Solar Energy!

[Michael Alexander]

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia plans to build the world's largest solar power station with an output of 1000 megawatts in a A$1.4 billion (US$1.05 billion) investment, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Sunday.

The plant would have three times the generating capacity of the current biggest solar-powered electricity plant, which is in California, Rudd said during a tour of a power station.

Tender details will be announced later in the year, and successful bidders will be named in the first half of 2010. Rudd said the project was aimed at exploiting the country's ample sunshine, which he called "Australia's biggest natural resource."

It was also aimed at helping the country become a leader in renewable, clean energy, he said.

"The government plans to invest with industry in the biggest solar generation plant in the world, three times the size of the world's current biggest, which is in California," Rudd said.

"Why are we doing this? We are doing it in order to support a clean energy future for Australia, we're doing it to boost economic activity now and we're doing it also to provide jobs and much needed opportunities for business as well."

The project should eventually lead to a network of solar-powered stations across the country, Rudd said, with locations chosen to fit in with the existing electricity grid and ensure good access to sunshine.

"We don't want to be clean energy followers worldwide, we want to be clean energy leaders worldwide." Rudd said.

The A$1.4 billion dedicated to this project was part of a wider A$4.65 clean energy initiative by the government, he said.

Rudd also said Australia would become a full member of the International Renewable Energy Agency, which will have its first global meeting in June.

I like this and have always said that Namibia could derive all it's power from Solar, we have some of the best sunshine in the world..... Now the proposed Kudu gas power station for Oranjemund would have generated 800MW , the Australian project above generates 1000MW at a quarter of the setup cost.......

Amazed that some Namibian Politician has not grasped this yet.....

[Mike Stenson (RIP)]

Wonder where they going to get power at night.......

[Michael Alexander]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-to-use-solar-energy-at-night

[Bertie Horak]

Good idea. And as far as I know the running costs after installation is much less than other types of power plants.  Australians beating us to the line.... again.
True Mike - so much sun there in the Namib - un-tapped, and using it doesn't leave a gap in the natural world, or has any harmful by-products. 

[toonfandangl]

Michael
As well as Solar power station we also have rebates in place for solar hot water systems they are $1600 per house hold.

You can also go fully solar in your house and the rebate there is $8000 that's with the $1600 hot water system.

So if you have some money to spare !!!! in a shoe box or under the bed get it into Solar Energy stocks

[SandyB]

So  far  the quickest and easiest   and cost effective currently .. the solar   geyser  .  + - 25 % off  household electricity usage  ..  now imagine all households  having them ??  major saving and load off the  national power grid .... I mentioned on my  one trip to gauteng recently .. saw all these new housing developments ..  so many   no gutters  for  rainwater harvesting  ( water a scarcer commodity there ) .. and yes  plenty of  swimming pool  solar panels in eveidence.. but no  panels for solar geysers  and they even in winter enjoy far more sunshine than in the cape ) ..  they were supposed to bring in legislation  to enforce fitting of solar geysers to all new housing .. ??
me got  grey water  recycling .. rainwater harvesting  , solar  geyser  and  CFL  warm white for all  side
(mood )lamps,  garden lamps ..    dimmable  not  yet but yes  they coming soon ...

[SandyB]

Stenny .. there are many varieties of solar power  units  ..  the photovoltiac system ..  sun power converted into  electricity   stored in batteries then converted to clean AC ,,,  so at night  yes theoretically  with a bit of backup from  normal  coal  or gas power the night can be taken care of ...  problem  photocells still not  that efficient , although technology is improving in leaps and bounds ,,  another system  uses  focused mirrors  to  boil water  creating steam to drive turbines ...  another interesting system  I read on .. geothermal  heat .. ie :  hot water from  groundsource .. they then have a closed loop  system  using   refrigirant gas  which has a lower boiling point   to drive turbines .. that could also successfully be applied to the  focused mirror system ...  prob with all the renewable systems they are dependent on  what could be  irregular .. sunlight .. wind ... etc .. the  answer is  storage  via batteries  and supercapacitors .. ... and yes from each individual  to look for ways to save ..  watch the space on LED's .. currently horrible blue light ... but as CFL's have progressed  so will they .. no loss  of energy due to heat .. only  closest  to 99 % light output ...

