Hank explains the power of solar energy and describes how it may fit into our diversified energy future. Follow SciShow on Twitter: / scishow Like SciShow on Facebook: / scishow
Could you please update this video if there are any new scientific breakthroughs in Energy production?
@Matticus_VT
8 жыл бұрын
um
@russiankid112233
6 жыл бұрын
2.4 cents / kw hour in Dubai..
@ZeroKelvin
10 жыл бұрын
I'd be really interested to see how these values have changed with recent technologies? Would love a follow-up video!
@chrisboucher1987
4 жыл бұрын
Agreed!
@jnoland13
3 жыл бұрын
They have!
@shepherdstone1801
Жыл бұрын
@@jnoland13 yes definitely now
@PeytoBismol
10 ай бұрын
@juiccybazeresidential solar
@nickparkin8527
8 жыл бұрын
i actually do work for a solar energy installation business and the price of solar has actually dropped 70% in the last 5 years, and each panel (roughly 3 feet by 5 feet) produces 285 watts, and the system pays itself off in about 4-6 years, and they last for more than 25 years.
@0011peace
8 жыл бұрын
120 at 100 amps is 12kW at 300 watts that per panel that is 40 panel at $10000 per panel that is $400,000. I know few people who spend $70,000 per year for electric try more like 60 years
@nickparkin8527
8 жыл бұрын
0011peace Your numbers make no sense.
@0011peace
8 жыл бұрын
nick parkin The avg US house hold has 110/120 voltage @ 100 amp service To go off grid you solar panels must be 110/120 @ 100 AMP The formula for is P = V * I(current use I in electricity) V = 120 I = 100 So P = 12kw The solar panels produce slightly less than 300w each per your statement so I round to 300w. 12000/300 = 40 panels. If you have better Idea of the price per panel multiply it times 40 for the price of the panels That doesn't include any other equipment need or installation charges. I was told that solar panels were 10000 each. For your figure to work they would have to be less than $1000 each. If you figure the house avg of 4 people that is 80, million homes and that is only residential service. with as few as 20 nuclear plants and 30 for redundancy and growth you could power the entire USA. And be much cheaper. France which is 80% nuclear has the lowest cost of metered electric. The only green house gas that nuclear plants produce is water in the form of steam. Again,France leads the way for rod usage and disposal. The new plants in France us fuel rod recycling allowing the rod to be used longer and when spent only be half as radioactive as the uranium mined. This means the spent rods could be placed at the same level as the uranium is mined without any lining and be less dangerous than the unexposed uranium. Nuclear is the power source of the immediate future. Not, solar or wind.
@karleisenhauer8159
8 жыл бұрын
nick parkin I'm one of the annoying bastards that cold calls about solar panels and what you said is just sales patter that we use to get a lead
@nickparkin8527
8 жыл бұрын
Karl Eisenhauer But what were saying is also the facts
@claudiajade624
9 жыл бұрын
I think you guys should make an updated Solar video! :)
@jensonee
2 жыл бұрын
just ten years ago. things have changed.
@moulacat
10 жыл бұрын
It looks like Hank is really struggling to talk slowly :p it's okay hank one of the many reasons we love you is your "bolt" speed speech!
@stephennielsen8722
8 жыл бұрын
Solar has changed A LOT since January 2012
@DustWolphy
6 жыл бұрын
or maybe just the advertising and subsidies for it have changed
@Apjooz
6 жыл бұрын
Or maybe not. Much of the cost decrease is explained by the learning curve. Look it up.
@loonloon9365
6 жыл бұрын
Not really. Solar energy is quickly becoming the most cost effective energy source on the planet. There are solar panels on the market that already reach peak efficiency of the best coal/natural gas plants.
@svedrics
5 жыл бұрын
True
@KY_CPA
4 жыл бұрын
@Jesus Christ Back in 2017, the coal museum in KY has switched to solar power citing the reason as it's cheaper. So yes, it is absolutely realistically viable now
@Inductable
9 жыл бұрын
Slightly stoned Hank?
@Volunteer-per-order_OSullivan
9 жыл бұрын
+MrChosenone34 tru dat
@BruceVial
6 жыл бұрын
Inductable was going say something similar
@pedroscoponi4905
4 жыл бұрын
...Huh, I was guessing just tired
@Prizzlesticks
9 жыл бұрын
I just don't understand why organizations can't get tax breaks for helping fund this, or why the government can't give out grants to offset the costs. Doesn't the long term benefit and green energy matter more than green paper in the long run? My bank account is always running on empty, and I get people don't want to work for free to build and operate these plants, and that people on budgets don't want to pay more for the 'same' service they have now... But I also understand that living impulsively and easily in the now will put you at dire straights later, often with no feasible fix in sight. Energy is something we DO have. Money is ultimately just a concept, and I have a hard time understanding why people can't cooperate and waive fees in this instance for the greater good.
