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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KyrosL who wrote (58367)	4/9/2008 4:00:48 PM
From: Dale Baker	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 543059

No reason not to do both. Given the lead times in getting those desert plants designed and built, a lot of home solar infrastructure could be done cheaply first, as a first generation step to be followed by something grander later. I just figure if you can make home solar doable under $5K, a lot of folks will jump on something that pays for itself in a couple of years.

To: KyrosL who wrote (58367)	4/9/2008 4:29:34 PM
From: Mary Cluney	Respond to of 543059

<<<I think the most cost effective solar technology will probably be centralized solar power plants built in the deserts of the west, with efficient direct current distribution infrastructure to distribute the power throughout the country, and perhaps local nukes, wind, etc. for backup power. I know home solar panels are attractive for engineering types, but having individual sophisticated power plants at every home doesn't sound practical as a long term solution.>>> Solar is big in Germany as is wind in Scandinavian countries because it is heavily subsidised. There are some things that Europe does much better than us. We can never get there because you will get really ugly opposition from the free market fundamentalist think tanks. These people are well organized. They do a great job brain washing Ayn Rand wannabees. They go about spreading their agenda with a great deal of passion. Anybody supporting government initiatives to encourage efficiencies of any stripe or nature will get their butts kicked.

To: KyrosL who wrote (58367)	4/9/2008 5:34:02 PM
From: Cogito	Respond to of 543059

>>I know home solar panels are attractive for engineering types, but having individual sophisticated power plants at every home doesn't sound practical as a long term solution.<< Kyros - There's nothing that sophisticated about solar panels or wind turbines in residential setups. You have a device that produces electrical power. That device is wired into your home electrical system, and usually set up so that it feeds power back into the grid when home production exceeds consumption. On such occasions you can watch your electric meter run backwards. It's all quite simple, really. All the components are off-the-shelf, and they can be installed by any electrician with minimal additional training. - Allen