[georgswa (Georg Ruf) (RIP)]

Intereating discussion

Australia was the first to ban incadecent Light bulbs. We have also started....
That is for PWR sawing

All that wind and sun enrgy only works when wind and sun is available, to overcome those windless and sunless times, the power that is generated in surplus, drives water pumps and pump the water up to a Bassin. Later that water drives turbines in the valley, a long time used system, but you need hills to do that

[SandyB]

Interesting indeed .. I have a friend  who is  continiously experimenting with  solar heating  . storage of the energy  and  using it for later .. . and has now moved to creating his own  wind power system .. he's a tinkerer ..  dyslexic but highly  curious  ,, who knows he might in his own way stumble upon a  fantastic system .  I love listening to him as he rattles away about his latest experiments  his  eyes  glint when he  does ..

[Alfred Boehme]

Michael
As well as Solar power station we also have rebates in place for solar hot water systems they are $1600 per house hold.

You can also go fully solar in your house and the rebate there is $8000 that's with the $1600 hot water system.

So if you have some money to spare !!!! in a shoe box or under the bed get it into Solar Energy stocks

A retired Oranjemunder has installed a 6kVA solar, battery, inverter, wind generator system at his farm he says he has power 24/7 this is the way to go.

[Michael Alexander]

I assume, Mr Shonborne?

[toonfandangl]

With renewable energy the world is at the front door again.

Just like the back end of the 19th century beginning of the 20th Nikola Tesla who worked for
Edison ( and was cheated by him) created AC from DC electrical generators.

Today we use electricity without a second thought of how it is produced, but in the last 20 30 years
problems have started to rear there ugly heads.

Global warming, Climate change, Green house gasses Co2 to mention a few.

The renewable energy debate is on Solar, Wind and even Wave generating electricity

In 1989 two Electrochemists Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann said they had produced

COLD FUSION   a process of producing nuclear fusion which would in turn give us an abundant
source of cheap energy.

I won't go into the last twenty years of their experiments being debunked by the so called experts
who incidentally worked for the major power suppliers.

American 60 minuets revisited a sceptic of Pons and Fleischmann and he admits to there being
something to this research, in fact the DOE is spending a few dollars on the project

Unlike Nuclear reactors, that use uranium enriched fuel rods which when spent still have a dangerous
effect on all life for 20,000 years.

Cold fusion uses materials like PALLADIUM, SEA WATER and Electricity, the Israeli's have a research
center called Energetics Technologies, now I believe the Israeli's are smart cookies and would not be wasting time and money.

Solar power is still on the table, while the sun shines we have a free source of energy (that estimated for the next 5 million years)
when it stops we better not be here........................... rooster

[Michael Alexander]

I heard the story about the sea water... most interesting, somewhere in this forum , way back I covered a movie I had watched, I think it was called, tthe death of the electric car...... if you can find it, watch it..... the BIG 3 Yankee car manufacturers knew about this, helped develop the car and then when they realised how well the car performed, they took the cars away from people... this was back in the late 80's.... Now at least those big three are busy screwing themselves with their gas guzzlers.....


heres the imdb link for the movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489037/

[georgswa (Georg Ruf) (RIP)]

Power Generation is active in France with tidal movements in the Bretagne

Between St Malo and Dinar, it is more experimental.

Planned is to built another one at Mont St Michele in the Normandie.

This area has a extrem tide difference unlike the coast in Oranjemund

Here a film to see the Low tide on that coast http://www.livevideo.com/video/Georgswa/EC668000A6EB4394A7B1206ADD9D0587/cancale.aspx

[Bertie Horak]

There are many other cheap energy sources, kept secret by the big guns.  One of them I saw in motion - my one patient, a civil engineer (his 2 sons both chemical engineers), showed me in a simple kitchen experiment, how he produced "Brown's gas" in a 2 liter bottle and using braai tongs as electrodes, from WATER!!!  Yes, normal tap water, with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to make the water more alkaline.  The gas gave a wonderful flame for a few seconds.  Best thing - the by-product when the gas is used, is a few drops of WATER!  And, very safe - when ignited, it "implodes", in stead of "explodes".
Needs some looking in to, I would say?