What do you think is the biggest problem with solar energy?
How can this problem be solved with our existing knowledge and resources?
I am excited to hear what you think and want to have a good discussion with smart people.
Thank you!
Ask HN: What is the biggest challenge for solar energy?
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Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest challenge for solar energy?
#2Storing the energy for when the sun doesn’t shine. There are many options. The DOE is aiming to get the cost down by a factor of 10 by the end of the decade which is ambitious and not necessarily realistic…
Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest challenge for solar energy?
#3Storing the energy for when the sun doesn’t shine. There are many options. The DOE is aiming to get the cost down by a factor of 10 by the end of the decade which is ambitious and not necessarily realistic…
It would be great if they could achieve this goal.
What options do you see that could be used right away?
Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest challenge for solar energy?
#4Storing the energy for when the sun doesn’t shine. There are many options. The DOE is aiming to get the cost down by a factor of 10 by the end of the decade which is ambitious and not necessarily realistic…
It would be great if they could achieve this goal. What options do you see that could be used right away?
I think as of today the most efficient approach is pumped storage hydropower. However that is severely limited by geography
Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest challenge for solar energy?
#5Solar-cell efficiency versus cost to produce is a big challenge. Mostly because the power generated is an average based on unpredictable weather days. So you need higher efficiency and lower cost to offset that and make it worth the price for consumers.
Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest challenge for solar energy?
#6Scaling up manufacturing faster. The skills required to install solar (installing ground mount racking, installing panels, wiring panels to inverters, wiring inverters to utility service entrance) can be taught in under a year, the bottleneck is how fast panels come off the fab.
Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest challenge for solar energy?
#7Storing the energy for when the sun doesn’t shine. There are many options. The DOE is aiming to get the cost down by a factor of 10 by the end of the decade which is ambitious and not necessarily realistic…
It would be great if they could achieve this goal. What options do you see that could be used right away?
Big batteries.
For some applications you can store heat. For instance you can have an electric heater with a lot of bricks inside an insulator box in your house and move heat out of it convectively with a fan.
Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest challenge for solar energy?
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would be great if they could achieve this goal. What options do you see that could be used right away?
I think as of today the most efficient approach is pumped storage hydropower. However that is severely limited by geography
I'm guessing that available fresh water is something of a limiting factor here as well.
We have abundant salt water of course. I imagine that generator turbines don't love salt water very much.
Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest challenge for solar energy?
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would be great if they could achieve this goal. What options do you see that could be used right away?
Big batteries. For some applications you can store heat. For instance you can have an electric heater with a lot of bricks inside an insulator box in your house and move heat out of it convectively with a fan.
> Big batteries
Invest in Lithium mines.
Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest challenge for solar energy?
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would be great if they could achieve this goal. What options do you see that could be used right away?
I think as of today the most efficient approach is pumped storage hydropower. However that is severely limited by geography
it is the most efficient in terms of energy transfer. I think it is lacking in terms of actual storage capacity. the upfront costs are also extreme.
ideally, every green energy farm would have a gravity well storage system nearby (like pumped storage) for the purposes of keeping discharge steady. Energy would be transferred into and out of this system pretty quickly, and stored in a more cost/size efficient storage option that could act as the true "battery" on dark days / longer periods of energy production downtime