PV Gap

Dana Said:

Do we have the technology to switch over to wind, solar and hydroelectric to power America today?

We Answered:

At what cost?

the power available from those sources is not enough. So we'll end up burning a lot more nat. gas for electric generation, because it'll be taxed less. That's a shame, because nat. gas is very suitable as vehicle fuel, which is the fuel in shortest supply.

Electric cars only sound like a good idea when electricity is cheap.
Energy is wasted with each conversion. Charging a battery wastes ~40%. Discharging it is similar. The Tesla roadster uses 75 kilowatt hours to charge its 53 kwh battery. 75 kwh is the same as five 1500 watt heaters for ten hours CONTINUOUS (usually they shut off when room is warm)

Justin Said:

Solar Power/Evergy Question?

We Answered:

The sun sends us energy in the form of photons. Think of these as little bundles of solar energy. Solar panels are made up of atoms and atoms contain electrons. However, these electrons are stuck with the atoms they belong to. When a photon hits one of these electrons, the electron now has the energy it needs to become unstuck and break free from the atom. The photon ceases to exist at that point.

As a result of this activity, the solar panel in sunlight has a bunch of electrons freely moving around at random. To get it to no longer be random, a solar panel is made up of two layers. One layer faces the sun and the other layer is facing away from the sun. Once a randomly moving electron crosses from the sun-facing layer into the other layer, it cannot go back. Think of it as a one-way-valve. In electrical terms, it's a diode. The end result is that the random movement of electrons in the sun-facing layer has become one-way movement, from the sun-facing layer to the other layer.

Next, we connect both ends of a wire to the solar panel. One end is connected to the sun-facing layer and the other is connected to the other layer. So now the electrons that have crossed from the sun-facing layer to the other layer now have a place to escape to, the wire. The electrons enter the wire from the other layer and follow the wire back to the sun-facing layer. This movement of electrons down a wire is called electricity. Since it is one-way movement, it's called Direct Current (DC.)

If you break the wire and insert a DC appliance, such as a DC fan, the fan will use that electricity to run.

To see an animated version of this explanation, go to:
http://rimstar.org/renewnrg/sphowitworks…

Alex Said:

Solar (industry/technology) growth as a function of Oil prices?

We Answered:

At $100 a barrel for oil, solar starts to make sense..