what about Solar in the pickens plan ?

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Permalink Reply by stanley kul on July 8, 2008 at 5:15pm

one of the companies www.sunrun.com

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Permalink Reply by Lou Wagner on July 8, 2008 at 5:16pm

I heard that the way the Germans got solar going was a national mandate that local utilities pay anyone with solar panels tied to the grid 7X the going rate for electricity they generate. This led to high demand for solar panels to the extent they cornered the market for a few years on silicone for panels. The effect was to raise the cost of electricity to all Germans by a few dollars and it stimulated the development of solar as a producer of electricity for the whole country. This leadership from our Federal Govt or State governments could produce large gains in solar generating capacity and should be a part of Pickens Plan.

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Permalink Reply by stanley kul on July 8, 2008 at 5:16pm

the other is www.solarcity.com

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Permalink Reply by Dan Hearn on July 8, 2008 at 5:22pm

www.octillioncorp.com
OCTL.OB

From the Octillion website...

"Our research and development work involves integrating films of silicon nanoparticles on glass surfaces in order to convert solar energy coming through home and office windows into electricity, without losing significant transparency or requiring major changes in manufacturing infrastructure."

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Permalink Reply by julie on July 8, 2008 at 5:22pm

Yes I so agree with you!

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Permalink Reply by michael b baumrind on July 8, 2008 at 5:24pm

The point that I find most interesting here is that solar seems to be one of the "other" practical solutions to our "oil crisis". Although I don't have any statistical or non-empirical data to support this belief, I am convinced that in the short to medium term that there is no ONE solution. More than likely, we will have to use multiple methods to reduce our dependence upon oil. I see no reason why solar cannot be considered at this point. Yes, silicon is not as readily available as once thought. What should we do? Let's get the heck out of Iraq and start spending some of that money into really developing solar energy.

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Permalink Reply by Ronan Murtagh on July 8, 2008 at 5:30pm

www.kingspan-renewables.com

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Permalink Reply by Ronan Murtagh on July 8, 2008 at 5:37pm

www.kingspan-renewables.com

www.kingspan.com

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Permalink Reply by hollisg on July 8, 2008 at 5:38pm

I've just read two very encouraging articles in UCLA Magazine for July 2008. There is professor named Yang Yang, who has developed a new type of solar cell that seems to be working. A company named Solarmer Energy in El Monte, CA, whose president is Woolas Hsieh, is working on patents with Yang to bring these cells to the market in various forms. They predict that in 5 years, semi-transparent sheeting composed of these cells could be affixed to house windows to run all of the electrical in the house, for about a quarter of the present $20,000 to $30,000 that a silicon solar system. The present silicon solar energy panel system is extremely inefficient, requires a large number of panels to work, and the prices are not dropping.
The second article is about another professor, James Liao, working with Gevo, a biofuel company in Pasadena, CA, to commercially develop biofuels produced by adding e.coli bacteria to sugar, creating isobutanol, which is nearly as productive as gasoline in energy production. I'm hoping that advances like this coming from our universities can get the full attention of investors like Mr. Pickens and his friends.

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Permalink Reply by stanley kul on July 8, 2008 at 5:44pm

lets keep going on this we will find a way!

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Permalink Reply by Fred Vestal on July 8, 2008 at 5:45pm

The real power of solar is thermal utility size solar farms. There are two major problems for renewable energy currently, one is getting it to the market on the coasts where most of the energy is being used. The second major problem is to find areas where it is political and environmentally sensitive enough to find the locations to build. To get the energy to the coasts energy transmission lines will have to be built I'm not sure how this can be done. No one seems to want them built next to them. I'm just wondering if there was a comprehensive plan that might include something like utilizing solar energy from solar farms in Nevada for the West coast and for the east coast grid utilize wind power with wind farms from Texas to Kansas. It would be more feasible to build transmission lines to one coast rather than both coasts.

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Permalink Reply by Melanie on July 8, 2008 at 5:52pm

I think solar in addition to the Pickens plan would be great! The more the merrier. Unfortunately, I am running out of room on my south facing rooftop. We already have solar heat for the pool up there. If the panels get smaller, it would be helpful.

I would love to add a couple more up there for other power consumption. These links are very helpful and I will take the time to look up all of the information provided here. Thanks for the info and keep up the great conversation.

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