[ExI] Solar power makes UK people poorer

[Eugen Leitl]

On Wed, Jun 08, 2011 at 03:11:00PM +0100, BillK wrote:

> (Remember, the UK doesn't get very much sun, compared with countries
> nearer the equator).

There's only a factor of two between e.g. U.K. and 
Northern Africa

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/EU-Glob_opta_presentation.png

In practice PV efficiency falls with higher operation
temperature, you need to factor in transport losses and
investment in infrastructure plus setting yourself up
for extortion by producer countries and presenting
convenient single points of failure for HVDC/hydrogen pipeline
attacks.

In practice, UK has great potential for wind, tidal, and some
solar, at least in the south.

> So it looks as though the UK needs the costs of solar power
> installations to drop to about 20% of current prices.

Current prices are a function of availability. People might
find that a demand gap in nonrenewable will bring the residential
crossover a lot sooner than they anticipated. And if the grid
turns into a yoyo, you might find that relying on your own
power is adding value -- nevermind if you're not on the grid
at all.

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
______________________________________________________________
ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org
8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A  7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE