[ExI] Direct solar electrolysis - decentralised fuel infrastructure, is it viable?

[BillK]

On Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 3:28 AM, Emlyn wrote:
> I'm thinking, what can small amounts of capital do here? You could set
> up a little solar farm, presumably, for thousands rather than
> millions, on cheap land (you can buy ghost towns for less than a
> modest house in the city), but then what? I get the impression it is
> expensive to be a traditional power plant; you can just pump the
> output of your small solar farm into the grid and expect that to be ok
> or make you money.
>


Solar power is on the cusp at present.

The cost of solar panels is falling and the power production from them
is increasing.
(Think Moore's Law).

The cost of electricity is rising.

The two graphs will cross very soon (if not already) and then solar
panels will become a no-brainer.
Nobody will even think of building a roof without putting solar panels
on it (or spraying solar cells on existing roofs and walls and
transparent solar cells on windows, when the technology arrives).

You won't have to speculate when that point arrives. The shops will be
full of DIY solar power kits flying off the shelves. Socialist
(horror!) governments will be giving grants to poor people to get
solar power kits installed because that will be cheaper than giving
poor people money to pay their electricity bills.

It will indeed be power at the local level.


BillK