Texas gets "Polution Free" energy

Originally posted by shbaz
Current photovoltaic cells can be up to 14% efficient, actually..

14 percent what are those monocrystalline silicon NASA ones or something I build solar powered robots and dont get close to that level but then again I dont spend a few hundered bucks on a single cell either.

Originally posted by Byrd
Nice to see that we're getting it here in Texas!

We're lagging behind other states in this.

You should see the wind farm on I-20 near Sweetwater. Nothing like some in California, but there has to be 100 of these giant things. There are also some more near Big Spring.

Originally posted by ShadowXIX

Originally posted by shbaz
Current photovoltaic cells can be up to 14% efficient, actually..

14 percent what are those monocrystalline silicon NASA ones or something I build solar powered robots and dont get close to that level but then again I dont spend a few hundered bucks on a single cell either.

No, 14-15% are the immodestly priced but relatively common ones. Much more efficent cells have been developed, but aren't available to the public. You posted:

Solar power has lots of potential dont count it out yet. The sun beats down with about 1000 watts per sq meter- immense amounts of power. But our current solar cells are only capable of turning about 3.4 percent of this of this energy into usable power, the rest is turned into heat.

If I was shooting to mislead with tech that is available but not developed, I would have made some extraordinary claim like 40%, as that is what we're moving toward. You made it seem like 3.4% was all that had been achieved, which is wholly incorrect unless it's 1940 again. If you're referring to the price then it might help to actually refer to the price, because otherwise you're just feeding on ignorance.

Scientists achieve 32% efficiency with PV cells
Scientists discover that PV cells may utilize full spectrum of light

I was talking about the average cells we use every day in say a calculator or any other object normal people use. I should have pointed that out but price is a important factor.

If these super cells cost a few hundred a piece only NASA is going to use them and they dont really matter much to the public. They have those solar car racers and the cells cost like a $100,000-250,000 to power a single car many teams have a adopt a cell program to even afford to race now.