@mordirit8727
9 жыл бұрын
Pearl Carol "long term benefit" aren't words politicians can comprehend; they usually are capable of thinking only between the now and the next election term.
@gyrrgibbs9473
8 жыл бұрын
+Pearl Carol such innocence
@ragnaroksora8129
7 жыл бұрын
because money. image the oil and gas companies be like "yeah and it puts us out of business, let me throw in millions of dollars in investment"
@ismaelamado3700
6 жыл бұрын
Hank!!! Great video bro! Can you update it with current breakthroughs and potential cost-saving technologies that have been introduced in the last 6 years? Awesome stuff.
@williamansfield
8 жыл бұрын
Be great to see an update of this!
@Mahesh_Shenoy
8 жыл бұрын
I think, what he meant @1:56 is the discovery of photovoltaic effect, and not photoelectric effect. The two are different (are related, but different phenomenon) The photo electric effect was discovered by Hertz
@joheyjonsson2825
10 жыл бұрын
I know this video is two years old, but I just wanted to add that my uncle, who lives in the middle of Sweden, installed solar panes a couple of years ago, and he cut his electricity costs by 1/4. Note that he lives in a valley, in an area of the world that gets about 1500 hours of sun per year. I don't know what kind of panels he uses, but if a person living in this part of the world can cut his costs by that much, an area with a lot more hours of sun per year should be able to get more power per dollar.
@Aeturnalis
4 жыл бұрын
I have PV cells on my roof and almost never have to use the city powergrid. Every so often, we'll have a particularly cloudy couple of days or like a week of rain and I'll end up pulling a little power, but it's pretty rare. Of course, I don't live in a valley or anything either. I think in the last 6 years, I've had a monthly electricity bill about 5 times.
@mordant221
10 жыл бұрын
You should address Nuclear Fusion, what powers the Sun itself. Specifically ITER.
@ImStillTheBeaver
9 жыл бұрын
Yes but that is very radioactive and highly unstable and very dangerous
@Eldorado1239
9 жыл бұрын
ASmallGamer In fact, it's the complete opposite of what you say - it is not radioactive, it is stable and also very safe. Another reason Hank REALLY should make an episode about ITER and fusion.
@mordant221
9 жыл бұрын
ASmallGamer Like eldorado said, it's not what you think it is. Nuclear Fusion is not the same as Nuclear Fission, do your research and you'll understand. Unfortunately it's extremely complicated and we are, at a minimum, 50yrs away from harnesing such an energy source. If we ever do though, it will advance humanity more than oil and coal ever can.
@nickhuang5630
9 жыл бұрын
Mordant Victor Quick question though. Since we're focusing on tritium-deuterium fusion, the reaction would spit out an excess neutron, wouldn't the neutron getting captured by another atom render the recipient atom radioactive?
@Eldorado1239
9 жыл бұрын
Nick Huang That's where Lithium plating around the core comes into play. Neutrons that escape generate Tritium upon reacting, which is then returned into the fuel mixture. "Beta particles from tritium can penetrate only about 6.0 mm of air, and they are incapable of passing through the dead outermost layer of human skin.", more on Tritium here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium And this is also very informative: www.iter.org/sci/fusionfuels
@PrincessTS01
9 жыл бұрын
if the entire Sahara desert was turned into a gigantic solar station it could power the world
@retoblubber
9 жыл бұрын
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fullneed.jpg
@ragnaroksora8129
7 жыл бұрын
lol so true
@HeadsetGuy
3 жыл бұрын
True story: I showed this video to my high school Science teacher when it was first released, and he played it for the class because he thought it was so good, and covered all the bases he wanted to talk about. Come 2020, Illinois (my home state) has _at least_ three solar energy providers, all of whom are partnering with the major provider ComEd, and one of whom is owned by ComEd's parent company, Exelon.
@eemilsulva5423
9 жыл бұрын
Awesome video, but I fear it may nowadays be obsolete in some areas. For instance with recent innovations such as the Tesla Powerwall and advances in solar energy generation in general, solar power is in fact cheaper than fossil fuels. That being said, it seems the transition from fossil fuels to 100% clean and renewable energy sources, while being critical to the well-being of the biosphere and the survival of mankind, is greatly slowed down by a cumbersome and inefficient economic and political system which seems to do little else but cater to the vested interest of the owners of the current establishments, which to a great extent rely on the use of fossil fuels and our outdated global infrastructure for making profit. Frankly, at a time when we are seeing explosive growth in the rate at which science and technology advances and have more scientists alive than at any other moment in history, I find it sad and perplexing that we still use opinion-based systems of decision making on national and international levels and a money-based economy for the distribution of resources, while the currencies we use to measure 'value' are not based on any resource, or anything measurable whatsoever. Surely, this is holding us back as a society and it is certainly not a way to build a peaceful and sustainable civilization on a global scale. So far I know of no other solutions to the problems we face together as a species and as a planet, than a global resource-based economy, as presented by Jacque Fresco and The Venus Project. That's all. DFTBA fellow earthlings!
