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by moloch-hai 1286 days ago
You make the same mistake fission boosters make. Converting heat to electricity is expensive. Solar and wind skip the expensive step, going straight to electricity. Electric power from solar and wind is already much cheaper than coal, without subsidy, for this reason, and because coal has to be dug up and transported. Coal has a high operating cost. Solar and wind have extremely low operating cost, and also very low capital cost, always falling.

Solar and wind, un-subsidized, are the cheapest power the world has ever seen, and their cost is still falling at exponential rate.
1 comments
543g43g43 1286 days ago
>Converting heat to electricity is expensive.

And? Most of our power usage is not supplied through electricity. Solar panels are never going to heat my house.

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Schroedingersat 1286 days ago
Why not? Plenty of places have enough sunlight to do so even in winter. Parts of Alberta have similar sunlight mid winter to PNG mid summer.

Plus storage is a thing. Using a heat pump to dry NaOH or melt Sodium Acetate, or heat a large pond can store low grade heat economically for months. Ammonia, or methanol can do so indefinitely.

Then there's transmission. HVDC can transport energy 10GW pernline for thousands of km at costs comparable to local generation.

I'd be very surprised if you could avoid using a solar panel to heat your home in 40 years even if you go out of your way to do so.

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543g43g43 1286 days ago
We're talking about the cost of power. Putting aside the unbelievable idea that Alberta has as much mid-winter solar energy available as at the equator, using solar to heat my house is more expensive than burning some stuff inside.
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Schroedingersat 1286 days ago
https://globalsolaratlas.info/detail?c=47.756755,-110.19981,...

https://globalsolaratlas.info/detail?c=-5.462873,137.384064,...

Bifacial isn't in this model, but it boosts the snowy region by about 20% and the tropical one by about 5%

And what will the stuff available to burn be made from when there are plants producing ethylene or methanol or ammonia in chile or saudi arabia or mongolia for less than what gas costs to dig up?

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