Solar Panel Owners

[Apokalipse]

Solar power is one of the most expensive forms of power generation available.
In terms of what you pay, only subsidies can make them cost effective.

Mind you, you're still paying for them anyway. The government doesn't just get money out of thin air; it comes out of your taxes.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Mind you, you're still paying for a fraction of what they subsidise anyway. The government doesn't just get money out of thin air; it comes out of your taxes.

Fixed.

 

[Apokalipse]

Fixed.

So, in other words, everyone is paying for the solar panels, whether they want them or not.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Yes, same as nearly any other government funded operation.

 

[Apokalipse]

In other words, everyone is partially paying for someone else's power bill to be lower.
On the whole, more money is being spent though.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Which is a good thing, in fact it's one of the main reasons (apart from helping take some of the load off the power grid) that the government put the offer out. Stimulating the economy, spending tax money instead of just sitting on it.

 

[Apokalipse]

It's a good thing more money is being spent to get the same amount of power?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite_fallacy

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Who said anything about the same amount of power? Power generated often exceeds usage, excess is fed back into the grid.
Even if only the same amount of power was being generated, it's now being done sustainably instead of relying on traditional coal power plants, while putting money in the pockets of local installers too.

 

[Apokalipse]

Demand isn't changing is it?

Grid power stations run at whatever capacity is needed based on demand.
If more power is being generated from solar, that displaces demand on grid power stations.

potential capacity increases, but actual output will be the same. It will cost more though, because more of it is coming from a more expensive source.

Anyway, the argument for sustainability is separate from the argument from cost.
As far as sustainability goes, the power generated by the solar panel installation would have to exceed the power used to build and install it.

Personally I think for baseload power, we should develop and use better nuclear reactors (not the old water cooled uranium reactors).
Something like a fast breeder reactor (would be good if we could replace the sodium used in current designs), or liquid fluoride thorium reactor.

Those types of reactors are difficult (or impossible, with Thorium) to create atomic bombs out of, and are called "inherently safe" because they can withstand a failure of the cooling system, shutting down by themselves (that was the problem they had at Fukushima).

 

[patonb]

We should develop better means of solar. As I had said aove, Solar 1 in Nevada is the ticket I feel.
Nevada Solar One - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia