Did you guys really have to mention "solar roadways" at 5:49 ? It is one of the worst usage of solar panels and that idea should just die. Also calling the pursuit of fusion reactors "redundant" is really not good either in comparison with the sun.
halimceria the problem with that is that they're solar freaking roadways. While a solar panel can last 30+ years, roads simply don't last that long. Roads see all sorts of abuse from cars and weather meaning they have to be replaced often. The solar roadways aren't as strong and probably a lot more expensive which does not make them cost effective. Additionally, solar panels are best when they are clean so they get as much light as possible. Roads aren't known for being clean.
Mitsuma's Animation and Stuff what the fuck is wrong with solar roadways. roads are a massive waste of space. they panels could melt the snow. they could communicate with smart cars and replace PowerLine making a smart grid. I think you're just shitting on an idea because it's new and years away. haters gonna hate
+Cameron Sipka - The problem with solar roadways is that roadways are one of the worst places to put solar cells. You rightly point out that roadways take up tons of space. Well, so do roofs. And, so do the medians between divided highways. Placing solar panels on roadways requires reinforcement against heavy road traffic that placing solar panels on roofs and highway medians does not. Also, panels on roofs and highway medians can be angled toward the sun for maximum efficiency, which is impossible for roadways. Until we fill up all our rooftops, highway medians, open fields, power line right-of-ways, etc. (which will never happen), then we will always have much better places to put solar panes than on roadways with 20 ton trucks driving over them every day. So, it's not that we can't place solar panels on roadways, it's why would we want to when there are much better and cheaper choices.
Just installed 8kw solar power for my house with battery backup and very happy about it! I used the Magnum Energy System with Solarworld panels, IronRidge racking and Trojan batteries. Good luck with your system.
+Brian Bontomase I love this! I also love the comedic value of how Conservatives must be tearing their hair out at this. On the one hand, it's decentralization, their wet dream, on the other hand, it's science, which to them equals Satan. :D So even if it fails, which it probably will sadly, now that I'll be sitting at my desertified homeland's once lush fields, and still chukle at the image of a cramping conservative rocking itself in fetal position :D
Merlin Cønrad what!? solar roadways and smart roads take advantage of the useless space made by the roads. they would melt the snow and warn smart cars of obstacles. there wouldn't be a need for power lines. you're just shitting on an idea because it's new and won't be perfected for years.
Cameron Sipka The "solar roadways" are useless, the angle determines how effective it is plus in populated areas with buildings and your vehicles blocking out your sun it's a waste of money. spending billions to replace roads only to get LESS than 10% efficiency is a waste of resources.
Plus they need to be replaced regulary costing even more. Research something before endorsing it. If i told you I could end wars with a happy gas, would you believe me?
Having the road itself be the panel isn't a great idea, but having a canopy of solar panels above the road or parking lots has a lot of promise. Think about all the energy people waste cooling their cars down after being parked outside on a hot day. Not only would we save money by parking in the shade, but we'd also have the solar generated power itself.
Despite Germany's progress on achieving grid parity for solar power, they are facing a massive issue with distributing the benefits of grid parity solar energy among their population. Most on the solar panels in use in Germany are owned by the upper class, while the lower classes still rely on the pre-existing electricity grid. As more upper class Germans switch to grid independent solar energy, the cost of energy for the rest of the German population increases, because there are less customers to bear the costs of the energy grid. This problem is made even worse by the fact that many of the upper class Germans who can afford solar panels end up producing more energy than they use, so they sell into into the energy grid for profit, which further increases the costs the rest of the population has to pay for. There is a very simple fix to this issue, simple create a government grant system that allows the lower classes to buy solar panels. However, this cant solve the issue for everyone in Germany, particularly those who live in Apartment buildings or in general those who cant install solar panels for whatever reason. There is also, naturally, pressure from the companies that maintain and supply the German energy grid for such a grant system to not exist, as it would dramatically affect their profitability. All of this combined, Germany has seen an increase of ~3 million in the number of their citizens living in Energy Poverty (defined as a family spending 10% or more of their income on energy costs). In conclusion, solar panels are awesome, but our existing energy infrastructure, markets, and institutions are not designed to handle their impact. All of us need to work to improve out energy infrastructure so that it can handle solar power without ruining the lives of the most vulnerable in our societies. Source: I did a University project on policies regarding this topic.
You're kind of unfairly singling out the rich for doing what many would like to do, you might mention that the upper classes taking advantage of that probably got tax breaks on their solar homes paid for partly by the middle and mostly lower classes that can't afford to utilize it , money wasted by the government lining the pockets of a consortium of businesses with big lobbies that could be spent on research into the grid and voted for by a misinformed public. Or, just promote coal instead.
...if solar is great and cheap why does the govt. offer grants and subsidies?? ... I smell corruption ...Al Gore became a Billionaire with Cap and Trade ... he now wants solar grants and subsidies ...
I live in OR. I have solar panels and a Powerwall. I'm completely off the grid most of the summer. Solar panels and home batteries should be standard in all new homes. Energy independence starts at home.
RoarOfDamnation My comment was just a pun. Which governments do that? I know some utility companies in the US, are trying. But I suspect they will fail.
+Master Therion I believe those utility companies have succeeded, at least for now, and in certain places in the West. Here's a quick google source: www.consumerreports.org/energy-saving/how-utilities-are-fighting-back-on-solar-power/
I live in germany and we have solar panels on our roof since 2008, we feed the extra power to the grid. through this we earn more money then we pay for water, gas.....
