Do you think we could power a lot of things off solar energy? Why is this not mainstream by now? I know we could or already have the capability of powering electricity with solar power. The sun has enough power to get a lot done in just one day, forgot the stat... Anyway, do you think this is some kind of government prevention of some kind? Maybe the amount of money we make off of electricity, gas, etc.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0...

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/09/calif... jcms 57% 4 Votes 14% 1 Vote

You should ask the multi billion dollar petro-chemical companies that questions. They%26#039;re the one%26#039;s holding the patients for many viable alternative energy sources. Sure they%26#039;re looking after their best interests ,Not ours... 0% 0 Votes

The main reason it is not widespread yet is because of the cost of manufacturing large scale systems. Super-pure silicon and other components are just starting to be manufactured at a reasonable price. 0% 0 Votes

I feel you are closer to the truth than we realise. Same with the cost of petrol and cheaper/cleaner alternatives. 0% 0 Votes

The reason that ground based solar power and wind power aren%26#039;t worth bothering with if you want to stop global warming is because they need large scale energy storage technology we just don%26#039;t have to be able to actually take over from fossil fuels. That%26#039;s the main reason and it is a technical reason, not a political one (some people might consider the undesirability of rolling blackouts a political factor that hurts solar and wind).

If you don%26#039;t have large scale energy storage then to be able to rely on solar and wind you have to provide some form of backup power which is usually fossil fuel which means that all you do if you use wind and solar is to reduce the use of fossil fuels, not eliminate the use of them which is what we need to do.

Until we solve the problem of large scale energy storage (and there are no guarantees as to when or even if we%26#039;ll solve it so we can%26#039;t depend on doing so) wind and solar are just distractions from nuclear power which can completely replace fossil fuels for electricity production.

Space solar power doesn%26#039;t have the reliability problems but it does have the problem of us lacking the infrastructure to actually do it, we might be able to develop it given a few decades but that%26#039;s by no means guaranteed, neither are the favourable economic estimates for space solar built from space materials.

Pretty much the only country that has carbon neutral electricity is France which uses mostly nuclear power while Germany which is building wind and solar is also building a lot of new coal because wind and solar aren%26#039;t up to the job of supplying the power they need (of course if they weren%26#039;t shutting down nuclear power plants they wouldn%26#039;t need those extra coal power plants).

Solar also despite what some people may think not provide power when people need it the most (i.e. winter). In per capita energy usage the top 5 is made up for four Scandinavian countries and Canada which are not exactly places where solar works best. 14% 1 Vote