A very rosy picture is painted for the solar industry in this article in Red Herring. A good read. Some short excerpts:
During the last year, solar power got more buzz with each oil and natural gas spike ... Some solar stocks doubled in just the last three months ... The worldwide solar market grew from $8.3 billion in 2004 to more than $12 billion in 2005 ... expects the market to top $16 billion this year and $40 billion in 2010 ... That still leaves a peanut-sized industry compared to fossil fuel—a trillion-dollar-plus market ... It’s not a matter of if solar will play a big part in electricity generation, but when. ... That’s one reason why plenty of venture capitalists are happy to bet on these companies. Energy is one of the greatest problems facing the world ... Peak times, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., roughly correspond to when the sun shines. In some parts of California, solar prices now match peak power prices, even when incentives are excluded.
Technorati tags: solar, solar power, energy, technology
The Energy Blog: Solar Energy’s Bright Future
On a parallel Earth, the dominant form of electricity generation is solar, due in part to the influence of Ra (the holy land is in Egypt). The weather determines daily life e.g. on sunny days they make aluminium, while on cloudy days, they play sport and drink beer (saving on sunscreen). On the summer solstice long weekend, they hold the annual EV challenge race around Mt Panorama; Dorf has just beaten Olden with an impressive 51% efficient PV battery booster.
One day, a visionary, let's call him Albert Flannery, reveals that their planet is cooling! With less sunlight reaching the ground below the solar collectors, the global mean temperature has fallen an entire degree. If they don't act, the croplands will turn to permafrost and the people will starve.
Albert has a radical plan, they should mine coal and burn it to produce electricity. Naturally, the people are sceptical, nobody has ever worked in an underground mine before (Ra forbids it!). And what of this crazy steam turbine concept, all those blades spinning at preposterous speeds, it could never work. The final nail in the coffin for Al's idea, is the economics. Everyone knows that solar energy is cheap, just 13 cents for a kilowatt hour - this new fangled coal technology would cost at least three times that - the global economy might collapse.
What's my point? On our earth you can buy an entire bicycle from K-mart for $72. Walk across to Hobbyco, and a single bearing hand picked from the catalogue might cost $80. The cost of any technology has more to do with economies of scale, than properties intrinsic to the product. The technology that works, is the dominant technology, not necessarily vice versa. When people say that solar energy is not economically viable, I pray to Ra that the coal will disappear overnight – solar energy would become economical faster than you could say "pass the sunscreen". Global warming is a failure of the too-free market, not technology. Understanding this is cold comfort as we watch An Inconvenient Truth fade from the news and the public consciousness.
Posted by: 103Carlos | October 26, 2006 at 05:55 AM
Thanks for this wonderful post.
Posted by: Solar Power Installation | April 17, 2009 at 02:12 AM
tiffany & coスウォッチ グループ ジャパンはこのほど、東京?銀座のニコラス?G?ハイエック センター内に「ティファニー ウォッチ ショールーム」をオープンした。男性向けの「アトラス ジェント スクエア クロノグラフ」、女性向けの「ティファニー ジェメア」をはじめ、希少性の高いアイテムも展示、販売される。Tiffany Rings
国内初のティファニー ウォッチ専門店となる同ショールームには、新作ウォッチがいち早く店頭に並ぶだけでなく、さまざまなフェアやイベントも開催される予定となっている。時計の専門知識を持つスタッフにより、利用客の要望にもきめ細かく対応するという。ティファニー 激安
同ショールームでも販売される「アトラス ジェント スクエア クロノグラフ」は、最高のムーブメントとして広く認められるフレデリック?ピゲ製自動巻キャリバー1285を搭載。さらに頑丈な40mmのステンレス スティール ケースとスポーティなデザインにより、毅然とした男の魅力を演出している。Tiffany ネックレス
「ティファニー ジェメア」は、18カラットのホワイトゴールドで作られた樽型のケースが特徴で、たくさんのダイヤモンドを散りばめた宝飾時計に仕上がっている。ダイヤモンド1列のモデルとダイヤモンド2列のモデルのほかに、時計の表面に610個のダイヤモンド(3.12カラット)を敷き詰めたフルパヴェのモデルも用意。Tiffany locksこれらの3モデルを、直径22mm / 18mmの2パターンで展開する。ティファニー
その他、ショールームのオープンを記念し、日本初登場となる「ステートメント ウォッチ」「5thアヴェニュー ウォッチ」なども特別展示されるティファニー。
アメリカを代表する世界のプレミア?ジュエラー、ティファニーは1837年の創設以来、時を越えて多くの人々を魅了してきた。ティファニーのジュエリー、シルバー、ウォッチ、そのデザインの数々は何世代にもわたって世界中で愛され続けている。ティファニー 通販
Posted by: ティファニー 激安 | January 20, 2011 at 12:48 AM
RMT
Posted by: RMT | May 03, 2011 at 05:13 AM
生薬
Posted by: 生薬 | May 03, 2011 at 05:22 AM
アバクロ
Posted by: アバクロ | May 03, 2011 at 05:29 AM