[Michaelangelica]

Is wind solar energy?
I guess I can sneak it in?

For about $1,500 (delivered)for 1 Kw this looks the best home DIY value yet.
Solar is about twice the price, then you do need to be somewhere windy.(seaside?)
ENERGISTAR - Miniwind Futurenergy Kyocera solar wind turbines generators hydro water turbines grid tie inverters renewable alternative energy systems

[Michaelangelica]

Solar Space Power (13 March)

Space is once again ‘the new frontier’ – this time in finding a solution to the Earth’s energy woes. Read more'Solar Space Power'»

Watch VideoVideo 7:14 mins Win | RP
It seems to me this money would be better spent on putting solar panels on houses, making people independent of big government and big business.
But the USA military wants it and they usually get what they want
[QUOTE]Solar Space Power (13 March)

Space is once again ‘the new frontier’ – this time in finding a solution to the Earth’s energy woes. Read more'Solar Space Power'»

Watch VideoVideo 7:14 mins Win | RP [/quote]
Solar Space Power (Catalyst, ABC1)

[Michaelangelica]

Solar Power Paint Is 2.5 Years Away

Posted on Mar 16, 2008 - 01:47 PM
By: Adam Beazley

According to a UK scientist Dr. Dave Worsley, commercial panels of architectural steel, painted with special solar-power paint capable of generating electricity should be available in as little as two and a half years. Dr Worsley and Dr Trystan Watson of Swansea University have developed a new paint based on dye-sensitized solar cells. This new solar paint is a result of previous research into different ways of preventing metal buildings from degrading due to the elements. Dr. Worsley describes the idea as “a collision between two existing technologies – one for generating electricity and one for applying paint to steel.”

Neutral Existence: Solar Power Paint Is 2.5 Years Away

[Michaelangelica]

Not only does Australia have perfect conditions for solar technology, but it has also produced some of the world's best photovoltaic engineers. Last year Zhengrong Shi, a former student at the University of NSW became the richest man in China with his solar cell company Suntech. It is Shi's former teacher Martin Green who currently holds the world record for the most efficient silicon solar cells.
. . .
At the moment in Australia you can receive an $8,000 rebate for installing solar cells in your home or business. Another great bonus of these cells is their 25-year warranty. What else but a saucepan has that kind of guarantee?
. . .
Australia should look to countries like Germany for direction. Professor Green explains that their rebate scheme isn't a one-off payment like Australia's but a continued payment per unit of electricity, placed back into the power grid. Essentially you can continue to make money from your solar system for the lifetime of the cells
. . .
However, times they are a changing and the federal government's announcement for plans to build Australia's largest solar power station in South Australia is a step in the right direction,

Science Show - 5April2008 - Solar cells

is battery technology and waste pollution/disposal a problem/cost?

What happens when German Power Companies get sick of just providing "back up" power for everyone with solar panels?

[Michaelangelica]

New World Record For Efficiency For Solar Cells; Inexpensive To Manufacture

ScienceDaily (May 17, 2008) — Physicist Bram Hoex and colleagues at Eindhoven University of Technology, together with the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, have improved the efficiency of an important type of solar cell from 21.9 to 23.2 percent (a relative improvement of 6 per cent). This new world record is being presented on Wednesday May 14 at a major solar energy conference in San Diego

New World Record For Efficiency For Solar Cells; Inexpensive To Manufacture

Do you think all this "latest greatest" new technology is making people wait until installing the 'best' system?

[InfiniteNow]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

Do you think all this "latest greatest" new technology is making people wait until installing the 'best' system?

While it's certainly possible that there are a few out there for whom this is a good enough reason to wait, I'd suggest that the vast majority of delay is caused by the huge front end cost of installation. Nearly everyone wants these things, but very few can afford them.

It's hard to justify a $15K investment which will take 10-20 years to pay itself back when you're struggling to put food on the table today, ya know?

[Michaelangelica]

I think a lot of people are waiting for the price to come down;
& technology and government subsidies to catch up.
Every day it seems there is a 'new' technology heralded.
Sometimes years or decades before its practical application. "False Hope"?

Government subsides should be targeted to the poor, disabled and disadvantaged.

Solar-power paint lets you generate as you decorate

* 13:59 07 March 2008
* NewScientist.com news service
* Michael Marshall

A lick of solar-power paint could see the roofs and walls of warehouses and other buildings generate electricity from the sun, if research by UK researchers pays off.
The scientists are developing a way to paint solar cells onto the steel sheets commonly used to clad large buildings.

Steel sheets are painted rapidly in steel mills by passing them through rollers. A consortium led by Swansea University, UK, hopes to use that process to cover steel sheets with a photovoltaic paint at up to 40 square metres per minute.

The paint will be based on dye-sensitised solar cells. Instead of absorbing sunlight using silicon like conventional solar panels, they use dye molecules attached to particles of the titanium dioxide pigment used in paints.

That gives an energy boost to electrons, which hop from the dye into a layer of electrolyte. This then transfers the extra energy into a collecting circuit, before the electrons cycle back to the dye.

While less efficient than conventional cells, dye-based cells do not require expensive silicon, and can be applied as a liquid paste.

Action HOPE: TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES

[Michaelangelica]

Australian solar breakthrough snapped up in US

Ben Cubby, Environment Reporter
June 16, 2008

FORMER Sydney University professor Dr David Mills couldn't find funding for his giant solar power plants in Australia, but US investors had no qualms wagering at least $40 million on the idea.

Dr Mills' first factory for the mass production of "solar parks" will open in Las Vegas later this month. It hosted a gaggle of interested Australian politicians last night in Nevada, including the NSW Environment Minister, Verity Firth.

The Sydney Morning Herald: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Australia's leading newspaper.

[Michaelangelica]

If it wasn't for the Hindenberg and good film reporting these things would ber everywhere now. ?

Construction Begins of the 200 mph, Solar Powered Turtle Airship

A new way to fly! Turtle Airships company announces the beginning of construction iof a demonstration model of a new form for lighter-than-air airships.
The airships are not blimps.
They are solar powered and will reach speeds of 200 mph.

We can save over $100 billion each year on fuel costs alone, another several hundred billion dollars in airport construction, and eliminate a major source of carbon emissions. Airships are a trillion dollar industry, still in its' infancy, that will grow for decades

Construction Begins of the 200 mph, Solar Powered Turtle Airship

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

If it wasn't for the Hindenberg and good film reporting these things would ber everywhere now. ?

Construction Begins of the 200 mph, Solar Powered Turtle Airship

While this idea immediately piqued my interest, I was very dissappointed through my follow-up research. The website for the company is a single page with contact info and nothing else. There is also a blog started by the "inventor", but the style raises many skeptical flags in my mind. Unfortunately, no scientific data is given to support this idea. For example, how does the airship travel at 200mph on solar power? What does its propulsion system consist of? etc.

I'd like to start jumping up and down with excitement, but at this point, unfortunately, I see it as just a good "idea".