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I really wished that people reporting on Solar/Wind and other alternative energy sources would at a minimum gain a basic level of understanding of the subject matter before writing nonsense articles like these.
Only about half of oil production goes to energy and transportation. The other half goes to production of synthetic materials like plastic. Look around you, oil production is not going away any time soon.
Only more reasons to stop using oil for energy and transportation - we need it for plastics.
Again, this is tomorrows revolutionary technology. Im all for solar, I am excited by the prospect of solar! I work in an area that partially depends on the oil industry for a large portion of the work I do. As has been said in this thread, Oil is never going away until its gone, there is just too much utility to be had from the stuff. However, being able to generate electricity from our sun would be a great boon to o…
> See-Through Solar Is Tomorrow’s Threat to Oil > ...screens and windows that soak up light could power your home or your phone These two things don't compute. Oil is mostly used for mobile energy, and solar is mostly used for stationary energy. However... I work in solar, and solar is a threat to oil. Why? Not because of transparent photovoltaics, but because it and batteries are getting so goddamn cheap. The Depart…
"It baffles me why more entrepreneurs haven't realized that 87% of the energy sources we use are going to be switching to other sources in our lifetimes" What leads you to think entrepreneurs haven't realized this? What should they be doing once they do realize it?
I don't really blame anyone for not realizing the huge opportunity in solar. It's not a very visible industry and used to be primarily a hardware space. Software has only come to the forefront in the last few years due to soft costs being such a huge problem[3]. If you're looking for an industry that desperately needs software and entrepreneurial talent, I'd highly recommend solar.
"The technology still has a way to go because the cells must become more efficient to prove cost-effective, but their promise is big ..."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
As they say in the video, even if these are half as efficient as regular solar panels, you could still see them on other types of surfaces where current solar panels can't be used right now: think windows or smartphone screens. We could also see them on large buildings or rich people's villas whose owners perhaps want to use energy from solar panels, but don't like the "look" of solar panels on those buildings. So th…
We really don't have a shortage of space to put solar panels. The challenge is making solar panels that are cost effective (e.g. $ per Watt). In response to your edit: That is a possibility, that yes they may find a niche in the fancy of the rich. But the point I'm making is that the article is hyperbolic and misleading. Transparent solar is not the future of utility scale power generation. It is not going to solve a…
And the other key challenge is nighttime.
If we had relatively low-cost utility-scale electrical energy storage, we would see a much higher rate of solar energy adoption. More so in sunny places, but that would then drive down the cost for everyone.
I keep hoping something like a flow battery will turn out to be practical, where to size up the storage, you just need bigger storage tanks.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Now your window needs wiring. And an inverter. Would be more effective to coat it or tint it or put up some blinds.
Why couldn't you collect the solar energy from the outside of the window and put up blinds to block the light from the inside of the window? Putting up blinds won't generate any electricity.
Flagged for being totally hyped and factually incorrect (even the title is nonsense). I really wished that people reporting on Solar/Wind and other alternative energy sources would at a minimum gain a basic level of understanding of the subject matter before writing nonsense articles like these.
