, we’ll end up clumping the solar cells in areas and absolutely decimating the ecosystem and altering the weather patterns in that local area.The reality is: we use way too much energy. And we don’t need to. We are so wasteful. We will always need some energy, and in the future all of it should come from “renewable” sources. But at our current rate of energy consumption, we are heading for a grim future, regardless of how we get our energy. You have to remember that, if you want energy, you have to take it form somewhere. Wind energy takes the energy from the air, thereby reducing it’s speed drastically which will inevitably start altering weather patterns as you build more wind turbines. And solar, as I’ve mentioned, removes heat from the environment also affecting weather patterns.There is no easy fix, my friends. The real solution is much harder: we need to change our wasteful habits. We should not be driving in our cities and instead should be biking, walking, or using public transit. We should not be dumping chemicals onto our food. We should be growing food locally, and the price of oil needs to include the externalities of how extracting it damages the environment, which in turn will raise the price drastically forcing us to cut consumption. We need to stop living in a throw-away society, where we buy bottles and bags and boxes for things and minutes later just toss them. Oh, and electronics too, which are piling up all over the planet. I could go on and on, but my point is that the solution to our energy problems (and hence having a healthy planet with healthy and happy people) will never be as easy as just finding the magic bullet that provides endless free energy. We must change our habits and be more efficient.

I have no idea why the formatting in my previous post above was messed up, but when I wrote it, it had paragraphs. Arghghg.