I've been on solar for the past 7 years and i've saved around $6k after the panels and batteries paid for themselves. Instead of installing a HUGE 10-20kw system i bought a few 100w panels, charge controller, and a few golf cart batteries and worked to make my lighting and computing more efficient using LEDs and efficient tech. If i were on the grid, my connection fees and taxes and such would cost more than the power itself since i'd always use around half of the minimum billable amount. The 'secret' to solar isn't covering an acre in glass so you can leave wasteful incandescent or CFL lights on in every room, it's realistically only demanding as much power as you need and not wasting or being excessive with it stupidly It's also just being sensible about 'vampire' appliances, and drawing heavy loads around midday, welding, running drills and grinders and such when you have excess power from mid morning to mid afternoon. The problem is though, is that EVERYBODY is marketing some kind of newfangled trendy tech and if you're suckered into thinking you need a house full of "smart" and IOT stuff to make life 'easier' when in reality it makes it harder because you've got to work to pay for all that stuff plugged in at home that you spend 60 hours away from while all your crap hums away and does nothing as far as you can tell. I've got a master switch that i turn off when i leave if i'm not charging a batch of phone batteries, laptop, or portable LED lighting and it all goes into my main bank. Over the years i've had solar there has been many power outages, a few lasting for a couple of days that completely unaffects me. As long as the sun rises (even through cloud cover) i still have enough power unless i do something stupid like use all my power tools on a dark stormy winter day. At this point having grid power seems like an absurdity to me, a step backwards considering that small solar systems are dirt cheap. And if you need more power than a cheap $30 controller and $5-600 of batteries and panels can get you, then it's time to really decentralize, split your needs into two systems, one for your lighting and everyday needs and another for intermittent high load stuff. That way if you use all your power metalworking from one bank you'll still have lighting, entertainment, internet and such.
A few years ago, I purchased a battery pack with integrated solar cells that I could use to recharge my cell phone. I don't use it often, since I'm rarely away from the electrical grid for more than a day at a time, but it did come in handy once when I was traveling abroad and I didn't have a charger that worked with the local electrical outlets.
My mobile phone and video camera left the grid in march this year. Got a foldable 40W panel with USB charger for less than $90 from China (there are much cheaper options), it also gives 24v out of a separate connector. I can go out into the middle of the bush for an unlimited time and still have my gear fully charged. Love it!
Thanks guys! Hope it gets cheaper to install on your home! upstart costs prohibited us from taking it on last year :( hopefully soon it will be cheaper to do so.
I really liked this episode. One thing I would have liked to see was a comparison in the efficiency of the solar cells over time. The efficiency was mentioned for the early solar cells so a modern cell's efficiency would have been a nice extra bit of info.
we own 2 EVs payed as low as 5K for 1 of them just got a used sunny boy inverter a few days ago off ebay for 400$ just got 8 new 250watt solar panels for 800$ still need to order the 600$ rack to hold them on the roof the cars here in FL are a 1$ a day to charge each system should make all of are driving 100% free installing the system are self . just stalled on the paper work side from the power Co few more weekends and well start the install
I'm curious, how did this work out for you? 8 250w panels creates max 2KW in optimal conditions. At this rate charging two cars would likely require you to use less than 10kWh in each car per day leading them plugged in for all sunny hours unless you have a home battery.
It is though. If the world ran on solar completely the ceiling for power generation is endless. Fusion is really really difficult. I don't think fusion will ever happen.
Fusion has reached a new milestone! It's only 20 years away. It has been 25 years away for the past 35 years (when I was studying it while I earned my BS in nuclear engineering).
@KONY Yup. And future panels will be recyclable. Today's panels are recyclable, but the cost to recycle might be too high compared to just trashing them. And, future panels will have 50+ year life spans.
Y'all should talk about the work that Solar City is doing. They have working solar panel roof tiles that are cheaper and last longer then most regular roof tiles with the added benefit of generating power for your home!
5:00 you brush over this part way too quickly, because the main problem lies there. yes, large capacity batteries could store enough energy over night or even bridge a few days with little sunshine, but what about weeks or even months? say in winter time, which most inhabitet areas in the developed world experience, very little power would be produced by solar and much more required compared to summer due to heating and lights. we'd still require as much power from other sources to bridge winter months, therefore (earthbound) solar cannot really be the solution.
It's not like it's completely dark during the winter. Solar cells would still be collecting energy--just not as much. Other sources of energy will be required but not as much as if we didn't use solar at all.
in the video you say right of the bat that "solar power has by far the most potential to supply ALL our energy needs", which is misleading for the scenario you present. as you just said, other sources of energy will be required. well, it's completely dark below even a tiny layer of snow, so most (home) installations won't produce any power at all when is has snowed. they also cannot alter the angle to optimise for winter usage. Thus power production will be very poor and we'd still need the biggest portion of power production from other sources, so "burning a little fossil fuel to fill in the gaps" won't cut it.
You argue just for the sake of arguing. Yes, there are places where solar panels would be useless. But there are plenty of places where they would work and are a great alternative to fossil fuels. Try to understand the context of what's being discussed.
They're not going to supplant something as cheap as fossil fuels for something that works part time., that's simply the reality of everyday life. for now solar is just a dream as the main source of power. The idea that just because it's cheap really doesn't wash.
This is the reason why I wish advances in biofuels got the same publicity and funding as solar has been getting. Recent breakthroughs in wet slurry hydrocarbon conversion, algae waste water treatment to fuel, land fill waste gassification and sequestration. It's been happening, just doesn't seem to get that "cool and sexy" vibe that ev's and solar have been getting here recently.
Why? If you're traveling in space, the only means of propulsion is some sort of jet-like propulsion: shoot something in one direction, move in the opposite direction.
I live in Argentina, which isn't a poor country and we have a high Human development index. But we fail completely on solar power. It's extremely rare to find a solar panel around here. There are no policies helping the matter and prices of solar cells are extremely high. Many other countries may face a similar issue. I don't know how are we going to solve that.
Same storry from brazil, Colombia. At lease Chile got solar busses and they have the biggest reserve of battery rare earth. I think that Argentina also have good reserves and could make good money with the mining companies in the future. But its a shame that Brazil and Argentina are both late in solar when you have unlimited sunshine. Countries like India are far ahead and even Ethiopia, Egypt, south Africa are making good progress thanks to china.
