If I were to ask 100 high school kids about what they know about solar PV and about this “breakthrough,” many of them would say, “Look, a photon either hits the array and dislodges an electron, or it passed through …
Category: Photovoltaics
Switzerland Pilots Solar PV Between Train Track Rails
The meme here is misleading; this is a pilot program in a very small part of Switzerland. As much as I favor solar, and siting in clever new ways, I’ll bet this effort fails, due to the crushing vibrations caused …
Switzerland Pilots Solar PV Between Train Track Rails Read More »
Is Solar PV Replacing Farmland?
It pains me to think that I live among Americans who are this stupid. This country has 880 million acres of farmland, and 34,000 acres of solar PV. That’s a ratio of 26K:1. In addition, farmland doesn’t need to be …
Tagged with: Is Solar PV Replacing Farmland?
Solar PV in Belgium
Utility-scale solar is a good thing, but a 20-MW array isn’t going to serve 40,000 homes. That’s 500 Watts/home, where the standard rooftop installation is 6 – 8 KWs.
Tagged with: Solar PV in Belgium
Solar, Wind, and Trees
To the reader who sent me these memes here: Are you trying to tell me there is a single person stupid enough to believe we’re cutting down trees to make room for solar and wind?
Tagged with: Solar Wind Trees
Converting Moonlight into Electrical Energy
There are no laws of science that you can’t convert moonlight into electrical energy, though there is a set of laws (called physics) that will render this incredibly unproductive. The moon produces a very small amount of power per square …
Tagged with: Converting Moonlight into Electrical Energy
No, Japan Is Not Working on Beaming Solar Energy Down from PV in Orbit Around the Earth
This isn’t physically impossible, but it’s extremely impractical. I strongly doubt any serious person or group is wasting time on this.
Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)
I happened to run into a rep for a large manufacturer of roofing materials earlier today, which gave me the opportunity to ask him about building-integrated photovoltaics. (“It isn’t on the roof; it is the roof.”) I told him that …
Tagged with: building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV)
Building-Integrated Photovoltaics
I just had a conversation with a building contractor who specializes in eco-friendly residential improvements–in a part of the world where such a specialty is a big deal: Santa Barbara, California. This was a great opportunity to ask questions about …
Tagged with: building-integrated photovoltaics
Misinformation: Who Profits from Making the U.S. Dumber?
If I were to show this to a science classroom of high school students who have B-or-better grades, the majority of them would understand instantly that this is just one example of the onslaught of misinformation that is circulating around …
Misinformation: Who Profits from Making the U.S. Dumber? Read More »
