JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Yes, I'm guessing very low, and made worse by the mostly poor angles on a car body in the case of a wrap. Hopefully I'm wrong, but if history is any indicator I'm not.
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Solar happenings
- Thread starter vfx
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JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Not holding my breath for this one, but it is solar: http://www.space.com/15189-solar-power-beaming-satellite.html
A couple of those in orbit would mean the end of earth-based astronomy.
Thankfully such things are probably completely impractical.
That's a little overstated, Brian -- NYC is only about 13GW peak. Still, there are going to be much more economical solutions for renewable power than orbital solar.
Oh, well; to mis-quote MythBusters, "If a thing is worth stating, it's worth overstating!"
No, direct reflection of sunlight will be the problem. The moon has an extremely dark surface - look at the moon landing videos - yet when there's a full moon most observatories shut down for engineering work.
Should be easy enough to manage. The solar cells will face the sun, and can be angled to reflect away from the planet. The Moon's surface is simply a rough chaotic natural reflector, and bounces in all directions indiscriminately.
In any case, the collectors will be relatively tiny, nothing like the angular size of the Moon.
In any case, the collectors will be relatively tiny, nothing like the angular size of the Moon.
Yes, but a LOT closer. The ISS is already quite bright, and it's tiny in comparison to one of these things. On the night side of the planet, the collectors will be aimed at the sun, which is roughly in line with the Earth, so it will be impossible angle it away from the planet as you suggest.
By definition, the optimal angle is exactly at right angles to the incoming light. Funnily enough, this will always reflect unabsorbed light straight back to the sun! Since nothing is a perfect reflector, yes, there will be a bright spot in the sky, but not much actual light coming from it. The Iridium satellite "flares" are when the (fixed) solar panels do reflect directly down to the ground.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
It's because their rates are going up so fast that customers that can afford to do any solar are doing so!
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
You can see the numbers here by adjusting the filters: California Solar Statistics
Last year through March they received ~1500 applications.
This year through March they have redeived ~3000 applications.
The number of installs over the same period are much closer (2855 for 2011, 2699 so far for 2012), though I assume that many of the installs which have been received will show up in later months.
What the data does show is that at least in the residential sector, capacity installed over the past couple years has been surprisingly steady even as California incentives have declined. A very successful incentive program, IMO and I wish the Federal tax credit incentive were more like it.
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