PV Gap

Ricky Said:

What are some safety issues with solar power plants?

We Answered:

I can't say I know this for sure, but I have a few guesses:
-high current levels in connection wires from solar panels
-high heat coming off of the panels

My guess is that overall they are relatively safe, but some solar panels might be made with hazardous materials or chemicals that need proper disposal.

Helen Said:

what can solar power plants be used for?

We Answered:

The large power plants, if that is what this is about, feed their power into the national grid, and from that it "mixes" with all the other power from other sources like coal plants, and a user can't tell where it comes from. So anyone could be using it for anything you would use AC power for. It may be providing me power to operate this PC, although I doubt it as it is dark here now.

If you are talking about small units on a roof, then homes, factories, stores, anyone can have one, if they have the money and enough sunlight.

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Sally Said:

what is solar power plants and how they work?

We Answered:

Hey Lance, there are 3 basic types of solar farms. The first, built in the 70's used large mirriors to focus sunlight on a boiler that made steam with the heat. The steam was then used to run a steam turbine generator. It worked pretty well when the sun shined. The second was the photovoltiac farm, using solar electric panels. These type panels use silicone layers to convert the incoming photons directly to a voltage. They are simple and generally maintence free, but very expensive for the amount of energy they generate. A better use for photovoltiac panels is in remote homes and other applications. Since the sun is spread fairly evenly over the middle third of our globe, a few panels on each home works better than piling them up in one place, then having to ship the electricity to all the homes. We have an array on our garage roof right now that powers most of the loads in our home, so now our electric bill runs about $6 per month, probably a good use for photovoltiacs.

The latest type involves using concentrator mirrors to heat oil to nearly 600 degrees and then storing it in huge thermally insulated tanks. The super heated oil is then used to boil water for steam to run steam turbines whenever power is desired, and at whatever rate it is needed at that time. The real advantage of this is that the oil in the huge tank stays hot most the night, so we can even use it to produce solar generated electricity at night, a tremendous advantage over the other two types of solar farms. The Germans are working on a large farm that will be placed in the Northern Sahara Desert and can power most of Europe. It will be done with sun that shines almost daily on a desert space that has little to no existing life to displace. The excess energy will be used to desalinate sea water for irrigation right on sight. This will actually create small habitat for plants and animals where none currently exists, using the same plot of land that the solar concentrators will sit on. Most of the desert will remain untouched. If you would like more info and some fantastic pics, google, "North African Solar Project," and check out several of the links and articles that come up. This is probably the most promising application of solar power yet. I will list a few other sources below as well. Good luck Lance, and take care, Rudydoo

Marion Said:

Did california consider using Tidal power before building/spending money on all of the solar plants?

We Answered:

Tidal power over time will slow the rate of rotation of earth. Bad idea.

Mae Said:

Is The Fastest Way To Get Energy By Building Wind Mills or Solar Power Plants ?

We Answered:

Big Business can't own the sun or wind.
That's why we've been discussing this for decades and nothing has been accomplished.

Patsy Said:

Why are there more wind turbine power plants than solar power plants?

We Answered:

Solar cells are expensive. So expensive that they pay for themselves just about the time that their useful life is over. The margins are very small, primarily because they capture only about 15-20% of the solar energy that hits them.

Wind turbines, by contrast, can capture over 80% of the available wind energy.