Nice video. Great presentation. I seem to recall an article that implied that in some states, cities, or counties solar panels are not very welcome. How about an article describing the road blocks to deploying solar panels. Include 'who' opposes the deployment of solar panels and why. Do state and local laws or ordinances ban or limit deploying solar panels in a residential area?. Is it a requirement that the local power companies must buy your excess power? If so, at what rate are you compensated? It's great that the cost of a solar KWH is lower than a coal KWH in some areas but if the solar KWH cost continues to drop, won't there be opposition from those who have invested in coal or nuclear power plants? About 8 years ago I looked in to putting solar panels on the roof of my home but the ROI was too long. Where is ROI currently at? How about Solar City? For quite some time they would install and own panels on a customer's home. I believe I heard they no longer provide that option. Can solar panels be installed (safely) by the home owner? That was not an option when I investigated solar panels on my roof. I expect there will be an avalanche of solar installations to be in our near future unless local or state laws are put in place to inhibit new installations. I look forward to an updated version of your video as solar KWH cost continues to drop. Mike
This may have been stated before, but you can generate solar power even on cloudy or overcast days. Even when it snows. The sun rays can still get through the clouds during the day and the excess power can charge the batteries and you use the batteries at night.
Been quite enjoying electric solar power, but there's still room for plenty more panels! Compared to when we started in 2009, prices have dropped tremendously! It was about $2/watt, and the panels recently purchased seem to perform well and cost less than $0.50/watt!
Solar can be as cheap to "produce" as fossil fuel electricity, but only to around 5-15% grid percentage is normally feasible because after than point you need to install huge storage capacity because it is an unreliable and intermittent energy source. Also, currently for all solar installation you need installed natural gas backup to compensate for it. This means you need to install at least two additional power management systems whenever you want to rely upon solar for the bulk of your power which will at least double its overall electricity price. Solar's largest benefit is its flexibility. It can be adapted as a coating to most exterior surfacing materials, so I see the best implementation of solar to be for things like solar roofing, siding, or windows. In these cases if you can have the solar materials be a replacement for existing building materials then installation and maintenance costs will drastically plummet, because installation is not an added cost but an inclusive cost to things that would be done anyway, and implementation development will be occurring within the urban areas that need the power.
It's nice to find other people who still believe the world is becoming a better place despite the world's political climate. Administrations come and go, but science marches ever forward.
Why would 'we' be gone in an ice age? Solar panels do not need a warm climate, they are as effective, if not more so, at lower temperatures than at higher temperatures.
Solar and wind are very powerful but they are also hard to control. If we went full solar and wind we would be unable to make fast changes to the supply when load increases suddenly and that can create brownouts or even blackouts. Batteries and other storage solutions might alleviate the issue, but the amount we would need is immense. It's much easier and cheaper to have the majority of power come from solar and wind and have a few power stations that we can control {ie: Nuclear, Hydroelectric, Geothermal) in case power demand spikes.
Very naive, we'll need enormous amounts of energy to maintain something called a modern civilization in the next real ice age (in cities for example, just to melt it and keep transportation going). And solar panels / windmills will very likely get dysfunctional/destroyed by the growing/moving ice itself. There's no real future with it (as a base for energy), and it also breaks a main human principle, increasing the energy density all the time (energy per square kilometer), since learning to control fire about a million years ago. The ultimate purpose with that increase (instead of animal principles) is to be able to act instead of just react to natural challenges in the long run (ice ages, deflect/destroy medium sized threatening comets/asteroids etc). In other words, going full solar/wind is suicidal in the long run, deviating from scientific human anthropological principles. We are now (or soon) as an object, a force in a star system, with our science partly determining our own evolution process, with energy density development. More clearly, we're naturally aiming for imitating a star, not just animal life in a little more advanced form.
This makes me really hopeful. If there's anything we need it's effective power generation, and nuclear to offset any drops in power production from cloudy weather.
I'd like to know more about their lifecycle, since it's like one of the only drawbacks it could have. Like, what happens when a pannel lifespan ends, and wheather is someone trying to use renewables or environmentally-friendly technics in the making of the panels, which would be super cool. But great video anyways! :)
Around 7:00 you said solar is the only clean energy source that is unlimited, but there's also wind and water power. These are driven, in part, by the sun, but they are definitely also unlimited and clean.
I have been trying for years to get our landlord (a RSL with 20,000+ houses) to install solar panels on the roofs. Perhaps now it makes economic as wel as environmental sense, they'll do it! A few Wind Turbines wouldn't go amiss too! WE certainly have the space for them.
Guys I found your channel some days ago and love how you're doing it. Sometimes I'm missing...a bad side of something. Because sometimes I'm asking myself: "Well if this is so great, why don't we do it then?" Furthermore I especially like the videos about environmental and (renewable) energy issues. Now, there is this village in Columbia called Gaviotas. They've made an utopian amazing project there. However it is very unknown. I would love to see a video about it. It might interest you as well. If you're interested, check out Wikipedia about this village, or - even better - the book from Alan Weisman about it. Just go on with this channel! I like it ;) Have a nice day everyone!
I installed 3.8 kWh solar panels in Dec 2010, that's as much as your allowed for one house in the UK, The infrastructure can't take the load if you have too much. :-(
Wooo this makes me so happy! But what about me? Can I use this? I live in the North of Norway, the sun is up all summer, but almost gone in the winter :(
Until battery technology advances enough to allow solar energy collected during the day to reliably meet demand during both day and night the carbon reduction traits of solar energy is offset by inefficiencies in peaking plants. Peaking plants are coal and natural gas plants that are able to respond quickly when demand and supply for electricity don't match. While these plants are perfectly capable of turning off during the day when solar power does its thing and turning back on at night to pick up the slack, these wide output fluctuations lead to lower thermal efficiencies which correspond to higher carbon emissions. This effect would become markedly worse if there was so much solar power during the day that even base load plants, which are not designed to change power to match demand, had to start fluctuating during the day-night cycle.
Grid parety is only possible if cost off stabilisation and storage is not included. Even if the panel is free, solar power would still be more expensive then "heat"-based electrisity.
The problem with personal investment in to solar is that the return is too low still compared to a normal investment say the stock market, then after 30 years your principal investment into solar is entirely gone as the panels have no more value, whereas in a normal investment you retain the value of your principal investment. I suggest that power companies be the first to transition to solar, makes more sense.
