Just a Thought I had About Solar Power

Why are we investing any money into any other alternative energy sources? Wouldn't it make sense to invest all that time and money into further developing solar power? I know they say the biggest obstacle to widespread use of solar power is the cost of building the infrastructure to harness it, but wouldn't it make more sense to try and develop new technologies to make solar power more economical instead of wasting money trying to develop nuclear, wind, hydroelectric, bio-fuels, or any of the other alternatives when we have a limitless supply of sunlight available every day? It's really the one resource that will never run out, you don't really have to spend any energy to get it, so it would definitely pay for itself eventually. Are there reasons for this that I just don't know about or what?

simply put, rechargable bettery is very toxic to envirnment, very uneffecient, and have very short life span. If you really want to store electricity that way, you are not only wasting electric energy and wasting bettery materials, all those bettery wastes cannot be recycled and very toxic to the envirnment. The end result is way worse than other energy solutions. Solar pannel itself also requires high maintanace and short life span.magicalclick

i saw a documentary years ago which very believably claimed it was already possible, technically, to set up large solar plants in a couple of deserts which would generate a huge amount of power. i can't remember how this matched up to demand exactly but it came a very long way if not exceeded it. the biggest issue is investments but not because it would be too expensive but because of the huge implications this would have on the existing world order (oil producing countries would lose their importance, some huge companies would become obsolete and i'm sure you could think of a couple of other major changes that would occur if energy would become freely available).

really interesting stuff and i would search for the link and post it but it wasn't in english..

Uh, yeah... It's called Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Solar energy is a great idea, but not bullet proof. Some areas don't get that much sun, and even in areas that do, they have cloudy periods.

And wind doesn't run out, either...

Uh, yeah... It's called Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Solar energy is a great idea, but not bullet proof. Some areas don't get that much sun, and even in areas that do, they have cloudy periods.

And wind doesn't run out, either...

BuryMe

Except we are already doing it to begin with... The vaste majority of money is directed towards the finite fossil fuels industry.

One error the TC made, solar isn't the only power source that won't be running out. Wind and moving(hydroelectric) aint doing anywhere. Although it should be noted that wind and moving water is caused by solar energy. (Except for tidal moving water which is cause by the moon which can also be used for energy and also isnt going anywhere anytime soon).Diablo-B

I get what you're saying, but in my opinion solar energy is more readily available than wind or hydroelectric. For example, what if you have a drought? Running water is not always a guarantee. Wind energy is more reliable, but you have to set up tons and tons of windmills to generate a useable amount of power (if I'm not mistaken. I admit that I am not an expert on energy).

And I understand all the problems that we currently have with solar power. What I'm talking about with my original question really is why not put more into trying to better harness the power of the sun? I think someone else mentioned the day/night cycle and the problem of storing energy, but wouldn't it make sense to try and fix those problems? If it were easier to store the energy then the day/night cycle wouldn't even be an issue, neither would cloudy days or anything else really.

I'm thinking one day the day/night cycles wont even be a obstacle. Just harness it from space but of course were a long way off but I do believe our main energy source will be from the sun one day.

need better efficiencies and need better large batteries.

but of all renewable energy sources i've found to be the most useless one it's got to be Biofuels.

There is only so much arable land on the planet, and we have a growing population. Why does it suddenly make sense to use it as a replacement for our energy needs? especially when our consumption and demand is skyrocketing.

I pin my hopes on Solar and Fusion. Fusion is still in the experimental stage but if the theory works out, we will manage to take care of a good chunk of our energy requirements.

If i remember correctly our efficiency rate with solar panels at the moment is only like 10-12%. meaning at best, only 12% of the energy of the sunlight is absorbed and kept as energy. imagine if we could double or triple that efficiency!

It could easily become a viable option. Top it off we have a lot of desert territory on the planet, in the US, Africa, Middle East, Western China, the empty plains of Central Asia and Argentina. not to mention tropical places that also get a lot of sun as well.

If you didn't have to worry about people stealing or mishandeling it, you could also use the panels as a roof. and i don't mean those ugly big ones that hang off people's roof's you see sometimes around American old suburbs.

we are trying out many things to see what works best for different areas. As several others have said Wind and Water also don't run out so your idea is somewhat flawed. Anyways I can't wait untill I can get a car that doesn't run on gas. It's a weekly expense that I hate paying for.

Because solar is crap next to nuclear.

solar power is very good. Even though there is night and day. you have batteries and as long you have enough solar panels your set. I know of 2 places. one is mansion i went to see when i was in school. they had 8 panels. before they had got the panels their electric bill was average $1800 a month. When they got them there bill dropped to an average $300. They thinking about investing in 2 more to knock it down even farther.

At the zoo in my city their parking lot has roofs and on top of them they said the first year they cut the electric bill by 30%

wind has power but the issue is you must have the right place to make it worth the wild. Because it takes lots of space and tons of upkeep to keep up with them. So there you must have the right place with quite bit of wind, lots of land.

nuclear. I just don't get it until they learn how clean it up they shouldn't be able build them. look at japan. i know you never hear it on news no more but they have yet solve it. nuclear waste is still flowing into the air/ water/ land and everything else

Day/night cycles, seasonal changes and general fluctuations of weather patterns make solar power less than ideal for most of the world. These wouldn't be such a huge problem if we could effectively store large amounts of power but it's a big challenge on a large scale.PS2_ROCKS

I'm thinking one day the day/night cycles wont even be a obstacle. Just harness it from space but of course were a long way off but I do believe our main energy source will be from the sun one day.

XileLord

[QUOTE="PS2_ROCKS"]Day/night cycles, seasonal changes and general fluctuations of weather patterns make solar power less than ideal for most of the world. These wouldn't be such a huge problem if we could effectively store large amounts of power but it's a big challenge on a large scale.parkurtommo

Solar costs more money and produces lesser amounts of energy when you compare it to coal, oil, and nuclear. Hence the reason why it isn't being invested heavily. Besides, the things won't work very well when it's cloudy and the solar panel components are environmentally unfriendly.

Personally, I wish more buildings invested money into geothermal heating in order to reduce the need for electricity. Sadly, the entire process of installing the system, getting a drilling company, finding enough land for it, installing and running the complex pumps continually, and ensuring that there are no mines present sort of kills the whole idea.

[QUOTE="parkurtommo"][QUOTE="PS2_ROCKS"]Day/night cycles, seasonal changes and general fluctuations of weather patterns make solar power less than ideal for most of the world. These wouldn't be such a huge problem if we could effectively store large amounts of power but it's a big challenge on a large scale.SaudiFury

Or u can say screw all that and build nuclear power plants. I vote for nuclear power.Human-after-all

SPS (solar power sattelites) cost a lot of money to send them to space.(Its an option that the U.S. is thinking of doing) I think just sending one of them costs 14 billion dollars, and the effects of it producing energy will not reach the earth untill 20 years, so i mean i dont think thats viable. Spreading it out and trying to find multiple solutions is better i guess because just relying on one, and when and if that one solution goes worong or fails, then we are all pretty much doomed.

[QUOTE="Human-after-all"]Or u can say screw all that and build nuclear power plants. I vote for nuclear power.Serraph105

[QUOTE="Human-after-all"]Or u can say screw all that and build nuclear power plants. I vote for nuclear power.Serraph105