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Comment: Re:December (Score 2) 242

by AmiMoJo (#40123667) Attached to: Germany Sets New Solar Power Record

If come winter Germany is crippled by blackouts or utterly dependent on imported electricity I'm sure someone will post a story about it. On the other than if nothing bad happens and the grid works perfectly we probably won't hear anything. Well, fear not, I'll post a story about it, and link back to this story and your comment.

One of us is going to look stupid in about six months.

Comment: Re:midnight (Score 3, Interesting) 242

by AmiMoJo (#40123405) Attached to: Germany Sets New Solar Power Record

Actually France has been struggling to meet peak demand with nuclear in recent years due to the hot summers we have been enjoying. Nuclear plants need to dump a lot of heat and when the ambient temperature gets too high they either have to drop to idle mode or dump hot water into lakes and streams, killing off the local wildlife and generally trashing the environment.

Of course this flaw does not mean nuclear is useless. I'm not a nuke-you-mentalist who writes off every other technology because it isn't perfect. However, this does highlight solar PV's strength - you get the most power when you need it.

Comment: Re:Solar doesn't replace other power sources. (Score 4, Insightful) 242

by AmiMoJo (#40123353) Attached to: Germany Sets New Solar Power Record

You are half right. There are three types of solar power. You have PV panels which, as you say, provide whatever power is available from the sun at that instant and have no storage. Then you have solar thermal which can run all night because is stores energy in molten salt. Finally you have solar heating for water and buildings, which stores energy in said water or building.

You also have to remember that cooling is a major use of electricity in many countries. Since temperature is strongly correlated with light levels solar PV is actually ideal for covering peak demand in many places.

Comment: Re:Everything (Score 1) 313

by AmiMoJo (#40122835) Attached to: Can You Buy Tech With a Clean Conscience?

Not very ethical if you have dependence, or people who care about you.

You have to just try and live the best life you can. No one can have a perfect ethical existence. At least by trying you can help advance the human race towards a better way of life. Take the long term view and realize that your actions, even if they only affect one other person, are still important.

Dealing with the problem of pure staff accumulation, all our researches ... point to an average increase of 5.75% per year. -- C.N. Parkinson

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