Nanosolar's Breakthrough - Solar Now Cheaper than Coal

First of all, no big bad company can come in and buy out Nanosolar because they have not incorporated yet. They are privately funded from the likes of Google and various other technology heavyweights.

I checked out their Wiki and discovered that these panels will operate at close to 20%. From what I understand about PV systems, such an efficiency is pretty good. And their website claims that production costs are 10-20% that of normal solar panels, which further boosts their attractiveness, and makes them competitive with fossil fuels.

I am on board.

Originally posted by khunmoon

originally RedGolem
I hope this is the real deal also. From what I read in the article this has over come several technology hurdles.

Yes, they are confronting the biggest hurdle of them all: Big Oil!

IF this tech is sound they'll be bought out of business in an instance and we won't hear further about this for the next 20 years.

This is probably what has already happened.....
But this idea's time has come and it is reaching a critical mass....
And i think the reason this is so is that the writting is on the wall for oil as a power source...I.E it will run out in our life times....

So they can not kill this idea now it is too late......

But there is always scope for creating monopolies...
I.E. if you cant beat em join em....
The same people will simply jump ship when the time is right....
Buy up the solar companies (if they dont already have a stake) and work on creating a manopoly here.....
They will probably employ strategies like with every increase in efficiency building in diminishing lifespan so that you will have to replace your cells periodically at great expense...
Or your goverments will tax them and you will bleed that way.

No they will not kill this idea......
Zero point ---- that they would kill....
This idea still involves wall papering the whole roof of your house with very expensive cells that will only last for a limited time....
There is still much scope to create monopoly here.

reply to post by BlueRidge


WOW! For a clean world! At the same time, I sincerely hope this is
not one of those TALL claims. Just imagine - only five percent of the
Earth's area can take care of the total power requirements of all the
countries.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, with a wee prayer.

Would this make all those miles and miles of desert in the mid east, sun baked for months and months at a time, the new exporter of electricity to Europe?

They certainly have all that oil money to put into new technology.

This is the REAL DEAL FOLKS! I have been following this company ever since I first heard about it in 2002 and have actually had the privilege of meeting some of the lead researchers that work for this great company! I have complete confidence that this will hit the market and cause a firestorm in the PV Industry soon enough. The PR firestorm has just begun however so beware of overhyped claims from Public companies who claim to have a licensing deal with Nanosolar. Oldest trick in the book.

[edit on 25-11-2007 by sardion2000]

If this is true and makes it to market, it could have a huge impact in terms of the domino effect.

It would make hydrogen a viable energy medium since you could have cheep hydrogen producing factories that would double as desalination plants, which in turn would provide more clean drinking water, which would mean there would be more water left for irrigation, which leads to better food production.

I would also lessen the pressure for countries to fight over remaining exploitable oil, thus ending a very real drive towards war.

Of course it would also reduce global pollution from burning fossil fuels. Lower atmospheric C02 could lead to a reduction in athsma, allergies, and other respiratory aliments.

There is a hidden danger, though.
This could pose a very serious threat to a big chunk of the energy industry. People would effectively be able to produce their own electricity, which eliminates a major part of the modern economy. This could be very problematic under our current system... an economic revolution might inevitably follow this technological one.

This could be the single biggest breakthrough of our time.

