Comments on: Sunny upside http://www.marcgunther.com/2007/10/04/sunny-upside/ This blog is about the impact of business on society. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:08:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: James Aach http://www.marcgunther.com/2007/10/04/sunny-upside/comment-page-1/#comment-24719 James Aach Thu, 04 Oct 2007 20:50:01 +0000 http://www.marcgunther.com/?p=267#comment-24719 You answered a number of questions in your article that your post left me wondering - we're talking about distributed load (cells on individual buildings), etc. Your post comment that seems to imply achieving grid parity with solar cells is the same as building a baseload plant is somewhat misleading, in my opinion. Solar cells work in daytime only, just as wind turbines only work in windy conditions. So on hot, windless summer nights (or dead air cold ones), the only alternatives to baseload for someone counting on their distributed generator is to have a very large set of batteries, and hope they can recharge the next day. Otherwise, there is a continued need for baseload units - and many of the units we have now are getting old and need to be replaced. I'm also wondering a bit about materials costs and toxic remnants from the manufacturing process for solar cells if this is ramped up significantly, but that is beyond the scope of your report. All that being said, anything that can reduce reliance on baseload, even intermittently, is something that needs to be looked at closely. (That's as long as the consumer understands this doesn't mean you can always count on the intermittent sources.) James Aach Author - "Rad Decision: A Nuclear Power Novel". The first entertaining insider look at the real world of electric power generation and nuclear energy. http://RadDecision.blogspot.com You answered a number of questions in your article that your post left me wondering – we’re talking about distributed load (cells on individual buildings), etc. Your post comment that seems to imply achieving grid parity with solar cells is the same as building a baseload plant is somewhat misleading, in my opinion. Solar cells work in daytime only, just as wind turbines only work in windy conditions. So on hot, windless summer nights (or dead air cold ones), the only alternatives to baseload for someone counting on their distributed generator is to have a very large set of batteries, and hope they can recharge the next day. Otherwise, there is a continued need for baseload units – and many of the units we have now are getting old and need to be replaced. I’m also wondering a bit about materials costs and toxic remnants from the manufacturing process for solar cells if this is ramped up significantly, but that is beyond the scope of your report.

All that being said, anything that can reduce reliance on baseload, even intermittently, is something that needs to be looked at closely. (That’s as long as the consumer understands this doesn’t mean you can always count on the intermittent sources.)

James Aach

Author – “Rad Decision: A Nuclear Power Novel”. The first entertaining insider look at the real world of electric power generation and nuclear energy. http://RadDecision.blogspot.com

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