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jmc
Joined: 31 Aug 2007
Posts: 404
Location: Ireland
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 Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 2:24 pm Post subject: Found a problem with solar thermal |
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http://energyfromthorium.com/wiki/tiki-index.php?page=IsNuclearPowerGood
| Quote: | | Notably, a reactor has no emissions, runs more than 95% of the time, and uses very small areas of land. A year's waste from large reactor will fit under a kitchen table. In contrast, fossil fuel plants of the same size emit millions of tons of hazardous fossil fuel wastes. However, even most large-scale sources of renewable energy also devastate large tracts of land. Concentrating solar power plants spray binders on the desert floor, eliminating dust, and incidentally killing all the vegetation and animal habitat. With as low as 3% capacity factor (during midsummer) wind power is so inefficient that huge numbers of turbines have to be installed. This can cause wind-park developers to drive roads through formerly pristine areas, devastating large areas at vast expense. |
Although I suppose you could say in its defense that those dessert areas are comparatively low in biodiversity anyhow. |
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Tom Ligon
Joined: 22 Aug 2007
Posts: 627
Location: Northern Virginia
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:57 am Post subject: |
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I'm presently dealing with a solar waste heat problem. I'm putting solar-heated radiant heat flooring in the cabin. Typical water input temperature to these is around 90 F, and I want to limit mine to 100 F or lower.
My panels, however, are capable of boiling water. Just today my little 12-gallon thermosiphon rig peaked out at a water temperature of 92 C (197 F). I don't want to warp my floor, melt the tubing, degrade the propylene glycol fluid, or burn my feet, so I need to rig a heat dump to avoid excess heat. Most of the year I'll be heating air outdoors so I'll have enough capacity to keep tolerably warm in the dead of winter.
But, to be fair, most of that solar radiation winds up as heat anyway. In my case I don't want vegetation growing behind and under the panels where the radiators will be, and the stone wall behind them won't mind.
If you can install enough solar to pose a heating problem, you can also install reflective panels. Painting roofs white would reflect a lot of sunlight back into space, and could make a big difference in a "heat island" such as a city. You could deliberately increase surface albiedo to compensate ... and if global warming is real (keep quiet, Simon, I said "if") you could probably engineer a control system for Earth's climate by simply reflecting sunlight while still in the visible range.
The Chinese are affecting climate by emitting sulfate aerosols, which seed clouds. Their pollution may be having a beneficial side effect. |
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krenshala
Joined: 16 Jul 2008
Posts: 135
Location: Austin, TX, NorAm, Sol III
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| Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 1:01 am Post subject: Re: Found a problem with solar thermal |
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| jmc wrote: | | Although I suppose you could say in its defense that those dessert areas are comparatively low in biodiversity anyhow. |
My understanding was that while we can't see very much life in an "empty" desert, it actually has quite a diverse biosphere. Most of it is small, nocturnal, burrows, or all three, but it is there. |
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MSimon
Joined: 16 Jul 2007
Posts: 8780
Location: Rockford, Illinois
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| Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 2:41 am Post subject: |
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| Tom Ligon wrote: | I'm presently dealing with a solar waste heat problem. I'm putting solar-heated radiant heat flooring in the cabin. Typical water input temperature to these is around 90 F, and I want to limit mine to 100 F or lower.
My panels, however, are capable of boiling water. Just today my little 12-gallon thermosiphon rig peaked out at a water temperature of 92 C (197 F). I don't want to warp my floor, melt the tubing, degrade the propylene glycol fluid, or burn my feet, so I need to rig a heat dump to avoid excess heat. Most of the year I'll be heating air outdoors so I'll have enough capacity to keep tolerably warm in the dead of winter.
But, to be fair, most of that solar radiation winds up as heat anyway. In my case I don't want vegetation growing behind and under the panels where the radiators will be, and the stone wall behind them won't mind.
If you can install enough solar to pose a heating problem, you can also install reflective panels. Painting roofs white would reflect a lot of sunlight back into space, and could make a big difference in a "heat island" such as a city. You could deliberately increase surface albiedo to compensate ... and if global warming is real (keep quiet, Simon, I said "if") you could probably engineer a control system for Earth's climate by simply reflecting sunlight while still in the visible range.
The Chinese are affecting climate by emitting sulfate aerosols, which seed clouds. Their pollution may be having a beneficial side effect. |
Sounds like a job for a small solar powered pump and a controller. And maybe auxiliary solar heat for a water heater.
_________________
Engineering is the art of making what you want from what you can get at a profit. |
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KitemanSA
Joined: 28 Sep 2008
Posts: 2428
Location: Northern VA
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| Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 6:21 am Post subject: Re: Found a problem with solar thermal |
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| jmc wrote: | | Although I suppose you could say in its defense that those dessert areas are comparatively low in biodiversity anyhow. |
Jeez, you must be going to the wrong restaurant if their dessert area lacks diversity. Mine has pies and cakes and fruit and all sorts o stuff!  |
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Soylent
Joined: 03 Jan 2009
Posts: 29
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| Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 1:52 am Post subject: Re: Found a problem with solar thermal |
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| KitemanSA wrote: | | Jeez, you must be going to the wrong restaurant if their dessert area lacks diversity. Mine has pies and cakes and fruit and all sorts o stuff! |
Biodiversity in your dessert is not a desirable thing. It's quite enough for me to just have small amounts of the usual opportunistic food spoilage bacteria, please, whatever you do hold the insects. |
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