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Sunshower: Space Efficiency, Renewable Energy, and the Realization of a Solar Energy Solution
"The Only Thing We Have to
Fear Is Fear Itself."
Currently, while
the after effects of the previous economic crisis continues to occupy the thoughts and fears of people
worldwide but also while the solutions to this very same crisis are still unfolding,
one area of concern continues to be deliberated: the energy problem. It is
perhaps appropriate that this is something that is being focused on in the
recently unveiled and passed stimulus package, as it was runaway energy prices
(i.e.-oil and natural gas) that was the first big domino to fall, contributing
to our current problem. While some would say that the return of fossil fuel
prices to something affordable should mean that we can relax and not worry about
addressing that in the face of other problems, the truth is that those prices
will not remain this low forever. If the advent of well-nigh $150/barrel oil
taught us anything, it was that market prices are not always rational, and that
relying on the supply and demand of a commodity as rare and tenuous as oil is
really a large-scale game of Russian roulette with far-reaching
consequences...why trust the very foundation of a global economy to something so
unreliable?
Energy Production And You And Me:
While the often-touted combo for controlling market forces as
related to the energy sector is wind, solar, biofuel, and nuclear power (perhaps
eventually fusion), I think the big, overlooked area of these is solar (well,
maybe except the implications for ITER). Now, I know governments and citizens
in various countries worldwide have strived for years to make solar power an
attractive and affordable thing for most people, but the truth of it is the
"energy balance" of current solar devices is problematic for the average
person. Even with government-based incentives, a standard solar power system,
whether it be for hot water generation or, as being discussed for
electric/hybrid cars, a car-mounted panel, is an expensive proposition at the
outset, and has a short product life. They also tend to be high-maintenance,
bulky, and fragile. But don't despair...recent research has some working
prototypes for solar panels that are, in turn, both extremely durable while
being lightweight and up to 5 times as energy efficient in generating power.
The problem is, these are prototypes and, unless I'm missing something, the
Israeli firms that are conducting this research have yet to enter largescale
production. The names of these firms are Pythagoras Solar and Zenith Solar.
The first specializes in making solar panels extremely thin and even to a degree
flexible (also potentially cheap...they made news a few years ago for
essentially making an unrollable panel). The second specializes in increasing
the energy yield through concentrating solar light so that it may be more
readily absorbed by surrounding materials. It is estimated that with these
methods a 12 sq km area can be made to yield 1000Mw. This latter item probably
wouldn't lend itself well to anything other than industrial scale energy
collection.
The simple solution would be
to offer these firms contracts to either fill work orders using the tech they
have or to enter into cooperative research agreements with other firms to
further refine the designs while combining the principle ideas together with
other breakthroughs, where possible. This is likely being done already to some
extent. The other possibility would be to, of course, work in house with other
existing firms that are working on similiar methods and would be able to readily
engineer something on a comparable scale. Either way, the potential is there,
though I suppose you're wondering how can "we" all help with this?
Well, something that has been considered as a design feature and will be offered
as an optional feature on some upcoming hybrid car models is the solar roof pack
for charging a vehicle in off mode. My guess as to why it isn't being
considered as a mandatory feature is that it would be very expensive to outfit
every model with what is currently technologically available for mass
production, even given economies of scale, and that it would raise the sticker
price too far to make a threshold Chevy Volt (for example) competitively priced
enough for the market place. However, should we look more closely at the
technology that Pythagoras Solar offers (or similar such tech depending on), the
relatively lower bulkiness as well as higher potential for a cheaper economies
of scale outcome per unit production would make this a viable feature for cars
like the Volt sooner rather than later. Also, such would make everyone
potentially a contributor to energy production, depending on local laws and
regulations. Taking the Volt as an example again, which at full charge can go
40 miles before switching to the fuel-powered generator, envision the person who
does not go 40 miles each day in their car. Maybe they drive half that distance
round trip for standard commuting (or occasionally car pool with a friend or
what-not), then leave their car to charge. If the car had a solar panel roof
or, given significant advances, could count other parts of the cars surface area
as energy-gathering, it would spend a good deal of time at or close to full
charge. Install a grid input in their driveway or on their street and assign
each Volt driver a card-linked account that tracks the balance of their energy
contribution/use, and you got an additional feature and even incentive for
getting people driving the Volt. Of course, on the other hand, the net
contribution from such a source can be somewhat debatable, but overall it
couldn't hurt to consider such a thing, as many are now doing. The beautiful
thing about this idea is that it takes something that is already taking up space
(a car) and turns it potentially into a source for energy. Smaller, lightweight
and cheaper forms of solar panels, panels that could be used to essentially
"canvas" a surface or that could even be durable and flexible enough to be used
as siding on a house or shingles could change the way we look at this source,
silencing the critics who call solar a liberal pie-in-the-sky folly and bringing
this concept fully mainstream.