Cheap Solar Power is here!
By veganbliss
@veganbliss (3895)
Adelaide, Australia
November 16, 2010 8:12pm CST
About a year ago now, Israeli company 3G Solar developed the first commercial-size solar energy system using colored dyes instead of expensive silicon. It even works without sun! It operates in a similar fashion to the natural process of photosynthesis & uses the green pigment in plants & algae to absorb light & convert it into energy. The manufacturing costs are about one-fifth that of conventional solar cells. It requires no expensive, specialized equipment or labs & is perfect for use in developing countries. The efficiency figures are comparable with existing solar technology. Its invention is credited to Swiss Professor Michael Graetzel of Lausanne Polytechnique in 1988.
http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=108322&videoChannel=6
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUKL953612620090709
Would you rather wait until these are available or use the current methods? How about your country's solar plans... wouldn't these save a lot of money?
2 people like this
4 responses
@buenavida (9984)
• Sweden
18 Nov 10
Sounds really great, it could be used in poor countries to help the people in many ways. And in richer countries too, instead of expensive energy sources..
I have also heard about an invention that cleans water with solar energy.
By the way, my friend, are you writing in Bukisa? I think articles like this would be popular and visited by many.
I have also heard about an invention that cleans water with solar energy.
By the way, my friend, are you writing in Bukisa? I think articles like this would be popular and visited by many. @veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
18 Nov 10
Thank you for the tip, but I'm about to move interstate & can't commit to anything new. That invention that cleans water with solar energy sounds like a good idea, especially in developing countries where poor water quality has become a fact of life. I'm not sure I'd be allowed to write the same articles in Bukisa as I've written in My Lot; I've heard they search the internet very thoroughly for this type of thing. Good idea though.
1 person likes this
@buenavida (9984)
• Sweden
19 Nov 10
I did a search and found a lot of solar energy and water cleaning solutions. I am sure you will find them too or have found already. I think it was a Finnish woman who made the water cleaning invention.
I am writing in Triond and Bukisa and myLot of course. I have published one poem first in myLot and later in Triond and after that in Bukisa with a little text added.
Nobody protested.
Nowadays I publish my articles first in Triond and after it is approved there, in Bukisa - maybe with small changes.
So far they have been approved, so Bukisa is easy to write to as long as the article has 250 words.
Could be a good idea for the future..?? I hope your moving goes well..
Nowadays I publish my articles first in Triond and after it is approved there, in Bukisa - maybe with small changes.
So far they have been approved, so Bukisa is easy to write to as long as the article has 250 words.
Could be a good idea for the future..?? I hope your moving goes well..@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
19 Nov 10
Thank you for your help & good wishes 
1 person likes this
@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
18 Nov 10
Perhaps, but I think the efficiency is still very poor & the amount of power available would mean you'd have to paint the whole house in that paint & still be able to only produce enough electricity to run a light bulb for a few hours a day! It's not really the answer we need, it's just a point of fascination .
.1 person likes this
@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
19 Nov 10
It sure is. We've just got to keep an eye out all the time. It's better than what we are seeing now, but still nowhere near good enough
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@damned_dle (3942)
• Philippines
17 Nov 10
That is good news! Our country (Philippines) is not exerting much effort for going green! I wish we can have those too here. I wish it will be available to the entire world!
@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
17 Nov 10
Maybe it already is! I'm not sure if there's anyone selling it in the Philippines yet, but you can email them & check their list of distributors. Thank you for your interest.
@gambama (90)
•
18 Nov 10
like many other Israelis, we have a solar powered water heater. it's wonderful and I don't worry about having enough hot water.
I'd love to do more solar things,but I'm in a rented apartment.
One day, I was riding through an industrial zone and noticing all the empty rooftops.I wonder how it would be possible economically to utilize those rooftops for solar energy.
@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
19 Nov 10
Israel has been one of the world leaders in using solar power for many years already. I'm fairly sure that one cannot buy a new house or build one without having solar panels installed there. Solar water heaters on the other hand, are fairly good as far as efficiency goes, relatively cheap to make & buy & one doesn't need hot water 24 hours a day in a continuous stream like we use electricity. Solar Photovoltaic systems are very expensive to make & buy & have a poor efficiency & low power output. Even these ones. Here it takes at least 25 years for a solar system to pay for itself or break even on costs. It has already been calculated that if all the world's deserts were covered in these solar arrays, there would still not be anywhere near enough power available to meet demand.