@mariliaspdm
5 жыл бұрын
Eemil Sulva Why take 4 years of Political Science or Sociology or Economics if one can just read your brilliant comment? Thank you for that, I'm amazed how you just summarized and explained the whole world's current political/economical situation (plus toning in a very adequate and reasonable ideological position). I wish you could have chatted with Marx as he wrote the heavy reading Das Kapital is, maybe it would have come out a little more straightforward...
@Pooua
11 жыл бұрын
It would be nice if we could genetically modify a plant to increase its solar efficiency. Then, we could grow fields of solar collectors, massively increasing the amount of solar power we collect. Although we could collect this energy in the form of various organic molecules, it is also possible to use plant cells to set up a voltaic potential. We could get electricity directly from plants. That is the basis of biological fuel cells.
@Sagitarria
11 жыл бұрын
plants already ARE at the peak efficiency. Evolution has already maximized power, which is more important then efficiency
@Pooua
11 жыл бұрын
jordan fink I seriously don't think so. For one thing, plants absorb only 2 wavelengths, and it's at the low end of the spectrum.
@Sagitarria
11 жыл бұрын
Richard Alexander For this conversation i need to understand that you understand the difference between efficiency and maximum power.
@Pooua
11 жыл бұрын
jordan fink Efficiency is energy out versus energy in, while power is energy per unit of time.
@Sagitarria
11 жыл бұрын
Richard Alexander exactly. So when you are talking about work for storage of one kind of energy into another, the maximum power occurs at 50% efficiency.
@aapjew18
8 жыл бұрын
So. It's been four and a half years. What progress has solar power made now?
@davidedwards1953
8 жыл бұрын
its now 75 percents cheaper with about 20 % MORE efficiency .
@aapjew18
8 жыл бұрын
David Edwards Cool!
@EvilSl0th
11 жыл бұрын
wow, its impressive how the show has evolved over the past year. better lighting, graphics and hank is now a lot more comfortable and expressive in the more current videos. i love sci show... i want a sci show coffee mug...
@nicholaschryssafis5797
9 жыл бұрын
Hank is doped
@loelipop98
8 жыл бұрын
What about wind energy at night???
@bamgscp3498
8 жыл бұрын
probably not efficient enough. Wind mills don't really generate much energy.
@davidedwards1953
8 жыл бұрын
+Laura Tabea Mattern , it works perfectly but the oil oligarchs won`t let it happen.
@arooobine
9 жыл бұрын
0:30 "I would collect about 1,500 watts of solar energy." Uh, what?
@arooobine
9 жыл бұрын
***** You are correct that watts measure power, or work divided by time. Therefore it doesn't make sense to say "1500 watts per year" because watts have already been divided by time.
@alaskaflounderbasket
9 жыл бұрын
Benjamin Hershey I stopped watching the video and clicked thumbs down as soon as I heard him say that
@skyloftian8241
9 жыл бұрын
Benjamin Hershey The solar constant is approximately 1,360 watts per square meter. It varies with the Earth's orbit so the aforementioned number is for 1 AU and it is slightly affected by the solar cycle. The vast majority of the solar emissions are in the visible and infrared bands. However satellite measurements exaggerate this figure because they do not take into account the fraction of this energy that is absorbed or reflected by the Earth's atmosphere and weather before we can harvest it. If the Sun isn't directly overhead then the amount of energy received can be further reduced. On average only 680 watts per square meter hits the top of the atmosphere. -sources www.ips.gov.au/Category/Educational/The%20Sun%20and%20Solar%20Activity/General%20Info/Solar_Constant.pdf earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/EnergyBalance/page2.php P.S. maybe the "year" was just a typo. (I'm surprised that nobody caught this) P.P.S. 1.5*1360*(%that gets through the atmosphere) ~ 1500. Also: This is pretty obvious but nighttime cuts everything in half :/
@alaskaflounderbasket
9 жыл бұрын
Skyloftian it's pretty obvious from the video that he thinks watts measure energy he has no idea what he's talking about
@skyloftian8241
9 жыл бұрын
Skyloftian This video was probably done semi offscript with a non-hank editor.
@rklauco
6 жыл бұрын
This deserves update :)
@dvalenca
9 жыл бұрын
Geothermal, not from the sun either...