i have lived on solar power for over 20 years...unless something has happened in the last couple of months, what i read about this tech is that it is not a efficent as current solar panels...but cheaper & easier to manufacture...so u need much more 'area' covered with this tech to produce the same power ....the other thing u have to think about is the fossil fuels required to make solar panels......having said that...i have never had a power bill or black out in over 20 years...using old tech solar...large deep cycle lead acid batteries looked after will last for 20 years...my first ones were 10 years old when i got them...my system has still paid for itself in that time inspite of the new batteries ($1,200)...solar panels last much longer than batteries....so don't expect to ever have to replace them...inverters are just like 'amplifiers' with no valves to burn out, so should also never need replacing...it's really only the batteries...& all i do with mine is top them up with distilled water once a year AND....try to keep them with as much charge/power in them as possible...& never let them get too low without a boost charge...this increases their life span...although called deep cycle (can go flat & still be recharged)..batteries prefer to always stay above half charged...non deep cycle auto batteries DIE if they go flat just once & are not recharged immediately...even then the damage has been done & they are never the same....the BEST auto batteries are AGM's *Absorbtion Glass Matt*....originally developed for the military...they have numerous advantages over normal batteries...but for house solar setups large deep cycle batteries last years longer......i would be very interested to get a price on these panels/sheets...as u can always use some extra solar panels over winter...(are they going to be like most modern stuff & wear out quicker?)....basically though, ur life style changes so u become more in tune with the sun....U have free power but like all things it has its limits, if u get greedy & are buying ur power, u get a bigger bill...if u use too much solar power, ur inverter shuts down on low voltage cut-out....if its daylight, u turn off the 'load' & the sun charges them back up again...if its night, u go to bed....or switch to low energy LEDs, & then go to bed....u can use it, but u can't abuse it....in summer u got more than u need (many sell the extra back to power companies)....& in winter, u can always use more panels (unless u got heaps of $ & panels)....for 80 watt old tech. panels u can pay up to a grand each.......i have 300watts of panels, but use some to 'track' the sun which increases their overall output....some people can live on much less than me, & others need much more....ur inverter should be sized to handle ur biggest load.......& most modern systems use a 24volt battery bank....others use higher voltages...but the higher the voltage the more solar panels u need....i use 12volts because it's easier for me & lots of stuff runs on that voltage...then u amplifiy it up to standard mains AC power to run, for example, this laptop & low energy 8watt light....plus all the other standard mains power applicances....except for a fridge...they draw a big load...so i have a 12volt one...runs & looks like normal fridges...my biggest load is a 2hp aircompressor...just spent $300 for a new 2400watt inverter to see if it can run it....my old inverter is 1200watts & runs everything else.........hope someone finds some of this helpful......GB





[edit on 26-11-2007 by dave7]

reply to post by sardion2000


The substrate is said to be a metal foil semiconductor. Do we know which metal? Hopefully this is an abundant material, not some rare earth alloy which would perhaps limit its potential?



[edit on 26-11-2007 by RogerT]

This pretty sweet. I'm sure it wouldn't be a huge stretch to incorporate this product into standard roofing shingles.

The oil companies manufacture there solar panels in china at a much lower cost then they sell then in the US. there markup is around 80%.
i know US Navy sailors that have got there panels in thailand while on a port visit or R and R they payed less then 50%

I am working on a system but mine will be 1/3 solar 2/3 wind this is the best for where i live and it is one of the top solar hour areas in the US.
But i can build the wind system myself from free info from the Internet.

Also the US government supplies the power for all military bases in the southwest US from the geothermal power plants at China Lake calif.(coso geothermal) they also use solar systems designed at china lake around the US.
NWC China lake has developed a solar to hydrogen storage system to fuel cell system for use at remote sites.
They are also working on alcohol fuel cells for powering small silent submarines for the navy seal teams.

Hydrogen fuel cells will never make it in any numbers for cars the cost of making hydrogen will be to high. It would take over 200 nuke power plants to make the hydrogen needed to convert the US cars to hydrogen.
It also take over 300 nuke power plant to change the US power system from oil to nuke.
The tree huggers will never stand for the construction of 500 nuke power plants.
This info is out there if you look for it.

What i see for the car of the future is a plug in alcohol fuel cell hybird.
for short range day to day use.(100 miles) it will run from the batteries in the plug-in mode. longer range trips will use a alcohol fuel cell to charge the batteries and power the car. this system will also let the fuel cell recharge the batteries during stops on the longer trips.(something regular hybrids can not do)
When not in use this car can be plugged into your home Solar and/or wind power system for recharge. this will not be liked by to power companies the oil companies.
Right now you can not find a diesel hybrid car. why because people would convert them to plug in bio diesel hybrids. with solar and wind to charge the cars. and homemade bio diesel for fuel. this would take the oil companies out of the equation.
Every year we hear of diesel hybrids are coming NEXT year then next year comes and it is next year again.

As has been pointed out many time through out this thread the system as it is will not stand for it. I would hazard a guess that most of the posts on this thread are from the USA and it indeed is nice to see that there are some people over there that think about the future of our planet.

