Kurzweil: Solar Energy Will Be Unlimited And Free In 20 Years

[helmuth_hubener]

He made a movie about global warming. I think . . .

Post of the week!

 

[Ronin Truth]

"Free", as in "free beer"?

Free, as in free sunshine.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Biggest issue (besides getting enough sun- difficult in northern areas in winter for example) is batteries if you want to be off the grid and self- sufficient with your "free" energy. You need enough battery storage to get you through your longest stretches of no sun. Cost and how long the batteries last before needing replaced.

 

[timosman]

Biggest issue (besides getting enough sun- difficult in northern areas in winter for example) is batteries if you want to be off the grid and self- sufficient with your "free" energy. You need enough battery storage to get you through your longest stretches of no sun. Cost and how long the batteries last before needing replaced.

It is more efficient to just burn natural gas while the sun is out - http://breakingenergy.com/2015/06/17/ivanpah-solar-production-up-170-in-2015/

it’s possible that Ivanpah’s performance has also been aided by an allowance to use more natural gas – 60 percent more than originally planned – which gives the plant a boost in starting up in the morning and avoiding losing steam through brief cloudy periods.

- basically turning the solar power plant into a natural gas plant with an extra twist - sun energy during good weather, it ain't cheap though. Another pipe dream sold to you by environmentalists. SAVE THE PLANET

 

[osan]

Unless we pave half the planet with solar panels, this is complete bullshit. Sunlight provides X units of energy per unit surface area. Our energy demands are high and growing with no end in sight. Installing panels on rooftops will not put even a reasonable dent in that drain. This fella seems to have been indulging in a little too much meth for a little too long.

 

[CabinMan]

Unless we pave half the planet with solar panels, this is complete bullshit. Sunlight provides X units of energy per unit surface area. Our energy demands are high and growing with no end in sight. Installing panels on rooftops will not put even a reasonable dent in that drain. This fella seems to have been indulging in a little too much meth for a little too long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZsVxSDB7NY&t=8m20s

“You could power the entire United States with about 150 to 200 square kilometers of solar panels, the entire United States. Take a corner of Utah… there’s not much going on there, I’ve been there. There’s not even radio stations.”

 

[timosman]

Ray is Google's Director of Engineering, Ben is a retired surgeon. I'm just missing the relationship you see, I guess. <shrug>

Both talking out of their wazoo.

 

[Ronin Truth]

Both talking out of their wazoo.

Good to see that you've really done your homework.

 

[Peace&Freedom]

I'm not dogmatically against a technology that appears to be evolving to become more efficient in providing energy. The cost of solar power equipment is going down significantly, making it long term a more viable alternative for energy. A combination of solar, some wind, with a battery backup installation package is probably enough to replace the power of traditional energy needed to power a typical home:

Solar Panels Cost Less Than Electricity From Natural Gas In US

A new report out from Lazard tells us something those who follow the wind and solar industries already knew to some degree: large-scale solar and wind power projects can now compete purely on cost with natural gas power plants (as well as coal and nuclear, of course). Solar panels cost less than electricity from any other source in some regions, and the cost continues to fall.

We’ve seen solar come in lower than natural gas in Austin, Minnesota, and probablyNew Mexico. The city of Austin has actually made solar power a “default energy source” now.

Wind power, meanwhile, is often the cheapest option for new electricity generation capacity. However, it often produces electricity in the middle of the night, complementing solar panels.

Worth noting is that this has long been the case with renewable energy subsidies, but the point of the report is that it’s also the case without those subsidies in a growing number of places, even while fossil fuels retain their subsidies.

The new report from Lazard notes that onshore (unsubsidized) wind power costs have fallen from a low of $101/MWh in 2009 to $37/MWh in 2014, a drop of approximately 65%.

Solar farm costs have fallen from a low of $323/MWh in 2009 to $72/MWh in 2014, a drop of approximately 80%.
Rooftop solar panels cost much more (per kWh) than utility-scale solar panel setups, but the important thing is that rooftop solar panel costs compete with retail electricity prices rather than wholesale electricity prices coming from large power plants. While solar farms are just hitting “grid parity,” more-expensive rooftop solar panels have been at “socket parity” for millions or hundreds of millions of Americans for years.

http://www.newsforage.com/2014/09/solar-panels-cost-less-than-electricity.html

 

[Mach]

Unless we pave half the planet with solar panels, this is complete bullshit. Sunlight provides X units of energy per unit surface area. Our energy demands are high and growing with no end in sight. Installing panels on rooftops will not put even a reasonable dent in that drain. This fella seems to have been indulging in a little too much meth for a little too long.

I'm not sold on the solar future either, yet, but just start integrating the panels into building material and other things like our cars bodies, our homes etc...etc... here... Nanosolar.


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[Jan2017]

There is no TECHNOLOGICAL reason why it could not have done so.

I consider the waste products a result of the nuclear technology . . . so it was never REALLY possible.
They will never clean up the toxic mess of the reactor left in Washington state still.

 

[Ronin Truth]

I consider the waste products a result of the nuclear technology . . . so it was never REALLY possible.
They will never clean up the toxic mess of the reactor left in Washington state still.

Is that really a technology problem?

 

[RonPaulIsGreat]

I'm not sold on the solar future either, yet, but just start integrating the panels into building material and other things like our cars bodies, our homes etc...etc... here... Nanosolar.


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http://www.techinsider.io/map-shows-solar-panels-to-power-the-earth-2015-9

The amount of solar energy available is incredible, it might as well be infinite for our needs and for the next couple hundred years. So, the power is clearly there, the only questions are "will we make better solar panels" and "will we make a better battery". I'd put everything on we will.

 

[Ronin Truth]

http://www.techinsider.io/map-shows-solar-panels-to-power-the-earth-2015-9

The amount of solar energy available is incredible, it might as well be infinite for our needs and for the next couple hundred years. So, the power is clearly there, the only questions are "will we make better solar panels" and "will we make a better battery". I'd put everything on we will.

If several of the current reports are true, we appear to be very well on our way, and closer than we think.