@schpau9339
5 жыл бұрын
Well it's partial. It comes from the heat within the earth, a lot of which has been heated by the sun, but also from tidal power.
@cugzarui5568
11 жыл бұрын
to: to do something too: too much two: 2 difrent things "two" seems more logical to me becuz its the number 2
@baconofthedarkside
9 жыл бұрын
7:20 - "To drive a turban"
@jacquelineannetownsend8131
11 жыл бұрын
That's the first I knew of Cacti collecting so much energy. very informative. Thank you.
@areszippy4434
8 жыл бұрын
OUTDATED
@Bird_Dog00
8 жыл бұрын
Well duh. It's over 4 years old. In a field where a lot of R&D is happening...
@Hardzinho_yay
9 жыл бұрын
I'm not much into conspiracies but I can't help but think that the only reason companies don't invest in Solar power is that Oil and coal is still more profitable than solar power. (not coast benefit but coast profit).
@guillaumelafleche9477
9 жыл бұрын
Renato Cara Oil and gas is a merchandise that can be sold over and over. Solar is too democratic for some greedy companies. It's amazing what a difference 3 years makes in technology, because solar and wind are now on par or cheaper than electricity from gas or coal in many places. rameznaam.com/2015/08/10/how-cheap-can-solar-get-very-cheap-indeed/ I love SciShow but this one is not the best and Hank doesn't sound as expert as usual.
@roblikes8435
9 жыл бұрын
+Guillaume Laflèche Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor is the way forward to meet all the worlds energy need, it's clean and very safe power, spread the word.Look it up on youtube, search. Kirk Sorensen @ MRU on LFTR - Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors.
@roblikes8435
8 жыл бұрын
Yep i couldn't agree more, well said. Mind if i copy what you said and i post it other places ?
@jond.4968
8 жыл бұрын
Please do. :-)
@antimaster6432
8 жыл бұрын
+Guillaume Laflèche you do realise that it has been 4 years since this video was uploaded -_-
@malango255
10 жыл бұрын
he's so different in there's older videos haha.
@retoblubber
9 жыл бұрын
Always good to remember that this SciShow episode is 3 years old and things change rapidly in that field.
@thedramallama803
2 жыл бұрын
and your comment is 7 years old!
@jessicapinto3817
10 жыл бұрын
when it comes to this subject, I think words like 'economic' and 'expensive' and phrases like 'getting value for your dollar' should be left unuttered. 'Ecology' and 'environment' should be the lead points and everyone should pitch in for a better future. What good will those dollars you've saved by buying charcoal powered energy do? To buy more plastic toys? Or buy three muffins a day instead of 2? When it comes to sensitive topics like these, I think it wise to not focus so much on cash. Which for now seems to be a taboo.
@stephennielsen8722
8 жыл бұрын
This is out of date. Solar is much cheaper now. Please update and take this one down
@Sgtcanadian
8 жыл бұрын
WOW YOU MEAN THAT SCIENCE EVOLVES AND OLDER EXPLANATIONS/REALITIES ARE NO LONGER ALWAYS TRUE? NO WAY!
@stephennielsen8722
8 жыл бұрын
+SgtCanadian No, I mean if someone doesn't look at the date this was made and doesn't know about the exponential advancements in nano-materials science since this video was made, they might walk away with an uninformed view of current state of solar energy harvesting and also energy storage technologies. The point of this video is to inform people, isn't it? It would be a disservice to misinform people wouldn't it? Both solar harvesting tech and energy storage tech are both now cost effective. And though it is still early in the process, both (along with solar fuels) are on their way to becoming the dominant forms of energy on the planet. Accurate and up to date information is especially important in view of climate change. Did this explanation clear things up for you or do you need more?
@suserman7775
8 жыл бұрын
Someone reading your post may think that Solar is cheap enough now to be viable. It isn't.
@stephennielsen8722
8 жыл бұрын
Please clarify - viable as compared to the established viability of what other energy source? Oil? Coal? Gas? Nuclear? Geothermal? Hydro? Wind? Tidal?
@suserman7775
8 жыл бұрын
+Stephen Nielsen Viable compared to they typical cost of enery from a utility, which of course can use a mix of any number of the energy sources you pointed out.
@parkpatt
11 жыл бұрын
Hank you're drunk go home
@nihilistmia
11 жыл бұрын
just wanted to say great vid... really hit a lot of key points a lot of ppl don't understand
@TheFoodtubers
10 жыл бұрын
not to mention that the tunnel is bound to collapse
@icannotchoose
10 жыл бұрын
Wait! There are two ideas/solutions that I have. We can put photovoltaic cells on wind turbines. On cloudy days there's usually wind and on calm days there's usually sun. Also, we can use solar roadways. If all the roads in America were converted to solar roadways the country would produce 3x more energy than it currently uses making a huge excess to use at night.