Did you investagate something about ecological impact of silicon industry, like mining for example, amount of silicon in the planet etc. I like solar power, I only ask out of curiosity
As you said in one of your other videos, we're probably gonna need better ways of storing surplus energy to make full (or near full) solar power workable. Either superior, cheap batteries or lots of elevated hydro-electric water reservoirs like the one in Wales.
Very good video. But this is solution for homes or small businesses, but how use solar and wind to power whole country, without nuclear power plants? Battery storage? How many needed? New type of power network, with batteries as a hubs? I think if will be use battery storage next to renewable source and begging of power line, then battery on the end of the line. Then power line can be cheaper and smaller, because will not experience picks.
So, now this seems possible? I've been grid tied solar for ten years. Before then my energy needs have been supported with passive design and active heating. Mom's log cabin in Pennsylvania used a Jotle wood stove burning ten pounds of wood in February daily. Why is this considered such a novel course of action?
It's time to step out of the stone age and open the door to our future. I'm developing a secure noninvasive roof top solar panel mounting system. Hopefully this option will be available to homeowners within a few years!
Solar is great, but cant be used as more than a supplemental supply of energy right now. Our entire grid is built around centralized power stations that can meet electrical demand in an instant. The main reason why they are able to do this is because a power plant generator is a several hundred ton chunk of steel rotating with enough inertia to be able to produce more electricity in an instant. Solar power already has trouble traveling across our grid system and active balancing requires a "smart grid" and seconds of time. Which is enough to cause a brownout or blackout. One solution to this is if solar energy was used to keep a turbine spinning in case the energy is needed. We already do this for peaker plants to take on spikes in demand.
The generation of energy will not be in charge of a single technology, but of a cluster of them. Solar power, wind power, biomass, biofuel, hydro, geothermal and tidal power, to name a few.
Why dont we just use thorium reactors? I do have solar panels. 45 watts of electrical power! The only drawback is the solar panels are HUGE! Its hard enough to carry the solar panels outside when its sunny outside, imagine having to carry 10 outside? and only get 450 watts? Or we can get some for the house.
Disappointed that wind power and batteries weren't even mentioned. Wind prices are falling just as fast as solar and becoming cheaper than any other source. It has the advantage of making energy at night as well as during the day. Batteries are getting cheaper every year, and becoming practical for large-scale use, and solves the intermittency issue completely.
Here in Nevada, at the end of 2015, Republican Governor Brian Sandoval's Public Utilities Commission and NV Energy collaborated to reduce the credit received for each kilowatt hour of excess energy generated by consumers' solar setups to wholesale rates. This new rate structure was also applied to customers who had purchased their solar systems before the decision. As a result, SolarCity, the country's largest solar company, pulled their sales from NV. In a state that receives huge amounts of sun year round, the PUC's and NV Energy's decision makes no sense. Yay, progress. :(
To answer your question, I think I'll just stick with my nuclear power plant we keep in the basement and my parents have been using for years now. No need for them fancy photons, I say.
Do you think that large solar panel fields could have a negative impact on the environment? I love the idea of switching to solar energy but I'm just trying to see all potential obstacles. Love the show (beardlover since 2010)
in Nevada they just stick 'em in the desert where it just works and in most places large scale solar farms are nearly impractical compared to having a fractured grid on site with smaller farms as a back up.
We are fully sustained by only sun and wind power here on my farm in Denmark :D
HydrangeaDragon I'm jealous
You probally did get that heavily subsidized though, so i paid for it!
The fossil fuel industry is also heavily subsidized in the USA.
The oil wars were paid for with my tax money! So I paid for the filthy middle east/Russion oil that fueled up your car!
Probably why the electricity costs so damn much. Solar also does next to nothing for Denmark.
Did you guys really have to mention "solar roadways" at 5:49 ? It is one of the worst usage of solar panels and that idea should just die.
Also calling the pursuit of fusion reactors "redundant" is really not good either in comparison with the sun.
but it's a solar freaking roadways!
halimceria the problem with that is that they're solar freaking roadways. While a solar panel can last 30+ years, roads simply don't last that long. Roads see all sorts of abuse from cars and weather meaning they have to be replaced often. The solar roadways aren't as strong and probably a lot more expensive which does not make them cost effective. Additionally, solar panels are best when they are clean so they get as much light as possible. Roads aren't known for being clean.
Mitsuma's Animation and Stuff what the fuck is wrong with solar roadways. roads are a massive waste of space. they panels could melt the snow. they could communicate with smart cars and replace PowerLine making a smart grid. I think you're just shitting on an idea because it's new and years away. haters gonna hate
+Cameron Sipka - The problem with solar roadways is that roadways are one of the worst places to put solar cells. You rightly point out that roadways take up tons of space. Well, so do roofs. And, so do the medians between divided highways. Placing solar panels on roadways requires reinforcement against heavy road traffic that placing solar panels on roofs and highway medians does not. Also, panels on roofs and highway medians can be angled toward the sun for maximum efficiency, which is impossible for roadways. Until we fill up all our rooftops, highway medians, open fields, power line right-of-ways, etc. (which will never happen), then we will always have much better places to put solar panes than on roadways with 20 ton trucks driving over them every day. So, it's not that we can't place solar panels on roadways, it's why would we want to when there are much better and cheaper choices.
+Leslie Graham - There's no reason to ever pick a road over a roof. Solar roadways will always be more expensive than the alternative.
Looking at options for solar system installation on our home yesterday, in fact! Hoping to be headed for an installation this year.
Sweet! Let us know how it goes!
+
juststeveschannel Awesome dude!
Just installed 8kw solar power for my house with battery backup and very happy about it! I used the Magnum Energy System with Solarworld panels, IronRidge racking and Trojan batteries. Good luck with your system.
GOOD FOR YOU MY FRIEND
This video made me feel genuinely hopeful about the future for the first time in a while. Thanks guys :)
Tim Cheese Same 😀
Don't give in to the naivity of this channel...
Trump
+Brian Bontomase I love this!
