Icarus did pretty good until he flew too close to the sun... On Thu, Jun 18, 2015 at 2:10 PM, G Mann via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote:
> Attaboy! > > Well said, and thank you. > > That is the exact point I was attempting to drive to in terms of practical > use application. > > Solar just isn't there, yet. If it ever will be remains to be developed at > some point in the future. If you live in one of the sunshine states, it is > costly, but practical, to cover the roof with solar panels into a grid tie > system. If you live in one of the "perpetual winter" states .. unlikely. > > Solandra failed for good cause. Once the government tete dried up, the > corporate greed of management vaporized, the lack of substance became > visible... and it crashed. > > Repeat as necessary until there are no more public funds available. > > On Thu, Jun 18, 2015 at 5:15 AM, Meade Dillon via Mercedes < > mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > > The key point that I am trying to drive home is the limit on the amount > of > > solar power available. This is a hard limit: ~1000 watts/square meter is > > the peak under ideal conditions. A more usable number is 200 watts > during > > daytime, which takes into account average cloud cover and reduced energy > > reaching ground when the sun is low in the sky. > > > > By comparison, 1 gallon of diesel has the potential energy of 130,000 > > BTU's. 200 watts of solar power is the equivalent of about 3400 BTU's / > > hour. That ~40 order of magnatude difference is why we drive cars and > > trucks with internal combustion engines and why we don't have solar cars > > (or airplanes) that can do useful things. Diesel has ~40 times more > energy > > density than solar power, comparing one gallon of diesel to one square > > meter of solar energy. > > > > ------------- > > Max > > Charleston SC > > > > On Thu, Jun 18, 2015 at 2:11 AM, fmiser via Mercedes < > > mercedes@okiebenz.com> > > wrote: > > > > > As > > > pointed out, even 100% efficiency from the panels would not > > > be enough to sustain flight except at high noon in the > > > tropics on a sunny day. > > > > > > > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
