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144 comments on Solar Islands: A new concept for low-cost solar energy at very large scale

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DaveMart on May 20, 2008 - 10:08am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

The wind energy figure will have been taken at a relatively low altitude, perhaps 50 meters, and will have other limiting assumptions.
High altitude wind if practical could amply provide all the power society needs.
Likewise hot rock geothermal.
Likewise nuclear fission.

I don't have anything against this idea, but some of the argument is a bit tenditious - for instance, PV power may make up for it's higher cost by being close to the consumer, and not requiring a very low efficiency stage of production of hydrogen.

This sound useful in some hot desert areas, but too extravagant claims need handling with care.

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Francois Cellier on May 20, 2008 - 4:17pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

The wind energy figure will have been taken at a relatively low altitude, perhaps 50 meters, and will have other limiting assumptions.

Correct. The author assumed that the average wind turbine generates on average 20% of its maximum power, because it isn't constantly exposed to wind. Some wind turbines (in very good locations) may have efficiency factors that are three times as large, but on average, this is not the case.

Figure 14 was furthermore compiled for latitudes below 20o. At higher latitude values, wind energy becomes more profitable in comparison with solar energy, because at those latitudes, you experience stronger winds and less sun.

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