@The_Reductionist
10 жыл бұрын
1 word... MONEY solar roadways? MONEY photoelectric cells+wind turbines? MONEY no one is willing to invest that much into something that has never been done before so it may or may not work.
@Djorgal
10 жыл бұрын
The problem is not the lack of place to put photovoltaic pannels but the cost to build them. If you build photovoltoic wind turbine that'll cost even more than building the two separetly.
@daBuzzY90
9 жыл бұрын
It's still the means of storing the energy. You can create as much excess as you want, if you can't store it, your electrical line will burn and shrivel up like throwing a fat leech on the fire. Take Germany for example. On very sunny and windy days they suffer from having too much energy and need to give it away to France/Austria/Switzerland to stop their grid from frying and collapsing. Also REM (Rare Earth Materials) and Money are two HUGE factors.
@r.b.4611
9 жыл бұрын
Boby Gandhi Solar roadways don't work for a bazillion reasons, google thunderf00t's analysis.
@eclipseslayer98
9 жыл бұрын
Drama_Llama_5000 I heard something about people making hexagonal plates that could be uses to make roads that generate electricity, light up at night, and carry wifi signals.
@WetDoggo
8 жыл бұрын
i think we shouldn´t either pay a lot of money for clean energy or a little for "dirty" energy! why don´t just unite and say, ahh no i don´t need you to pay for what i do for you/us, i just do it because it´s good ;D?
@melissateagarden731
8 жыл бұрын
+Lardah-Arms With the ever increasing costs of living and global warming, there should be better time when we stop throwing money out the window and save some by starting to generate our own electricity*. Go here ==> www.solarenergy.ml
@MAHillsgrove
8 жыл бұрын
+Lardah-Arms I'm off grid. I use solar, and I NEVER get a bill from the sun for it's wonderful bounty.
@burnpluto
8 жыл бұрын
+Lardah-Arms Energy from solar power is getting affordable for everyone. Technologies are growing, prices are going down!
@KanagaGnana
10 жыл бұрын
Very simple explanation of Solar Power.
@DissociatedWomenIncorporated
8 жыл бұрын
Great video! ...But it's pronounced "jigawatt".
@TOMRIDDLE2891
8 жыл бұрын
I don't think so www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/gigawatt
@Adjuni
8 жыл бұрын
Pixel is making fun of the Gif = Jif thing.
@Fusako8
8 жыл бұрын
No Pixel is making fun of Back to the Future.
@DissociatedWomenIncorporated
8 жыл бұрын
Anon Ymous You are the first to pick up on this, and so you win a brand new flying DeLorean :D
@krashd
8 жыл бұрын
Did he say drive a turban? Like where a Sikh keeps his sandwiches warm?
@asebaninja
8 жыл бұрын
+Rob Fraser Yes, and arabs because there's plenty of sun in the desert.
@idealist4life
8 жыл бұрын
Dude, you need to come to Dancing Rabbit Eco Village and learn more on this topic. Solar panels have come a long way. We have about 65 people in NE Missouri, (not having sun 365 days a year) and we power everything here with solar panels and wind turbines. We have our own mini grid that actually give twice what we use back to the electric company. No use of mirrors even at this time. We have high speed Internet here etc, and are not living like the Amish either.
@sophiamikell7490
8 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the info. That helped with my homework SO much! I can't tell you how much it means to have this info on hand.
@solarmelon331
7 жыл бұрын
I love this video and all your videos, SciShow! Keep up the good work!
@RobotSantaClaus
11 жыл бұрын
Yes it is! In my house in the mountains of Argentina we have a bunch of solar panels and 2 batteries that can store enough energy to power the basic utilities for 3 days, and this is a MUST b/c if you have a cloudy day and you didn't have batteries youre screwed
@crazycarrie92
9 жыл бұрын
Thank you! Now I can go to my interview with confidence in the subject. My formal college education didn't teach me this...
@samhighfield
11 жыл бұрын
Hank, you smashed it again, another awesome video!
@billswingle2672
11 жыл бұрын
Well done Hank. Good one!
@JimGattoElectrical
10 жыл бұрын
GOOD WORK SIR. THANK YOU
@DPSimpson
9 жыл бұрын
That was awesome, we just watched it, me and my Pre engineering class, it helped alot! Thank you! "Or a freakin space ship!"
@aquacactus7
10 жыл бұрын
loved it. Very Well presented.
@ihor666559
9 жыл бұрын
Very awesome video, I can't believe that world leaders are still not trying to focus on this so that it would become a energy solution for the future.
@drusle6
11 жыл бұрын
Damn you've improved your presentation skills. Well done man
@lafayettejones3327
9 жыл бұрын
These guys came a long way!
