Scottmkiv Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 The Obama administration just announced that it has guaranteed 3/4 of a billion dollars for a new Solar Power Plant to be constructed by a company called Solar Reserve.These funds are going to be spent producing a massive solar project in the desert of Nevada.When completed, the 2,950 acre plant is projected to output 100MW of power under optimal conditions.Needless to say, this isn't a project that would have happened without government intervention.Solar Reserve needed Federal loan guarantees, because private investors wouldn't have lent money under such favorable terms otherwise. In addition, the company acknowledges that the plant is needed due to a government mandate. Nevada law mandates that 15% of it's power must be produced from renewable sources.Green Power Fantasy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaalChatzaf Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 The Obama administration just announced that it has guaranteed 3/4 of a billion dollars for a new Solar Power Plant to be constructed by a company called Solar Reserve.These funds are going to be spent producing a massive solar project in the desert of Nevada.When completed, the 2,950 acre plant is projected to output 100MW of power under optimal conditions.Needless to say, this isn't a project that would have happened without government intervention.Solar Reserve needed Federal loan guarantees, because private investors wouldn't have lent money under such favorable terms otherwise. In addition, the company acknowledges that the plant is needed due to a government mandate. Nevada law mandates that 15% of it's power must be produced from renewable sources.Green Power FantasyWell named; Green Power Fantasy. The obvious next step for additional energy to make electricity is fission generation.No CO2. No dirt. And using the latest generation of breeder reactors will do away with most of the fuel disposal problem.Ba'al Chatzaf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hansen Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Solar will never be a viable source of power in the traditional "power plant" way. The only way solar will ever cut into usage of traditional energy sources is by people putting it on their houses, buildings, etc. From what I can tell that appears to be a good investment. Plus if you're a "financial apocalypse is coming" kind of person it would be nice to not depend upon a power company or diesel generator for electricity.Good article. Numbers always make things clearer.Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Renzulli Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Being that I live in a state where it is predominately sunny (Arizona), it just so happens that the issue of solar power came up on a local TV's station's news program when Obama was pushing his green energy programs. I believe that the reporter stated that the average time it would take for solar energy to pay for itself if you rigged your home with it was about 10 years.Solar will never be a viable source of power in the traditional "power plant" way. The only way solar will ever cut into usage of traditional energy sources is by people putting it on their houses, buildings, etc. From what I can tell that appears to be a good investment. Plus if you're a "financial apocalypse is coming" kind of person it would be nice to not depend upon a power company or diesel generator for electricity.Good article. Numbers always make things clearer.Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottmkiv Posted May 26, 2011 Author Share Posted May 26, 2011 Being that I live in a state where it is predominately sunny (Arizona), it just so happens that the issue of solar power came up on a local TV's station's news program when Obama was pushing his green energy programs. I believe that the reporter stated that the average time it would take for solar energy to pay for itself if you rigged your home with it was about 10 years.There's no way the payback is really 10 years, not even counting government subsidies. They always forget to add in the opportunity cost of spending 50k+ to put solar on your house. When you compare the panels to the return you could get from putting 50k in the stock market instead, the panels never catch up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hansen Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Scottmkiv: Good point on the opportunity cost.I did some research and ran the numbers last night.With average numbers and some generous estimations, even if one pays cash for the entire installation, the capital costs of solar panel roofing would take plenty more than ten years to pay off. It appears that you can't get a solar panel that has enough of a power output to cost ratio.But if they can increase that ratio enough, I can certainly see solar panels "taking over" in a very non-traditional way. Definitely an interesting prospect.Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guyau Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Shift to photovoltaics and wholly private investment: here.Panel suppliers, winners and losers: here.Vogtle progress and (Congressional) resistance: here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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