Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - Re: [permaculture] solar power for the masses

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: John Schinnerer <john@eco-living.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] solar power for the masses
  • Date: Wed, 18 Jan 2006 11:24:29 -1000

Aloha,

ISIS Press Release 17/01/06
Solar Power Comes of Age
Solar Power for the Masses
Solar power is poised to enter the mainstream energy market with novel
materials that boost energy conversion efficiency and bring down
manufacturing costs.

Solar is about the highest embedded (fossil) energy technolgy amongst the 'alternative' options (and even with the technologies mentioned in this article).

Best return for least input is from systems where most of the 'infrastructure' is already provided by natural systems.

Tide and wave energy systems are about the best in this respect.
Micro-hydro is also very good in appropriate context (e.g. adequate head with minimal infrastructure needs; year-round flow or complementary to other seasonal such as wind; etc.).

FWIW on this:

Multi-junction cells based on amorphous silicon have been the most
successful second-generation technology todate. ... One such product on
the market is a triple-junction flexible solar panel [5] made of three
separate amorphous silicon layers, each with a different bandgap, so as
to harvest light from the entire solar spectrum, and works even in
cloudy conditions. It has a conversion efficiency of 13 percent; and a
test panel averaged nearly 70 percent of its rated maximum output during
the daylight hours of a typically grey British winter (1998/9).

This is UniSolar's product. The above copy is almost verbatim from their own advertising PR.
When buying my panels I tried to verify UniSolar's claims of significant advantages in cloudy/lower-light conditions vs. crystalline panels.
I was unable to find convincing evidence (from either dealers/resellers or tests/studies, including the one mentioned above) that there was enough benefit to offset the considerably higher cost per watt.

John S.

--

John Schinnerer - MA, Whole Systems Design
------------------------------------------
- Eco-Living -
Whole Systems Design Services
People - Place - Learning - Integration
john@eco-living.net
http://eco-living.net




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page