You might want to consider a few things. The total amount of energy this produces is actually quite small, by grid standards. The largest solar power plant in operation outputs 85 megawatts peak, but an average power output equivalent to 4 megawatts continuously. That's about as much as a large industrial diesel generator or a single locomotive. Cost: Nearly a quarter billion dollars.
The Spanish solar tower you cited is supposed to produce up to 15 megawatts of power continuously. That's tiny by infrastructure standards. The $100,000,000 project is unlikely to get much past 30 megawatts, and that's being optimistic.
Meanwhile, there are many many coal burning plants under construction, pumping out a 500,000 megawatts all the way up to a couple gigawatts.
If you honestly think that this is going to make a difference you need to look at what a tiny drop in the ocean it is. A multi-million dollar drop. Solar energy has about the worse cost/benifit ratios of any way of reducing emissions.
The same money, if spent on better efficiency lighting or toward cleaner nuclear energy, geothermal energy, better transmission methods. Solar ain't cutting it. Sorry.
If you're of the mindset that it's worth sending an economy into the ground, spending trillions of dollars on reducing co2 emissions by 1-3% then I suppose solar is your ticket. Just don't expect to notice a difference from it...
He Dr., as much as I support solar power (I am literally having panels installed as I type this), I think yours is probably the best articulated argument I've heard against solar. Since I can afford the pricey system, it was the right thing for me to do. I also bought more efficient appliances, switched out most of my bulbs to CF, and plan to power a plug-in car someday. Total energy payback should take 2-3 years for my system, and then just about all the electricity I consume will be from the sun! Hopefully prices will become more affordable in the not too distant future.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
You might want to consider a few things. The total amount of energy this produces is actually quite small, by grid standards. The largest solar power plant in operation outputs 85 megawatts peak, but an average power output equivalent to 4 megawatts continuously. That's about as much as a large industrial diesel generator or a single locomotive. Cost: Nearly a quarter billion dollars.
The Spanish solar tower you cited is supposed to produce up to 15 megawatts of power continuously. That's tiny by infrastructure standards. The $100,000,000 project is unlikely to get much past 30 megawatts, and that's being optimistic.
Meanwhile, there are many many coal burning plants under construction, pumping out a 500,000 megawatts all the way up to a couple gigawatts.
If you honestly think that this is going to make a difference you need to look at what a tiny drop in the ocean it is. A multi-million dollar drop. Solar energy has about the worse cost/benifit ratios of any way of reducing emissions.
The same money, if spent on better efficiency lighting or toward cleaner nuclear energy, geothermal energy, better transmission methods. Solar ain't cutting it. Sorry.
If you're of the mindset that it's worth sending an economy into the ground, spending trillions of dollars on reducing co2 emissions by 1-3% then I suppose solar is your ticket. Just don't expect to notice a difference from it...
He Dr., as much as I support solar power (I am literally having panels installed as I type this), I think yours is probably the best articulated argument I've heard against solar. Since I can afford the pricey system, it was the right thing for me to do. I also bought more efficient appliances, switched out most of my bulbs to CF, and plan to power a plug-in car someday. Total energy payback should take 2-3 years for my system, and then just about all the electricity I consume will be from the sun! Hopefully prices will become more affordable in the not too distant future.
Sure, take away all our fun with a dose of reality.