I also love the comedic value of how Conservatives must be tearing their hair out at this. On the one hand, it's decentralization, their wet dream, on the other hand, it's science, which to them equals Satan. :D
So even if it fails, which it probably will sadly, now that I'll be sitting at my desertified homeland's once lush fields, and still chukle at the image of a cramping conservative rocking itself in fetal position :D
Maybe they will put solar panels on Trumps wall in order to make it useful.
LOL, Still makes more sense than solar roadways
Merlin Cønrad what!? solar roadways and smart roads take advantage of the useless space made by the roads. they would melt the snow and warn smart cars of obstacles. there wouldn't be a need for power lines. you're just shitting on an idea because it's new and won't be perfected for years.
Cameron Sipka The "solar roadways" are useless, the angle determines how effective it is plus in populated areas with buildings and your vehicles blocking out your sun it's a waste of money. spending billions to replace roads only to get LESS than 10% efficiency is a waste of resources.
Plus they need to be replaced regulary costing even more.
Research something before endorsing it. If i told you I could end wars with a happy gas, would you believe me?
Having the road itself be the panel isn't a great idea, but having a canopy of solar panels above the road or parking lots has a lot of promise. Think about all the energy people waste cooling their cars down after being parked outside on a hot day. Not only would we save money by parking in the shade, but we'd also have the solar generated power itself.
This Channel deserves so much more
Keep up the great work! i belive that one day this Channel will be gigantic
Despite Germany's progress on achieving grid parity for solar power, they are facing a massive issue with distributing the benefits of grid parity solar energy among their population. Most on the solar panels in use in Germany are owned by the upper class, while the lower classes still rely on the pre-existing electricity grid. As more upper class Germans switch to grid independent solar energy, the cost of energy for the rest of the German population increases, because there are less customers to bear the costs of the energy grid. This problem is made even worse by the fact that many of the upper class Germans who can afford solar panels end up producing more energy than they use, so they sell into into the energy grid for profit, which further increases the costs the rest of the population has to pay for. There is a very simple fix to this issue, simple create a government grant system that allows the lower classes to buy solar panels. However, this cant solve the issue for everyone in Germany, particularly those who live in Apartment buildings or in general those who cant install solar panels for whatever reason. There is also, naturally, pressure from the companies that maintain and supply the German energy grid for such a grant system to not exist, as it would dramatically affect their profitability. All of this combined, Germany has seen an increase of ~3 million in the number of their citizens living in Energy Poverty (defined as a family spending 10% or more of their income on energy costs). In conclusion, solar panels are awesome, but our existing energy infrastructure, markets, and institutions are not designed to handle their impact. All of us need to work to improve out energy infrastructure so that it can handle solar power without ruining the lives of the most vulnerable in our societies.
Source: I did a University project on policies regarding this topic.
MasterMazeProductions really interesting! Thanks for sharing that :)
You're kind of unfairly singling out the rich for doing what many would like to do, you might mention that the upper classes taking advantage of that probably got tax breaks on their solar homes paid for partly by the middle and mostly lower classes that can't afford to utilize it , money wasted by the government lining the pockets of a consortium of businesses with big lobbies that could be spent on research into the grid and voted for by a misinformed public. Or, just promote coal instead.
It's mostly farmers actually.
...if solar is great and cheap why does the govt. offer grants and subsidies?? ... I smell corruption ...Al Gore became a Billionaire with Cap and Trade ... he now wants solar grants and subsidies ...
We need more thoughtful comments like this!
I live in OR. I have solar panels and a Powerwall. I'm completely off the grid most of the summer. Solar panels and home batteries should be standard in all new homes. Energy independence starts at home.
Wait, so if I install a bunch of Solar Cells and sell electricity back to the grid... did I just install Solar Sells?
;)
Well it depends of where you live, some governments are shameless and corrupt enough to charge you for having a surplus of energy.
Master Therion can't do that until all power is DC, it fucks with baseline producers
RoarOfDamnation My comment was just a pun.
Which governments do that? I know some utility companies in the US, are trying. But I suspect they will fail.
Which is why most solar systems come with inverters to convert the DC produced to AC for home use or for sale to the grid.
+Master Therion
I believe those utility companies have succeeded, at least for now, and in certain places in the West. Here's a quick google source: www.consumerreports.org/energy-saving/how-utilities-are-fighting-back-on-solar-power/
I have been behind solar since the early 70's. I am so happy to see so many renewables being used and we are just getting started.
I live in germany and we have solar panels on our roof since 2008, we feed the extra power to the grid. through this we earn more money then we pay for water, gas.....
Banane Dollar goals
I'VE READ A BUNCH OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN GERMANY BUILT A CAR THAT WORKS WITH SOLAR POWER I CAN'T REMEMBER NOW THE NAME OF THE CAR
Sono sion is the car name
I've been on solar for the past 7 years and i've saved around $6k after the panels and batteries paid for themselves. Instead of installing a HUGE 10-20kw system i bought a few 100w panels, charge controller, and a few golf cart batteries and worked to make my lighting and computing more efficient using LEDs and efficient tech. If i were on the grid, my connection fees and taxes and such would cost more than the power itself since i'd always use around half of the minimum billable amount.
The 'secret' to solar isn't covering an acre in glass so you can leave wasteful incandescent or CFL lights on in every room, it's realistically only demanding as much power as you need and not wasting or being excessive with it stupidly It's also just being sensible about 'vampire' appliances, and drawing heavy loads around midday, welding, running drills and grinders and such when you have excess power from mid morning to mid afternoon.
The problem is though, is that EVERYBODY is marketing some kind of newfangled trendy tech and if you're suckered into thinking you need a house full of "smart" and IOT stuff to make life 'easier' when in reality it makes it harder because you've got to work to pay for all that stuff plugged in at home that you spend 60 hours away from while all your crap hums away and does nothing as far as you can tell.
I've got a master switch that i turn off when i leave if i'm not charging a batch of phone batteries, laptop, or portable LED lighting and it all goes into my main bank. Over the years i've had solar there has been many power outages, a few lasting for a couple of days that completely unaffects me. As long as the sun rises (even through cloud cover) i still have enough power unless i do something stupid like use all my power tools on a dark stormy winter day.