@georgeyzzz
7 жыл бұрын
Good job making this vid, helped me a lot in my research project for Geography, thank you
@richsandman1954
10 жыл бұрын
Love the presentation! Most of the major factors, easy to comprehend and compare. Minor edit at the end: CO2 isn't a pollutant, it's the Carbon-cycle requirement for life to exist, just like your example of water evaporating by the sun and returning as rain. *If we could find a way to release even 'more' CO2 - but without any of the pollutants that need to be captured like they do with coal-plant scrubbers and the new containment tech - that would actually be a GOOD thing. Plants would grow greener, faster, have bigger fruit, better grains, etc...and no, it would never cause any 'global warming' as it is absorbed by plants about as quickly as you release it, and is only a fractional percent of the warming-effect, which is mostly from water vapor. and apparently cow-farts. but that's a different farce. Only missed one perfect opportunity to point out that IF you had "1.21 GigaWatts"...and a DeLorean going 88 mph...and you mispronounce the G as a J...
@dresscherie
10 жыл бұрын
i'm confused. the process you described sounded like a self-sustaining process of transferring the free electrons between the n and p-type silicon wafers, but where does the sunlight come in? does the energy just excite those electrons to create a greater output of power? why is the n-type silicon on top?
@ellieboisen1479
Жыл бұрын
Hey Hank!! Could you make an update video comparing the old market phenomenons to the ones of 2023 ish?
@bloodonmyblade742
8 жыл бұрын
Actually n-type and p-type materials are both neutral, the p and the n relates to what we call the majority carrier, and is kind of what is moving when there is a current flow thought the material. In the n-type, the flow of electrons produces current and in the p-type, we say that there is flow of "holes", and by a hole we mean a lack of electron in a given position. You can search more about this in any material related to semiconductors.
@davidt.2726
8 жыл бұрын
Just a question: how big a field of solar panels would we need to replace ALL of the other power plants? And how much would it cost?
@Mordaxe
11 жыл бұрын
absolutely awesome video
@ginnidiaz861
5 жыл бұрын
Wow, it is 4years later and solar has improved hugely and is affordable. I have 400 watts of monocrystalline panels feeding 800 amp hours of batteries on a van! I run computers cameras, a fridge, lights...love it.
@FriendlyMarmot
8 жыл бұрын
Please update! The price/performance ratio continues to shift rapidly, it's a much different situation in 2016 than it was in 2011/2012.
@user-lv1wn5wq7n
8 жыл бұрын
+Ryan Provonsha Any links?
@davidzerbst2463
10 жыл бұрын
Hey, If you could find another colorful expletive besides 'frickin' I'd bet lots more teachers would show your clips or parts of your clips to students in classes. I love your bits! I wish I could use parts of them in my high school science classes more often. Thanks for being so frickin awesome!
@casiopea1973
11 жыл бұрын
I would like to share this video with a group of 4th graders in a recreation center with no interner connection, would it be possible to get a copy of this video? thanks
@lossen1984
2 жыл бұрын
I'd be widly interested in a follow-up video for this topic! It has been 10 years already! :DD
@gringolatino97
6 жыл бұрын
2018, although we're not as far removed from coal/natural gas and it's nice to see progress with the cost and efficiency of solar.
@The316Cheese
6 жыл бұрын
Well put.
@EIGHTMAG86
10 жыл бұрын
that was actually quite awesome thank you
@mariochan534
11 жыл бұрын
youre geat man,love your way of explaining and how you make it interesting,good graphic job too,i dig your shit!
@TheMehhhhhhhh
11 жыл бұрын
i did learn something Hank...thank you
@VincentTurner
10 жыл бұрын
I'd love to see an update to this .. given all the advancements in the last 2 years .. both in solar and also onsite power storage..
@samuelpalomera9390
10 жыл бұрын
Thank you man. I never knew about cpv and may be a solution for when my country runs out of oil.
@jonnyjob3961
10 жыл бұрын
theres always thorium reactors which is a far better option alot more efficient smaller and greener for the environment
@RobotSantaClaus
11 жыл бұрын
All that you required, they store enough energy to run the house for 3 days without either the solar panels or wind turbine producing energy However, keep in mind that we minimized the energy consumption, for example the water is heated in a "wood furnace" (I don't know the name for this in English, but it heats the water in a tank by burning wood underneath it. It's what most people in rural areas in Argentina use) and the fridge is gas-powered
@QNICORN79
9 жыл бұрын
Love your videos! Keep up the great work.
@Pikefish
11 жыл бұрын
Incidentally, there are rare examples where it has been practical to convert gravitational potential energy to electricity using a medium other than water. A base metal mine in PNG (iirc) had an aerial tramway that took ore from the mountain down to a processing plant on lower slopes, and that tramway was braked by doing electrical work, by powering part of the facility. Eventually though, you do run out of mountain to put in it at the top of the tramway, unlike water.
