[ExI] pentagon wants orbiting solar power stations

[Spike]

> bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of BillK
...
> 
> But the study from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors shows
> that some of the measures, such as solar panels to heat water, would
> cost £5,000 to install but reduce average bills by only £24 a year and
> would take about 208 years to pay back.... BillK


Bill, once interest is taken into account, this is a dead loss, no payback
in 200 years or ever.  There are conservation measures which have a payback
in excess of current interest rates, such as installation of solar water
heating and in some cases PV panels.

It is actually a threat to renewable energy sources when investments are
made which fail to return at least the prime lending rate.  We had that
situation in the states back in the 70s and early 80s when some state
governments subsidized solar collectors, most of which were quietly removed
after some time.

spike