Germany's solar power equals 20 nuke plants.

[PA5COR]

Solar power production in Germany has reached a milestone: 22 gigawatts per hour:

German solar power plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity per hour - equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity - through the midday hours on Friday and Saturday, the head of a renewable energy think tank said.

Norbert Allnoch, director of the Institute of the Renewable Energy Industry (IWR) in Muenster, said the 22 gigawatts of solar power per hour fed into the national grid on Saturday met nearly 50 percent of the nation's midday electricity needs. "Never before anywhere has a country produced as much photovoltaic electricity," Allnoch told Reuters. "Germany came close to the 20 gigawatt (GW) mark a few times in recent weeks. But this was the first time we made it over."
The record-breaking amount of solar power shows one of the world's leading industrial nations was able to meet a third of its electricity needs on a work day, Friday, and nearly half on Saturday when factories and offices were closed.

This amazing production record didn't just happen on its own; it required government support in the form of legislation and subsidies:

Government-mandated support for renewables has helped Germany became a world leader in renewable energy and the country gets about 20 percent of its overall annual electricity from those sources. Germany has nearly as much installed solar power generation capacity as the rest of the world combined and gets about four percent of its overall annual electricity needs from the sun alone. It aims to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020.

Another remarkable aspect of this news: anyone who has lived in Germany can confirm it is not a particularly sunny country. I went to the University of Cologne where it was rainy and overcast about 2/3 of the time. Yet Germany leads the world in displacing nuclear and coal-fired plants with solar:

"This shows Germany is capable of meeting a large share of its electricity needs with solar power," Allnoch said. "It also shows Germany can do with fewer coal-burning power plants, gas-burning plants and nuclear plants."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/0...nt-of-20-nukes

[KG4CGC]

That's socialism.

[ki4itv]

...and how do you get the energy if you don't let the smoke out?

[n2ize]

...and how do you get the energy if you don't let the smoke out?

You don't. The "smoke" comes in the form of the fuel required to be burned in the process of mining the raw materials, refining them, fabricating them, manufacturing the actual solar devices, the disposal when they are replaced, the delivery required at each step of the way. Fuel is burned at each of these steps. The energy yield is promising and its a great start but there is still a very long way to go and it's still very far from ready for prime time. And certainly not "smoke free".

[KØWVM]

I noticed that in or near each city, town or local village here in the vicinity of Kaiserslautern, they have these solar panel farms. Now some can be seen depending on where you are at and others are not. Nifty idea for smaller municipalities to look at and start there as they also have wind farms all over the place here, like they do in the midwest. Not saying though it would work everywhere in the US.

[KG4CGC]

Start putting panels on top of water towers and churches. Hey, they put cell towers on church steeples around here.

[N2RJ]

Start putting panels on top of water towers and churches. Hey, they put cell towers on church steeples around here.

We have that here, and local businesses are putting up solar panels too. We even have them on power poles.

[ad4mg]

Awesome stuff, could never happen here. We're the dodo bird on this planet, doomed to extinction.

'murica - we're #1

[N2RJ]

Awesome stuff, could never happen here. We're the dodo bird on this planet, doomed to extinction.

'murica - we're #1

Local government seems to be the problem. All sorts of asinine zoning laws making it a pain in the ass to put up solar panels. And if the zoning laws don't get you, the HOA nazis will.

[N1LAF]

FYI...

Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. The 354 MW SEGS CSP installation is the largest solar power plant in the world, located in the Mojave Desert of California.

The Desert Sunlight Solar Farm is a 550 MW solar power plant under construction in Riverside County, California, that will use thin-film solar photovoltaic modules made by First Solar

The Topaz Solar Farm is a 550 MW photovoltaic power plant, being built in San Luis Obispo County, California.

The Blythe Solar Power Project is a 500 MW photovoltaic station under construction in Riverside County, California

The Agua Caliente Solar Project is a 290 megawatt photovoltaic solar generating facility being built in Yuma County, Arizona.

The California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR) is a 250 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic power plant, which is being built by SunPower in the Carrizo Plain, northeast of California Valley.

The 230 MW Antelope Valley Solar Ranch is a First Solar photovoltaic project which is under construction in the Antelope Valley area of the Western Mojave Desert, and due to be completed in 2013.


Bloomberg New Energy Finance, in March 2011, put the 2010 cost of solar panels at $1.80 per watt, but estimated that the price would decline to $1.50 per watt by the end of 2011. Nevertheless, there are exceptions—Nellis Air Force Base is receiving photoelectric power for about 2.2 ¢/kWh and grid power for 9 ¢/kWh.

Also, since PV systems use no fuel and modules typically last 25 to 40 years, the International Conference on Solar Photovoltaic Investments, organized by EPIA, has estimated that PV systems will pay back their investors in 8 to 12 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power