PV Gap

Randy Said:

can we depend on electricity only from solar energy?

We Answered:

Of course, 174 petawatts of solar energy fals on the Earth and our total global energy use from all sources is currently a mere 15 terrawatts so the solar energy available is several orders of magnitude more than what we need. Our photovoltaic technology is currently at 42.8% efficiency. Indeed even fossil fuel is solar energy in that it was collected and stored chemically through photosynthesis by nature over millions of years. We've also been able to store solar energy as liquid linear hydrocarbon fuels from CO2 and H2O so we don't even have to replace existing vehicles and infrastructure to switch to solar energy as we're already running on solar energy, the only difference would be that if we synthesized the fuels from CO2 and H2O in our environment we won't be liberating carbon and hydrogen that had been sequestered away from our ecosystem for millions of years.

The problem is profit, storing solar energy as synthetic fuels involve a huge capital expenditure and the operating costs of continued synthesis will also be quite high, current estimates say that the break even is at $4 USD a gallon for gasoline. Since fossil fuels is literally opening a tap on a hole in the ground, it will be some time before storing solar energy as hydrocarbon fuels become cost efficient compared with simply using the solar energy that nature has stored as hydrocarbons over millions of years.

The whole electric and hydrogen car nonsense doesn't actually benefit the environment as such benefits would be more widely implemented if we just synthesized conventional fuels from CO2 and H2O or from waste biomass instead of from fossil fuels but promoting EV's and fuel cell cars are an easy sell to the limited technical knowledge of the public and create an opportunity for economic growth, jobs and profit. Unfortunately, despite the greenwash publicity, such gains in the economy, and profits are at the detriment to the environment as manufacturing new cars incur a huge energy and pollution cost.

Roberta Said:

What percentage of electricity in CT is from solar energy.?

We Answered:

Info about CT from the DOE updated this week:
"Other Renewables" accounted for 61 thousand MWh of the Total Net Electricity Generation of 2,893 thousand MWh. That works out to about 2.1% for the state. Solar is only a part of that number so it is safe to say less than 2%.

Larry Said:

Electricity from Solar Energy. Need info.?

We Answered:

1. the energy from the sun is absorbed and converted into electricity
2. The sun's energy shines down, and the panels are hit, and absorb it, then it gets converted to electricity and is used.
3. Equipment would be the solar panels, and rows of solar panels form an array. this means that rather then the sun hitting a dot, it hits a square.
4. Advantages: No emissions, after you set up the equipment, its free. disadvantages: no sun, clouds, sun not strong enough, winter