Solar power co-ops. And other random thoughts.

[TheMadMonk]

A couple of things have been slowly floating into the "potential" consumer market over the last month or so. $1/watt solar panels (yup, again) and mega capacitors, supposedly with a charge density an order of magnitude greater than state of the art batteries. And that can be charged two orders of magnitude faster. For a laptop 40 hours runtime and 4 minutes recharge. Or 400+km and the same 4 minutes charge time for an electric vehicle.

Further the materials for these mega-caps are apparently cheap as dirt. So in both cases it seems to be down to engineering, manufacturing yield and costs, and ultimately demand.

In an ideal world this would equate to a capital investment cost of under $3 per peak watt generated. If these technologies pan out I suspect an introductory price of around $5-7 / peak watt.

Looking at what's available, it would seem that even with the improved gear bigger remains better.

So rather than individuals going it alone, people form co-ops. Buy a little capacity and pay as you use or buy a lot and perhaps have a positive balance and can slowly buy into the scheme as you pay your electricity bill.

I think it will pay to watch these mega capacitors and new solar cells. There's also "sliver cells" which have the advantage of working in fairly diffuse light.



And I just saw a news article on a new mega-suburb near Melbourne, Victoria. For some time I've toyed with they idea of borrowing an idea from the Romans and building on top of cisterns. Also since we have so many different utility connections these days it seems that a service tunnel makes a lot more sense than burying multiple cables and pipes, each in it's own separate backfilled trench.

So city block sized cisterns with service tunnels running beneath footpaths alongside the roads. Or if you want to maintain tall green, cisterns under the roads with residential blocks on solid "dirt".

One thing is certain we need integrated solutions. Rainwater collection; renewable power; Easy access; resource reclamation; Public transport. The whole shebang.

Then there are the mega-buildings being contemplated by the Japanese. 100,000 people occupying a square kilometer, with several square kilometers of open land built in stacks at 25 floor intervals. Or a hybrid between that and the solar power tower concept.

We're right on the cusp of being able to do big things. Really bigs things.

[pscot]

1. Good post

Start the week on a mildly optimistic note. If we had begun a systematic effort along these lines 15 years ago we would be enjoying the mitigating effects right now. The problem is that as a nation we seem to be a day late, a dollar short and in deep denial. Time is now critical.

[oldhippie]

2. I like the thinking ......

.... and I wish more people were doing it. Like O'Neil's space colonies, only on earth. Integrated technology. Like you say, we're on the cusp. Then again, the Wright Brothers knew all the basic science to build a 747. All they needed was a bit more engineering, manufacturing yields, and costs.

I'm reading that the Chinese are starting to think in terms of technologically integrated communities. It will be interesting to watch.

[losthills]

3. Yeah, that is very good thinking.

It's reminiscent of the way small communities used to form their own small water companies instead of each person drilling their own well...