[ExI] Inkjet printing could change the face of solar energy industry

[Kelly Anderson]

I'll attempt one reply to the whole thread...

I believe Eugen said that inverters were getting cheaper. I haven't
seen it, but I haven't done a lot of inverter shopping lately. Are
they going down in price linearly because they are built in larger
numbers and in China, or are they following a power curve downward in
price. I suspect linear price decreases, and there is a bottom for
that.

As to DC appliances, I like the USB3 idea. How much power can a USB3 provide?

I can't even buy a decent sized propane refrigerator. A half sized
fridge is twice what my Sears fridge costs. And that is proven
technology.

While converting all appliances to DC is theoretically possible, I
think it would be on the same order of difficulty as converting all
cars to run on hydrogen.

The advantage of A/C is that when you have extra, you can move it
large distances. DC doesn't do that very well. So at some point, you
have to convert back and forth. This is the job of inverters. Having
too many inverters in the overall system means a lack of efficiency
because you lose a percentage of your power every time you go back and
forth.

Even living on solar, I have yet to find a DC appliance that I want.

As was stated elsewhere, you have to start from where we are. We have
a building sized battery here in Utah. I like the economy of scale
that you get with such devices. Tie it to a field of solar panels, and
feed the grid. That's nanosolar's view of the future, and I think they
are right. Scale, but not HUGE scale. We don't need Hoover dam sized
solar fields. Just neighborhood sized...

-Kelly