The Harsh and Inconvenient Reality of Gore’s Solar Power

The Harsh and Inconvenient Reality of Gore’s Solar Power « Global Warming: A Worn-Out Hoax

For the past half century, conversion of sunlight has been the future of electric power. In some die-hard circles (looney bins) conversion of sunlight will be the future of electric power, twenty years hence.

The utterly abysmal “efficiency” of photovoltaics is impressive, as long as
- there is no night
- the substantial energy to make the photovoltaic is paid for by government
- batteries are free and
- installation is free
- everybody lives at low latitude
- atmosphere at low latitude remains clear

For direct solar conversion, Arizona is nearly ideal, except for that nasty 34 degree offset (in North latitude) from the equator. (How unfortunate; we should all live at the equator). But solar conversion produces less than 1% of the electric power in Arizona, after 50 years of advanced scientific development.

Another essential ingredient to the success of photovoltaics in Arizona even WITH GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY is the invention of an efficient battery; and they’ve tried it all, including pumping atmosphere into a hole into the ground (popular especially among government bureaucrats who get a cut). Then there is the intermittency . . .