@JeadyVT
11 жыл бұрын
I really hope they finish a full functioning, efficient fusion reactor. That would be more amazing than photovoltaic cells and way more cost effective.
@bartz0rt928
8 жыл бұрын
It should be noted that residential PV is currently profitable for individual households (more so than putting the money in a savings account). You just need to leave the panels on your roof for long enough. Also, electricity from fossil fuels is only as cheap as it is because it is heavily subsidised both directly, and indirectly through tax and tariff exemptions. You can also argue (as the IMF does) that not internalising the long-term costs of greenhouse gas emissions is a kind of subsidy.
@InorganicVegan
11 жыл бұрын
My friend has solar power in her house, and she actually got paid when she went on vacation for awhile. Her house generated a surplus of power, so the power company actually sent her money. That's awesome!
@XenogeneGray
11 жыл бұрын
In Australia, retail electricity costs ~A$0.25/kw.hr and we have a feed in PV payment of A$0.20 per kW.hr; thus photovoltaic cells are economic for most households who must pay retail (not wholesale) prices for electricity. They are guaranteed a minimum of A$0.20 per kW.hr return on the PV energy, which given its total cost and lifetime is a much better ROI than banks or shares. Understandably this has caused our electric companies many headaches as they need to match supply with demand.
@dlwatib
10 жыл бұрын
Need to revisit the assumptions behind this video. Photovoltaics are currently competitive with other forms of power.
@kelnguyen
10 жыл бұрын
Especially with the Rawlemon Spherical solar generator. I'd like to see a video on that
@JeadyVT
11 жыл бұрын
The storage of energy by waterdams and similar constructions as the gas / pressure cave thingie are actually already being used.
@robinmackrell6220
6 жыл бұрын
n and p type silicon are neutrally charged. The n and p refer to the charge of the free charge carriers within the material. In fact, if you put n next to p, free electrons from the n type will diffuse into the p type, making a small region of the n type positively charged and a small region of the p type negatively charged.
@elliotmoore1867
9 жыл бұрын
Question: How do the n-type silicon panels replace their electrons? just absorb from the atmosphere?
@Tedikun
11 жыл бұрын
Here here! I have heard some talk of making firms pay for the cost of landfill for their products, to encourage them to either make them to start recycling programs too. If we actually figure out how to waste less/recycle more, we can reduce the energy cost of making products.
@lateefkareem
9 жыл бұрын
There is an error in the information given at the beginning. In a given amount of time, we should be talking about amount of energy not power. 1500J is the amount of energy that you receive in a second. So it doesnt need to be year before you get 1500W. every time sunlight hits a 1.5m^2 normal to the direction of light, it gets 1500W
@Breanist
9 жыл бұрын
Watts are a unit of power, aka energy/sec. So when you say 1500 W of solar energy in one year, are you saying 1500 W*s (so a 100 W light bulb could run for 15s), or are you averaging 1500 W for every second of that year (so you could run fifteen 100 W light bulbs for an entire year)?
@ZeroKage69
8 жыл бұрын
So could I put mirrors on my roof to get more out of my solar panels or would that damage them?
@massimookissed1023
8 жыл бұрын
You could, absolutely. You just need to make sure your PV panels don't overheat. Aaand the mirrors would need to track the sun.
@inklie
8 жыл бұрын
(older) solar panels have a limit of how much they can take in because of their current efficiency, you wouldn't gain or lose anything propping up mirrors on your panels (I COULD BE WRONG THOUGH, always do your research!)
@isaackarjala7916
9 жыл бұрын
Only photovoltaic is restricted to when the sun shines. Concentrated solar power is not, the heat can be stored until needed. Also can use thermal electric generators, which rely on the Seebac effect, which also can store heat and use it to generate electricity on demand.... And in many locals when it's cloudy it's also windy and wind can be used to spin up a flywheel.
@deneuxben
9 жыл бұрын
Great video, but it would deserve an update, the technology has tremendously evolved since the video was made. Solar PV is today more cost effective than traditional sources of energy (assuming you calculate real cost of nuclear energy for instance). And claiming CPV is what we have most efficient... Yeah but conversion efficiency rate is not what really counts, it has other disadvantages. Today industrials give up on CPV... The solution is in traditional photovoltaic technology where energy is produced where it is needed. (Need for smart grid!) Of course storage is an issue but currently being addressed in the industry with many innovations to come in that regard. Keep up the good work on sci show ;)
@GhostFS
9 жыл бұрын
Maybe is time to update this. 3 years the things are changed quite a lot. Here in Italy we have already hit Grid parity in some region.
