Cheap, efficient solar

Solar-power modules that concentrate the power of the sun are becoming more viable.

http://www.technologyreview.com/read....aspx?id=17774

[debs]

What about strapping these things onto all the obese Americans walking around....think surface area!!!!!

Solar is historicallty a very inefficient way to generate power. It's very expensive. This article was interesting but they didn't get into specific numbers very much, which makes me think it's hype.

There is useful hard number information on the wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_c...ciency_factors

[Andrea]

It would be so great if solar power really became efficient. Imagine how good it would be to have every house generating their own power via a solar panel or two.

[August]

Originally Posted by debs

What about strapping these things onto all the obese Americans walking around....think surface area!!!!!

They don't walk around much, I'm afraid. They drive around.

Originally Posted by Andrea

It would be so great if solar power really became efficient. Imagine how good it would be to have every house generating their own power via a solar panel or two.

It certainly would and it does seem to be getting better value with each passing month so hopefully it won't be too long before this becomes a real possibility.

[Aquaman]

The CIA is even investing in this technology. They can drop a bundle and parachute it to the ground. It has solar panels and a wind turbine, and generates up to 150 Kw, depending on the configuration. Thats enough juice to power a small medical facility, an Army field kitchen, or an emergency operations center.

Originally Posted by debs

What about strapping these things onto all the obese Americans walking around....think surface area!!!!!

How about we just cut out the middle steps, and inject these sedentary folk with chlorophyll?

[Jim Franklin]

There are a raft of problems with solar cells..the biggest of which is that they use more energy in their production/installation, than they will generate over their working lifetime.

Further, to generate 20% of the planets power from solar would be dangerous..just as it would with wind turbines.

[the nature scene]

Why would it be dangerous to generate power from solar energy?

Just because there are problems with the current efficiency of solar cells is no reason to abandon them. It just means more work needs to be done to solve these problems.