Solar power is now the cheapest form of energy in almost 60 countries
1–10 of 75 posts
Re: Solar power is now the cheapest form of energy in almost 60 countries
#2I work in solar, and here's my favorite climate change joke:
"They say we won't act until it's too late... Luckily, it's too late!"
Solar is no longer an experimental thing, and the industry is now focused on scaling. How can we deploy more solar faster? It's ridiculous how cheap panels have gotten, but a significant amount of the cost savings in the past few years is coming from soft cost (logistics, overhead, engineering, etc.) and balance of system (wires, fasteners, inverters, etc.) price reduction. And there's still a ton more to improve, and we really need the help of the tech community (y'all are good at scaling, after all).
Unfortunately, I always get the sense here on HN that the tech community still thinks of solar as a novelty or experimental. Why? Is it because you're still reeling from the 2008 cleantech bust? Is it because the bay area has good climate and you don't have to pay $400/mo for air conditioning in the summer?
I'd love to hear some feedback on why you're not interested in getting involved in the solar industry. What would convince you to work as a software engineer for a cleantech company? What would convince you to start a cleantech software (i.e. cleanweb) startup?
Re: Solar power is now the cheapest form of energy in almost 60 countries
#3I work in solar, and here's my favorite climate change joke: "They say we won't act until it's too late... Luckily, it's too late!" Solar is no longer an experimental thing, and the industry is now focused on scaling. How can we deploy more solar faster? It's ridiculous how cheap panels have gotten, but a significant amount of the cost savings in the past few years is coming from soft cost (logistics, overhead, engin…
I know next to nothing about Solar so pardon my ignorance, but what do you suppose the solar industry is looking for from the software industry?
Re: Solar power is now the cheapest form of energy in almost 60 countries
#4I work in solar, and here's my favorite climate change joke: "They say we won't act until it's too late... Luckily, it's too late!" Solar is no longer an experimental thing, and the industry is now focused on scaling. How can we deploy more solar faster? It's ridiculous how cheap panels have gotten, but a significant amount of the cost savings in the past few years is coming from soft cost (logistics, overhead, engin…
It doesn't seem like there is a ton of need for software in solar, but I could be wrong. It seems to me that solar technology is mostly in line of something like a power semiconductor. You need lots of people who understand semiconductor physics and process to manufacture the panels. Then an EE puts is all together. There is software at all of those steps, but it seems to be more of a cost than the primary product.
Re: Solar power is now the cheapest form of energy in almost 60 countries
#5More evidence (as if we needed it) of just how ridiculous Trump's promise to revive the US coal industry is.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/22/trumps-big-plan-for-the-coal-...
Re: Solar power is now the cheapest form of energy in almost 60 countries
#6More evidence (as if we needed it) of just how ridiculous Trump's promise to revive the US coal industry is. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/22/trumps-big-plan-for-the-coal-...
I wouldn't count on Canadian ramp down, most of the coal power stations are in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Alberta's current government has been going on a green binge that most of the residents despise (approval rating for the government are quite low). As for the other provinces, the federal government unilaterally imposed those decisions without consulting the provinces which has caused issues.
Re: Solar power is now the cheapest form of energy in almost 60 countries
#7I work in solar, and here's my favorite climate change joke: "They say we won't act until it's too late... Luckily, it's too late!" Solar is no longer an experimental thing, and the industry is now focused on scaling. How can we deploy more solar faster? It's ridiculous how cheap panels have gotten, but a significant amount of the cost savings in the past few years is coming from soft cost (logistics, overhead, engin…
>>What would convince you to start a cleantech software (i.e. cleanweb) startup?
The most successful startups are founded by those who possess domain knowledge. Without that, most software engineers trying to found a startup in another technical field (i.e. energy) wouldn't even know where to begin.
Re: Solar power is now the cheapest form of energy in almost 60 countries
#8I work in solar, and here's my favorite climate change joke: "They say we won't act until it's too late... Luckily, it's too late!" Solar is no longer an experimental thing, and the industry is now focused on scaling. How can we deploy more solar faster? It's ridiculous how cheap panels have gotten, but a significant amount of the cost savings in the past few years is coming from soft cost (logistics, overhead, engin…
I know next to nothing about Solar so pardon my ignorance, but what do you suppose the solar industry is looking for from the software industry?
Storage technology ;)
Re: Solar power is now the cheapest form of energy in almost 60 countries
#9I work in solar, and here's my favorite climate change joke: "They say we won't act until it's too late... Luckily, it's too late!" Solar is no longer an experimental thing, and the industry is now focused on scaling. How can we deploy more solar faster? It's ridiculous how cheap panels have gotten, but a significant amount of the cost savings in the past few years is coming from soft cost (logistics, overhead, engin…
If the goal of solar power is to be able to justify spending ever more MWh in air conditioning, I think there is nothing clean in it.
Re: Solar power is now the cheapest form of energy in almost 60 countries
#10* after subsidies