However your government doesn’t care about the future of our planet and the truth is there in these few words “it is our planet not there planet” meaning that for clean alternative power to become a reality things have to change. It doesn’t matter if you elect a democrat or a republican the result is the same they are all bought and paid for by the money, big oil no matter what you call it.

To do the right thing for our planet the deserts need to be covered in PV cells and wind mills in the US on the African Continent and in the Far East. They produce power during the day and this is turned into hydrogen for use at night. There is only the start up cost then everything is free. Your car can run on a fuel cell and the hydrogen is obtained by the plant it’s self with PV cells they have done it in Iceland so it can be done anywhere just about.

It will be nice if this new technology is true but it really doesn’t matter if true or not the technology has been around for years if a little pricy. It only takes the US citizen to find a man for the top job that is not bought and paid for by the money.

I am just waiting to hear the howls from this one.

No Howels here MAC269, I agree one hundred percent!

My friends, my friends, we have all heard about promising technologies for solar cells and “free energy” and yet none of them have come to pass. Do you want to know why? It’s very simple, there are no taxes involved in free energy.

All of these scientific breakthroughs in solar technology have all ready happened, but most likely you will never see them.

www.sciam.com...

www.sciam.com...

web.mit.edu...

The fallacy in most people’s logic about “Big Oil and “Free Energy” is the thinking that it is just the big energy corporations that want to squash this technology and keep you from getting it. Wrong! It’s your own government that doesn’t want everyone in the country using solar panels on their houses and cars.

Do you realize how many tax dollars are generated from oil and power companies. Think of how many taxes are placed upon the gas you use. Think of how many fees and taxes are placed upon the utilities that you consume. Do you honestly think that our government wants to lose billions of dollars in tax revenue by letting you create your own energy? Ha!

Wake up people! If you really want alternative fuel sources and solar technology then you will have to change your government in power first! Stop voting for the Democrats and Republicans and start voting for a third party that will do what is best for you and not big business and big government.

We will never see real alternative fuels in America until the political landscape reverses direction completely. How do I know this? Because for the past 60 years the same political parties have been in power and nothing has been done for the good of the American people in this regard.


[edit on 27-11-2007 by Hot_Wings]

[edit on 27-11-2007 by Hot_Wings]

I might also point out that while Google is a rather wealthy corporation, they are nothing compared to Big Oil Money.

The base issue that we need to address before we can hope to see anything like this is the fact that our culture calibrates greed. If we can get past the notion that "greed is good", there's hope. Otherwise, nothing will change.

Originally posted by RedGolem
reply to post by BlueRidge

 

Financed by google wow. So there is definitely no danger of running out of money.

This could also mean a lot of latitude with the money and absense of strict checks on real progress and how the money is spent.

I have to say though that the material they posted is convincing.


[edit on 27-11-2007 by buddhasystem]

Good post and indeed, this is great news! I for one am going to check out this company's product line!

PS - I liked your signature, but FYI, terd is actually "turd."

reply to post by NGC2736


One reason for the lack of new refining capacity is a combination of the "NIMBY" syndrome and pressure from environmental groups. Those two between them have killed off at least three major refinery construction efforts within the last decade...so if Big Oil (tm) is 'suppressing' the construction of refineries, they're doing it with substantial help from real estate agents and the environmental lobby.

reply to post by without_prejudice


I always wondered what the correct spelling was! It's not everyday you get tested for the correct spelling of turd...lol. I'm glad you enjoyed my sig.

I think you want Lithium Sulphur Batteries for cars sounds much better than other battery types. Meant to be much cheaper and higher capacity.

The hydrogen idea is so the Big Oil can sell you hydrogen instead of gas, and the Gov can tax it.

So with this Nanosolar the technology is out there if it can be brought to market.

Well, the story is gaining more traction in the mainstream media. It is good that google is backing them. It just might give them a chance.

www.reuters.com...

this to me is the first step in the way to creating a fuel cell infra structure these plants can produce the necesary hydrogen and the hydrogen can be used to do a lot of the heavy lifting.

while i dont expect fire power to ever go away i do expect that electric power will be of ever more importance as our technology evolves.