At this point having grid power seems like an absurdity to me, a step backwards considering that small solar systems are dirt cheap. And if you need more power than a cheap $30 controller and $5-600 of batteries and panels can get you, then it's time to really decentralize, split your needs into two systems, one for your lighting and everyday needs and another for intermittent high load stuff. That way if you use all your power metalworking from one bank you'll still have lighting, entertainment, internet and such.
A few years ago, I purchased a battery pack with integrated solar cells that I could use to recharge my cell phone. I don't use it often, since I'm rarely away from the electrical grid for more than a day at a time, but it did come in handy once when I was traveling abroad and I didn't have a charger that worked with the local electrical outlets.
My mobile phone and video camera left the grid in march this year. Got a foldable 40W panel with USB charger for less than $90 from China (there are much cheaper options), it also gives 24v out of a separate connector. I can go out into the middle of the bush for an unlimited time and still have my gear fully charged. Love it!
SR Foxley at it again! Keeping the educational channels alive and well 👌
Thanks guys! Hope it gets cheaper to install on your home! upstart costs prohibited us from taking it on last year :( hopefully soon it will be cheaper to do so.
It is great to see a new video from you! Thanks. Ken
I really liked this episode.
One thing I would have liked to see was a comparison in the efficiency of the solar cells over time.
The efficiency was mentioned for the early solar cells so a modern cell's efficiency would have been a nice extra bit of info.
these videos are so so great!!
love your channel. And nice renewable energy videos.
This was great. It made me feel better about our future on this planet.
we own 2 EVs payed as low as 5K for 1 of them
just got a used sunny boy inverter a few days ago off ebay for 400$
just got 8 new 250watt solar panels for 800$
still need to order the 600$ rack to hold them on the roof
the cars here in FL are a 1$ a day to charge each
system should make all of are driving 100% free
installing the system are self . just stalled on the paper work side from the power Co
few more weekends and well start the install
I'm curious, how did this work out for you? 8 250w panels creates max 2KW in optimal conditions. At this rate charging two cars would likely require you to use less than 10kWh in each car per day leading them plugged in for all sunny hours unless you have a home battery.
you can use graphene magnets to convert seawater motion to electricity to supply baseload when solar is not available
Fusion would be "redundant?" Dude. Bro. Buddy. Homie. My man. My dude. C'mon now.
It is though. If the world ran on solar completely the ceiling for power generation is endless. Fusion is really really difficult. I don't think fusion will ever happen.
solar has *cough* 12 year life-span *cough* *cough* and diminishing value *cough*
we needs fusion for that endless power production.
Fusion has reached a new milestone! It's only 20 years away. It has been 25 years away for the past 35 years (when I was studying it while I earned my BS in nuclear engineering).
@KONY Yup. And future panels will be recyclable. Today's panels are recyclable, but the cost to recycle might be too high compared to just trashing them. And, future panels will have 50+ year life spans.
Y'all should talk about the work that Solar City is doing. They have working solar panel roof tiles that are cheaper and last longer then most regular roof tiles with the added benefit of generating power for your home!
Your videos usually make me a bit more optimistic whenever I feel everything is going to sheet!
The Good Stuff is kind of like the Reasons to be alive today, really great
Ha! Thanks!
does anyone know how much HEAT solar panels put out?.....
thanx guys for this really great video.
Should look into integrated or combined energy systems
Thank you for the informative video.
Great video. Thanks. I really enjoyed watching it!
Beautiful. This got me a lil choked up
5:00 you brush over this part way too quickly, because the main problem lies there.
yes, large capacity batteries could store enough energy over night or even bridge a few days with little sunshine, but what about weeks or even months? say in winter time, which most inhabitet areas in the developed world experience, very little power would be produced by solar and much more required compared to summer due to heating and lights.
we'd still require as much power from other sources to bridge winter months, therefore (earthbound) solar cannot really be the solution.
It's not like it's completely dark during the winter. Solar cells would still be collecting energy--just not as much. Other sources of energy will be required but not as much as if we didn't use solar at all.
in the video you say right of the bat that "solar power has by far the most potential to supply ALL our energy needs", which is misleading for the scenario you present. as you just said, other sources of energy will be required.
well, it's completely dark below even a tiny layer of snow, so most (home) installations won't produce any power at all when is has snowed. they also cannot alter the angle to optimise for winter usage. Thus power production will be very poor and we'd still need the biggest portion of power production from other sources, so "burning a little fossil fuel to fill in the gaps" won't cut it.
You argue just for the sake of arguing. Yes, there are places where solar panels would be useless. But there are plenty of places where they would work and are a great alternative to fossil fuels. Try to understand the context of what's being discussed.
They're not going to supplant something as cheap as fossil fuels for something that works part time., that's simply the reality of everyday life. for now solar is just a dream as the main source of power. The idea that just because it's cheap really doesn't wash.
This is the reason why I wish advances in biofuels got the same publicity and funding as solar has been getting. Recent breakthroughs in wet slurry hydrocarbon conversion, algae waste water treatment to fuel, land fill waste gassification and sequestration. It's been happening, just doesn't seem to get that "cool and sexy" vibe that ev's and solar have been getting here recently.
Next challenge would be for batteries to become cheap enough to store the solar energy for when we actually need it the most
Lots of work and research here. It will be done. The physics (and chemistry) is there. The question is whether the economics makes sense.
We will still need fusion for deep space. Solar doesn't do much good past the asteroid belt.
That's very true... but inside Mars orbit Solar is the best energy source...
Sure. It's not something we need to worry about now, but we do still want it for the future.
Why? If you're traveling in space, the only means of propulsion is some sort of jet-like propulsion: shoot something in one direction, move in the opposite direction.
I live in Argentina, which isn't a poor country and we have a high Human development index. But we fail completely on solar power. It's extremely rare to find a solar panel around here. There are no policies helping the matter and prices of solar cells are extremely high. Many other countries may face a similar issue. I don't know how are we going to solve that.
Same storry from brazil, Colombia. At lease Chile got solar busses and they have the biggest reserve of battery rare earth.
I think that Argentina also have good reserves and could make good money with the mining companies in the future.
