Reviewing some old comments
On this post about biodiesel, the comments descended into a tedious exchange with a true believer who made this statement:
"Just" pointing the thing at the sun requires either (a) a complex system of trackers that require maintenance (do you own any motorized things that have lasted 20+ years outdoors?), or (b) accepting a lower efficiency (static PV installation).
You also need a rather expensive set of electronics and batteries to run a self-contained setup, or a very expensive delivery network (the grid).
For whatever reasons, people love the idea of PV solar so much that they don't want to hear the downside, or that there are more efficient mechanisms for generating sustainable energy.
There is now an entire website dedicated to taking down some of these cheerleaders: Low-tech Magazine. Check out articles on the energy paradox, urban windmills, algae farming for biodiesel; you may not have considered their conclusions, you may not like them, but you will think about them.
Unlike a turbine, PV doesn't require a huge balance of system like wells, tankers, pipelines, storage vessels, retail distributors and the huge slavewage labor force to serve the consumers of energy. You just point the PV at the sun and the energy is delivered for free.Actually, PV does require analogs to those very same things. Silicon mines (okay, okay, it's sand, but still ...), acid production, refineries, tankers, shipping containers, retail distributors, installers, and a labor force to build and sustain it all.
"Just" pointing the thing at the sun requires either (a) a complex system of trackers that require maintenance (do you own any motorized things that have lasted 20+ years outdoors?), or (b) accepting a lower efficiency (static PV installation).
You also need a rather expensive set of electronics and batteries to run a self-contained setup, or a very expensive delivery network (the grid).
For whatever reasons, people love the idea of PV solar so much that they don't want to hear the downside, or that there are more efficient mechanisms for generating sustainable energy.
There is now an entire website dedicated to taking down some of these cheerleaders: Low-tech Magazine. Check out articles on the energy paradox, urban windmills, algae farming for biodiesel; you may not have considered their conclusions, you may not like them, but you will think about them.
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