Could this method also be used to create ultra-thin wafers for microprocessors?
Solar panel made with ion cannon is cheap enough to challenge fossil fuels
11–20 of 161 posts
Re: Solar panel made with ion cannon is cheap enough to challenge fossil fuels
#12That is some amazing technology right there, almost fun to read because it sounds like science fiction but it's real. And privately designed/built/owned particle accelerators? It's definitely a new era. What if one day the other side of the globe getting sunlight powered the grid for the other half? Of course this would require very peaceful nations on each continent, so even if we had the cost-effective technology n…
We're already buying energy from nations that aren't very peaceful, so the political issues may be solveable. I think, though, that transmitting energy halfway around the world would present engineering problems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission
Buying oil from nations we don't like is acceptable because everyone wants to own their own car, it's very selfish motivation and massively profitable for the middlemen.
Trading cheap electric power with little profit requires governments to make forward thinking, progressive decisions because no business will bother unless they could make millions from their effort.
Also, I often ponder what will happen one day when power is cheap and easily available - you'd want to hope it means less war but I fear it means the opposite. The war machine will LOVE cheap power and then attacking power feeds or cutting off the other side of the globe as an act of war or terrorism will be too easy of a target. So we'd need peace first which is unlikely to happen given most governments.
Re: Solar panel made with ion cannon is cheap enough to challenge fossil fuels
#13That is some amazing technology right there, almost fun to read because it sounds like science fiction but it's real. And privately designed/built/owned particle accelerators? It's definitely a new era. What if one day the other side of the globe getting sunlight powered the grid for the other half? Of course this would require very peaceful nations on each continent, so even if we had the cost-effective technology n…
> And privately designed/built/owned particle accelerators? It's definitely a new era.
It's not that new.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Television_set_from_the_ea...
Re: Solar panel made with ion cannon is cheap enough to challenge fossil fuels
#14The article says we still need better battery technology, and there's truth to that. But even without batteries, just providing power on days when air conditioners run continuously, solar could make a huge difference in the energy picture.
And using electric cars for battery storage too for excess power generation. Just imagine the world if it was 10 cents per watt instead of $1 a watt for solar. I hope I live long enough to see it. Dare we dream 1 cent per watt, just like what has happened with CPU development in the past three decades? Could we have 1 cent per watt solar in 30 years? 50 years? 100?
If current trends[1] continue, it will take about 15-25 years for solar energy to become cheaper than fossil fuels, which seems like a reasonable length of time for a trend to continue.
To get the installation cost down from an estimated $1.40 in 2020 to $0.10 and $0.01 with the same trend would take 30-50 and 60-100 years, respectively. 70-110 years is definitely further in the future than I am comfortable peering; 40-60, also a little shaky.
But given current trends, it looks like 2050-2070 is roughly what you need to shoot for to live to see $0.10 / Watt solar energy. If you were born in America after 1976, I'd aim for 2076; it'd be nice to see the Tricentennial.
[1] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-05/solar-energy-costs-...
Re: Solar panel made with ion cannon is cheap enough to challenge fossil fuels
#15The article says we still need better battery technology, and there's truth to that. But even without batteries, just providing power on days when air conditioners run continuously, solar could make a huge difference in the energy picture.
Or only burning coal at night. Once solar is significantly cheaper than coal and demand pricing kicks in, a lot of time-shifting of energy use could occur. Right now, night-time electricity is cheaper because demand is lower at night, but if the supply of daylight electricity increases dramatically, any activity which currently benefits from cheap nighttime electricity could be shifted back to the daylight hours. Dat…
I'm now thinking of amazon EC2's 'spot instances' where you launch an instance, do some computation then shut down, but only if the price per hour is less than some choosen point. (Basically a stock market for computation).
If solar took off, i can see a correlation between price per hour and sunny days, as more machines are turned on when it's cheaper to run, hence increasing supply, and decreasing price. :P
Re: Solar panel made with ion cannon is cheap enough to challenge fossil fuels
#16That is some amazing technology right there, almost fun to read because it sounds like science fiction but it's real. And privately designed/built/owned particle accelerators? It's definitely a new era. What if one day the other side of the globe getting sunlight powered the grid for the other half? Of course this would require very peaceful nations on each continent, so even if we had the cost-effective technology n…
Transportation of electricity around the globe is not neccessary. Electricity usage is considerably lower during nighttime. Thus solar and wind fit in with our natural rhythm quite nicely. And it is also produced near the place there it is being consumed. Another plus. But still the author is right, we need ways to store electricity and we will also need a much more flexible grid than the one we have today. The neo l…
Germany's solar stimulus is highly questionable. Sure, it gets solar panels installed on a large scale, but government forced diffusion of an innovation is a questionable idea. Pumping money in a relatively narrow market and creating an artificial demand situation leads to a lot of side effects, i.e. Germany's quasi-stimulation of the Asian component manufacturing market.
Re: Solar panel made with ion cannon is cheap enough to challenge fossil fuels
#17Similar idea (solar cell would be much cheaper if they were much thinner), different process: http://www.naanovo.com/home
Re: Solar panel made with ion cannon is cheap enough to challenge fossil fuels
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
And using electric cars for battery storage too for excess power generation. Just imagine the world if it was 10 cents per watt instead of $1 a watt for solar. I hope I live long enough to see it. Dare we dream 1 cent per watt, just like what has happened with CPU development in the past three decades? Could we have 1 cent per watt solar in 30 years? 50 years? 100?
If current trends[1] continue, it will take about 15-25 years for solar energy to become cheaper than fossil fuels, which seems like a reasonable length of time for a trend to continue. To get the installation cost down from an estimated $1.40 in 2020 to $0.10 and $0.01 with the same trend would take 30-50 and 60-100 years, respectively. 70-110 years is definitely further in the future than I am comfortable peering;…
Sadly no way to see tricentennial unless there is a leap in not only medical technology but the politics and cost of it in the USA.
Here's hoping for 10 cents in 30 years.
ps. Isn't it $1.40 right now in 2012? Or are you calculating for off-grid with batteries instead of grid-tie?
Re: Solar panel made with ion cannon is cheap enough to challenge fossil fuels
#19That is some amazing technology right there, almost fun to read because it sounds like science fiction but it's real. And privately designed/built/owned particle accelerators? It's definitely a new era. What if one day the other side of the globe getting sunlight powered the grid for the other half? Of course this would require very peaceful nations on each continent, so even if we had the cost-effective technology n…
> Of course this would require very peaceful nations on each continent
Or maybe it would create peaceful nations on each continent. You may say I'm a dreamer.... :)
Re: Solar panel made with ion cannon is cheap enough to challenge fossil fuels
#20That is some amazing technology right there, almost fun to read because it sounds like science fiction but it's real. And privately designed/built/owned particle accelerators? It's definitely a new era. What if one day the other side of the globe getting sunlight powered the grid for the other half? Of course this would require very peaceful nations on each continent, so even if we had the cost-effective technology n…
Transmitting the power around the planet isn't a given. You'd need super conductors to limit power loss.