@JarrodCoombes
8 жыл бұрын
I'd love to see you guys do an update on this video since I believe there have been some advances in PV since it was made.
@rubikfan1
11 жыл бұрын
1:00 nucleu energie is solar power to. the element we use for the energie was once fussed in a star (everything above iron, in a dieing star). so everything we just exept for hydrogen is solar power. (including oxigen)
@EvelynNdenial
11 жыл бұрын
this: ironic* human spellcheck: unneeded*
@rubikfan1
10 жыл бұрын
***** becouse a star and the sun is are the same thing, so some sun somewhere made it
@MJHdesproj
10 жыл бұрын
The energy however did not come from the sun, it is a natural property of matter. The element was in essence constructed in our sun, its energy however was not generated there - it exists by virtue of field interactions innate to the matter used. That's like saying that the energy in petroleum came from the refinery it self...
@MJHdesproj
10 жыл бұрын
***** Hydrogen is used in fusion friend - not uranium
@MJHdesproj
10 жыл бұрын
***** Also it is reasonable to suppose (though not definite) that most of the Hydrogen in our solar system was likely generated by our sun specifically. Also I have never in all my years of training heard the idea expressed that Uranium was produced by the supernova process...
@scottfranco1962
8 жыл бұрын
Bad hank has a good point that is not often mentioned. We don't need to cover the deserts with solar panels. Instead, the desert is all of the empty rooftops of homes and businesses across america, and generate the power right next to where it is used.
@Pikefish
11 жыл бұрын
Just though you might want to know, while the magma thing is true, it's not much use to us. Geothermal electricity generation involves pumping cold water into shallow reserviors of hot rock, and those are depleted faster than the natural heat flux that created them. It is essentially heat mining. Also, mining heat from the magma itself is problematic because extracting heat from magma turns it into rock, and rock doesn't actually conduct heat very well, so you have to dig the well again.
@KevinGoehler
8 жыл бұрын
QUESTION: A Facebook friend of mine argues, that we cannot make enough solar panels to meet the energy needs of the world. I beg to differ, but it got me thinking: "How many solar panels can we build? Are there any limitations, and what are they? Tech issues or materials? Or perhaps some logistics?" Thanks for great content! Best wishes from an old Nerdfighter :)
@schwarzerritter5724
8 жыл бұрын
+Kevin Gøhler Solar Cells do not require rare materials, just the production process is expensive. The real issue is that we don't have enough room to put them on, unless we clear forests.
@KevinGoehler
8 жыл бұрын
+Schwarzer Ritter Cool thanks 😊 But how about roofs? Is that not enough? Deserts? Fields that are currently used for biofuels..?
@schwarzerritter5724
8 жыл бұрын
Kevin Gøhler On roofs is a good idea, it helps, but it is not nearly enough. Once, the power of a solar cell that is advertised means that is almost the power you have during high summer, at noon, if there isn't the smallest cloud in the sky, the rest of the year it is significantly lower. Many big cities don't have access to deserts, for the rest, the other methods mentioned in the video are better. About the biofuel fields, I guess solar cells might be better there, but we kind of need those fields for food and trees.
@LucasTraverso6
10 жыл бұрын
He said "[...] could collect 1500 watts of solar energy in 1 year" and please correct me if I'm wrong but watt isn't a measure of energy but of rate of energy converted or transferred. So... this either shouldn't have the "in 1 year" part or change the "1500 watts" to "lots and lots of Joules". Right?
@steve73108
11 жыл бұрын
This guy cracks me up every time! Is there a video on how to optimize plant growth in a 3rd world country without access to a local homedepot? I'll be in Togo soon to help out with soil and water conservation. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
@Sagitarria
11 жыл бұрын
hey there- the real answer to is use available resources like oil to build land forms that can capture water. on-contour ditches with berms beneath them (called swales) can be designed to catch any rainfall and let it's soak slowly into the land, even on rather flat land. You can plant the berms with vegetation design to establish long-term structure. They can last hundreds of years. You can also design them to flow into ponds during high-rain events. When the land and geomorphology are right, then the water will be right, and that means that the vegetation can grow and establishing constantly-improving storages of solar energy. This is capable of far- outweighing the value of the initial investment of oil.
@steve73108
11 жыл бұрын
jordan fink Sounds practical, and thanks!
@MackZ06
7 жыл бұрын
This might have been commented already, if that's the case I'm sorry. If your body would absorb the incoming energy from the sun, it would be 1500 watts of energy you said. Do you mean 1500 watts (joule/s) while the sun is shining on you or do you mean 1500 joule total for a year (which is nothing). Im guessing it's 1500j/s (aka watts) which is a lot but i would like some clarification. Great show btw!
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