Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
True, though there are ways to store excess power (giant flywheels). Not a pure replacement yet.. Plus if you had a huge solar panel farm you have big distribution problems. I recall reading somewhere that a panel farm at 8% efficiency would need to be 280 miles per side to supply the power for North America or something.
But combine it with good storage, or use it to get hydrogen to power the cars.. The end efficiency doesn't really matter if a) you're getting the power for free (from the sun) and b) it's economical to build the collection and distribution infrastructure.
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For sure it is a storage issue, unless, as you mention, you use this power to replace other types of "non-immediate" power (like to produce hydrogen).
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