But its a shame that Brazil and Argentina are both late in solar when you have unlimited sunshine. Countries like India are far ahead and even Ethiopia, Egypt, south Africa are making good progress thanks to china.
There were infinitely more infinites in this finite video than expected.
Is that 1977: $76 per watt adjusted for inflation?
Now it's under 70¢/watt.
Nice video. Great presentation.
I seem to recall an article that implied that in some states, cities, or counties solar panels are not very welcome.
How about an article describing the road blocks to deploying solar panels. Include 'who' opposes the deployment of solar panels and why. Do state and local laws or ordinances ban or limit deploying solar panels in a residential area?. Is it a requirement that the local power companies must buy your excess power? If so, at what rate are you compensated?
It's great that the cost of a solar KWH is lower than a coal KWH in some areas but if the solar KWH cost continues to drop, won't there be opposition from those who have invested in coal or nuclear power plants?
About 8 years ago I looked in to putting solar panels on the roof of my home but the ROI was too long. Where is ROI currently at?
How about Solar City? For quite some time they would install and own panels on a customer's home. I believe I heard they no longer provide that option.
Can solar panels be installed (safely) by the home owner? That was not an option when I investigated solar panels on my roof.
I expect there will be an avalanche of solar installations to be in our near future unless local or state laws are put in place to inhibit new installations.
I look forward to an updated version of your video as solar KWH cost continues to drop.
Mike
Wow! Good stuff.
This may have been stated before, but you can generate solar power even on cloudy or overcast days. Even when it snows. The sun rays can still get through the clouds during the day and the excess power can charge the batteries and you use the batteries at night.
Great video guys
At the moment I just use a small solar panel to charge my phone or portable battery when I'm out. That and the ones built into some of my gear.
Nice video. I would like to see a similar one that addresses wind power.
Solar is the future
I love my solar panels! they are performing much better than expected!
I live in a condo so don't have an option of installing solar panels :(
Been quite enjoying electric solar power, but there's still room for plenty more panels! Compared to when we started in 2009, prices have dropped tremendously! It was about $2/watt, and the panels recently purchased seem to perform well and cost less than $0.50/watt!
Can you post a link to solar anywhere that is 50cents per Watt. Every time I price it is 3 to 5 dollars per watt.
Solar can be as cheap to "produce" as fossil fuel electricity, but only to around 5-15% grid percentage is normally feasible because after than point you need to install huge storage capacity because it is an unreliable and intermittent energy source. Also, currently for all solar installation you need installed natural gas backup to compensate for it. This means you need to install at least two additional power management systems whenever you want to rely upon solar for the bulk of your power which will at least double its overall electricity price.
Solar's largest benefit is its flexibility. It can be adapted as a coating to most exterior surfacing materials, so I see the best implementation of solar to be for things like solar roofing, siding, or windows. In these cases if you can have the solar materials be a replacement for existing building materials then installation and maintenance costs will drastically plummet, because installation is not an added cost but an inclusive cost to things that would be done anyway, and implementation development will be occurring within the urban areas that need the power.
It's nice to find other people who still believe the world is becoming a better place despite the world's political climate. Administrations come and go, but science marches ever forward.
I hope someday fusion power becomes feasible. :D
China is aiming for the moon for the best fuel for it (Helium-3). Btw, without nuclear power we're gone in the next severe ice age.
Why would 'we' be gone in an ice age? Solar panels do not need a warm climate, they are as effective, if not more so, at lower temperatures than at higher temperatures.
Solar and wind are very powerful but they are also hard to control. If we went full solar and wind we would be unable to make fast changes to the supply when load increases suddenly and that can create brownouts or even blackouts. Batteries and other storage solutions might alleviate the issue, but the amount we would need is immense. It's much easier and cheaper to have the majority of power come from solar and wind and have a few power stations that we can control {ie: Nuclear, Hydroelectric, Geothermal) in case power demand spikes.
I left a similar comment about fusion, but just for kicks you should Google Telsa's solar powered island and Tesla + California Edison.
Very naive, we'll need enormous amounts of energy to maintain something called a modern civilization in the next real ice age (in cities for example, just to melt it and keep transportation going). And solar panels / windmills will very likely get dysfunctional/destroyed by the growing/moving ice itself. There's no real future with it (as a base for energy), and it also breaks a main human principle, increasing the energy density all the time (energy per square kilometer), since learning to control fire about a million years ago. The ultimate purpose with that increase (instead of animal principles) is to be able to act instead of just react to natural challenges in the long run (ice ages, deflect/destroy medium sized threatening comets/asteroids etc). In other words, going full solar/wind is suicidal in the long run, deviating from scientific human anthropological principles. We are now (or soon) as an object, a force in a star system, with our science partly determining our own evolution process, with energy density development. More clearly, we're naturally aiming for imitating a star, not just animal life in a little more advanced form.
This makes me really hopeful. If there's anything we need it's effective power generation, and nuclear to offset any drops in power production from cloudy weather.
Wooow. This is some good stuff!
I'd like to know more about their lifecycle, since it's like one of the only drawbacks it could have. Like, what happens when a pannel lifespan ends, and wheather is someone trying to use renewables or environmentally-friendly technics in the making of the panels, which would be super cool.
But great video anyways! :)
excellent video
This. Is. Awesome.
A third option to the last question is improving insulation and other passive energy saving methods.
Around 7:00 you said solar is the only clean energy source that is unlimited, but there's also wind and water power. These are driven, in part, by the sun, but they are definitely also unlimited and clean.
I have been trying for years to get our landlord (a RSL with 20,000+ houses) to install solar panels on the roofs. Perhaps now it makes economic as wel as environmental sense, they'll do it! A few Wind Turbines wouldn't go amiss too! WE certainly have the space for them.
Guys I found your channel some days ago and love how you're doing it. Sometimes I'm missing...a bad side of something. Because sometimes I'm asking myself: "Well if this is so great, why don't we do it then?"
Furthermore I especially like the videos about environmental and (renewable) energy issues. Now, there is this village in Columbia called Gaviotas. They've made an utopian amazing project there. However it is very unknown. I would love to see a video about it. It might interest you as well. If you're interested, check out Wikipedia about this village, or - even better - the book from Alan Weisman about it.
Just go on with this channel! I like it ;) Have a nice day everyone!
I installed 3.8 kWh solar panels in Dec 2010, that's as much as your allowed for one house in the UK, The infrastructure can't take the load if you have too much. :-(
Would love to purchase some solar panels... just they cost about £6000 in the uk
5:47 Oh, no! You guys believe solar roadways work?
Wooo this makes me so happy! But what about me? Can I use this? I live in the North of Norway, the sun is up all summer, but almost gone in the winter :(
Until battery technology advances enough to allow solar energy collected during the day to reliably meet demand during both day and night the carbon reduction traits of solar energy is offset by inefficiencies in peaking plants. Peaking plants are coal and natural gas plants that are able to respond quickly when demand and supply for electricity don't match. While these plants are perfectly capable of turning off during the day when solar power does its thing and turning back on at night to pick up the slack, these wide output fluctuations lead to lower thermal efficiencies which correspond to higher carbon emissions. This effect would become markedly worse if there was so much solar power during the day that even base load plants, which are not designed to change power to match demand, had to start fluctuating during the day-night cycle.
Grid parety is only possible if cost off stabilisation and storage is not included. Even if the panel is free, solar power would still be more expensive then "heat"-based electrisity.
The problem with personal investment in to solar is that the return is too low still compared to a normal investment say the stock market, then after 30 years your principal investment into solar is entirely gone as the panels have no more value, whereas in a normal investment you retain the value of your principal investment. I suggest that power companies be the first to transition to solar, makes more sense.
I've got 'em on top o' my roof
Did you investagate something about ecological impact of silicon industry, like mining for example, amount of silicon in the planet etc. I like solar power, I only ask out of curiosity
As you said in one of your other videos, we're probably gonna need better ways of storing surplus energy to make full (or near full) solar power workable. Either superior, cheap batteries or lots of elevated hydro-electric water reservoirs like the one in Wales.
I think a good combination of wind and solar would be good especially in states like Illinois or states that don't get a lot of sun light.
Not yet, but sure one day when I build my next house ;)
Very good video. But this is solution for homes or small businesses, but how use solar and wind to power whole country, without nuclear power plants? Battery storage? How many needed? New type of power network, with batteries as a hubs? I think if will be use battery storage next to renewable source and begging of power line, then battery on the end of the line. Then power line can be cheaper and smaller, because will not experience picks.
So, now this seems possible? I've been grid tied solar for ten years. Before then my energy needs have been supported with passive design and active heating. Mom's log cabin in Pennsylvania used a Jotle wood stove burning ten pounds of wood in February daily. Why is this considered such a novel course of action?
It's time to step out of the stone age and open the door to our future.
I'm developing a secure noninvasive roof top solar panel mounting system. Hopefully this option will be available to homeowners within a few years!
Yes... The world needs clean energy to be saved.
My family already have solar panels in our yard that power our house. We have approximately a net zero electric bill.
Solar is great, but cant be used as more than a supplemental supply of energy right now. Our entire grid is built around centralized power stations that can meet electrical demand in an instant. The main reason why they are able to do this is because a power plant generator is a several hundred ton chunk of steel rotating with enough inertia to be able to produce more electricity in an instant. Solar power already has trouble traveling across our grid system and active balancing requires a "smart grid" and seconds of time. Which is enough to cause a brownout or blackout. One solution to this is if solar energy was used to keep a turbine spinning in case the energy is needed. We already do this for peaker plants to take on spikes in demand.
are there enough resources to build all these solar cells?
The generation of energy will not be in charge of a single technology, but of a cluster of them.
Solar power, wind power, biomass, biofuel, hydro, geothermal and tidal power, to name a few.
It is heavy subsidized, I hope you are right but I am skeptical that we do not need Thorium to solve the equation.
Is it realistic for northern countries to save up enough energy to last the entire polar night?
does anyone know how much HEAT solar panels put out?.....
That's some good stuff
Hey that was cool solar powered roads.
Hope it be so!
how would a solar power grid be able to handle a solar flare?
Why dont we just use thorium reactors?
I do have solar panels. 45 watts of electrical power! The only drawback is the solar panels are HUGE! Its hard enough to carry the solar panels outside when its sunny outside, imagine having to carry 10 outside? and only get 450 watts? Or we can get some for the house.
Mount them on the roof????
Hein Mcleod ye
Seems like he confuses grid parity (cheaper than other sources) with socket parity (cheaper than the consumer price of electricity)
If the cost of solar panels has dropped to 50 cents/watt why do I keep seeing the cost of 200 watt solar panels for $200 to $300 each?
Great!
did it! it's good!
Disappointed that wind power and batteries weren't even mentioned. Wind prices are falling just as fast as solar and becoming cheaper than any other source. It has the advantage of making energy at night as well as during the day. Batteries are getting cheaper every year, and becoming practical for large-scale use, and solves the intermittency issue completely.
Here in Nevada, at the end of 2015, Republican Governor Brian Sandoval's Public Utilities Commission and NV Energy collaborated to reduce the credit received for each kilowatt hour of excess energy generated by consumers' solar setups to wholesale rates. This new rate structure was also applied to customers who had purchased their solar systems before the decision. As a result, SolarCity, the country's largest solar company, pulled their sales from NV. In a state that receives huge amounts of sun year round, the PUC's and NV Energy's decision makes no sense. Yay, progress. :(
Well the problem is: cars don't run on solar. But electrified trains can.
haven't you made a similar vedio
To answer your question, I think I'll just stick with my nuclear power plant we keep in the basement and my parents have been using for years now. No need for them fancy photons, I say.
Do you think that large solar panel fields could have a negative impact on the environment? I love the idea of switching to solar energy but I'm just trying to see all potential obstacles.
Love the show (beardlover since 2010)
in Nevada they just stick 'em in the desert where it just works and in most places large scale solar farms are nearly impractical compared to having a fractured grid on site with smaller farms as a back up.
My last power bill put me in credit by $A157!