WEBVTT - The Solar Economy 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:07.200 Brought to you by Toyota. Let's go places. Welcome to 0:00:07.360 --> 0:00:14.880 Forward Thinking. Hey there, and welcome to Forward Thinking, the 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:18.000 podcast that looks at the future and says now, I 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:20.520 don't want you back for the weekend, not back for 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:24.919 a day. No, no no. I'm Jonathan Strickland, I'm Lauren 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:27.840 Fock Obama, and I'm Joe McCormick. And today we're gonna 0:00:27.880 --> 0:00:31.280 talk about solar power and the solar economy. It was 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:36.040 a subject that I researched to do a video episode 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:40.120 Forward Thinking that that published previously, and we kind of 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.320 wanted to to take the opportunity to go into a 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:45.400 little more detail about solar power because we've touched on 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:48.720 it in some previous episodes, but we haven't really dedicated 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:52.720 a full episode to solar power. We we we've talked 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:56.360 about related stuff though, so we're going to really concentrate 0:00:56.440 --> 0:00:58.960 on it um. One of the reasons this is even 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:04.080 coming up is that recently, relatively recently, Bill and Melinda 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:07.800 Gates released their annual letter. And this is a letter 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:11.960 that they publish publicly. It's like an open letters, pictures 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:14.720 of their cats and say what all their grandkids are doing, 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:18.280 like a Christmas letter, I hope you are well. This 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:21.240 year the Gates family saw something. No, it's not like that, 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:25.280 it's it's really more about they like to tackle specific 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:28.720 issues and address what they think needs to happen in 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:32.000 order to solve problems around the world. And often these 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:35.480 are really really big issues, things like access to clean 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:38.479 water would be an example example. But and and this year, 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:42.240 one of the topics that they covered was what was 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:45.440 the importance of of getting our carbon emissions lower, like 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:49.880 to zero exactly if possible. The letters said, hey, look, 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:54.760 according to all studies, carbon emissions are something we absolutely 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:59.320 have to get control over. And if we don't uh this, 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:02.559 this climate change is going to continue to escalate. Even 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.240 if we were to get to zero right now, we 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:08.080 would still see some escalation because it's not like it's 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:12.320 an immediate uh fix. But if we don't do it, 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:14.400 we're in real trouble. So we've got to find a 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:17.720 way to get to carbon zero. Yeah, they even or 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:20.520 well a Bill specifically even took some time out of 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:23.080 his very busy schedule to talk to our colleagues, Josh 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:25.480 and Chuck of stuff you shouldn't know that episode, I 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:27.960 believe published a couple a couple of weeks ago, late 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:30.320 late February. UM, so if you guys don't already listen 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:32.400 to stuff you should know, then go check out that episode. 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:34.760 Yeah yeah, so I actually got to sit down and 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:37.680 interview him, which is pretty incredible. And as I mentioned, 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:41.000 we've talked about solar power it kind of tangentially in 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:45.520 several episodes on We published a podcast called is the 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:49.320 power Wall a wonder uh? And that is related to 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:52.160 solar power. The power wall being a type of rechargeable 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:56.400 battery that one's marketed by Tesla and UH. It's designed 0:02:56.440 --> 0:03:00.440 to to store electricity when so that you can use 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:04.640 it when you when the surge prices are lowest. So 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:06.800 for places like Hawaii and California, makes a lot of 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.520 sense because you could rely upon solar panel energy throughout 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:14.240 the day when the expense for electricity is high. You 0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:16.840 could rely on the battery at night, assuming you had 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:20.960 enough charged up. But if you uh were using it 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:23.799 in the daytime and you didn't have enough just from 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:26.080 the solar panels themselves, you could use the battery and 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:29.440 then just use the grid when prices are lowest. Because 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:35.000 the cost of electricity fluctuates pretty widely, and especially in 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:37.640 California and Hawaii. Uh. Here in Georgie, it's not as 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:39.560 big a deal. We talked about that in that episode, 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:41.800 about how it all really depends upon where you live 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:45.640 whether it makes economic sense. But we also chatted about 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:49.640 solar power in an episode called can Artificial Photosynthesis Save 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:52.640 the Planet? That was also in May of two thousand 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:55.920 fifteen video episode I believe, Yeah, I think that might 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:58.760 have even been sort of what Bill Gates was touching 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:00.800 on when he was talking about the stability of using 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:04.800 sunlight to generate fuel. Artificial photosynthesis is one of the 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:08.720 ways we could do that, either by creating a means 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:12.360 of separating hydrogen from ox oxygen and water and that 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:14.960 way we get pure hydrogen for a hydrogen based fuel, 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:19.480 or even using artificial photosynthesis in a process to create 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:24.760 uh well, was essentially rubbing alcohol to use as a fuel. Um, yeah, 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:29.080 tasty rubbing alcohol. Don't drink rubbing alcohol. No, it's not 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:33.320 a bodily fuel. No. Yeah, he's just just used for 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:36.520 for actual engines, not you. Uh. And then we also 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:39.839 looked at the solar Impulse aircraft. We talked about flying 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:42.719 solar in April two thousand fourteen. That, of course is 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:45.680 the uh the aircraft making its way around the world 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:50.720 using solar power as its only means of generating electricity, 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:53.640 you might add, slowly making its way around the world. 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:59.440 It is a it is it is a gradual process. Um. 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:01.919 But now are really going to tackle it? And in 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:03.800 order to really talk about solar power, one of the 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:07.040 most important things you have to address are the challenges 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:10.720 of solar power. Yeah, you might, without knowing anything about 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:13.800 the subject, just assume, well, yeah, I mean, sunlight's free. 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:16.600 Why don't we just why doesn't everybody have solar panels 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:19.400 on everything? Put it on them? Coated with him? Right now? Yeah, 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:21.880 I mean, why why why don't we just instantly convert 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:23.480 to this? Seems like a no brainer. Put them on 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:25.640 your house, put them on your cat. Just just go 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:28.760 for it, right, A solar powered could he get? Actually, 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:30.960 that's kind of true. They like to find that little space. 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:35.520 But they're also powered by the warmth of your laptop 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:40.039 and also just by sheer hate. I guess what cats 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:43.520 really thrive off of the inside themselves? They don't. They 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:46.159 don't like it if you hate them. If only we 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:50.840 could power our grid with hate, that would be excellent 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:54.480 energy surplus for days. All right, So let's talk about 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:58.119 some of the challenges are are related to solar power, 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:01.080 because why don't you put solar panels on everything? Yeah, 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:02.960 we we we have to say this so that we 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:06.960 can actually make a uh, you know, an informed decision 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:08.960 further down the line about whether or not it makes 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:12.200 sense in our individual cases. So one of the big 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:14.880 issues for a very long time and still to some 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:19.240 extent today is just the cost. It's they're expensive, right, 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:22.400 So the sunlight is free, but the device you used 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:24.919 to harvest the sunlight is not. Right. And it's not 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:27.320 just the cost of materials, although that's a large part 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:31.480 of it. For one thing, solar panels usually have a 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:34.480 fair share of rare earth minerals as part of the 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:38.279 process of generating these solar panels, and right now we 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:41.080 get those from China. There are there present in other 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:44.960 parts of the world, but China uh minds them at 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:50.039 an incredibly low rate because well, an incredibly low cost. 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:52.599 A high rate on the low cost, and the low 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:56.920 cost is because they do so uh with extreme disregard 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:59.960 for the safety and comfort of all of the people 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:04.960 involved and also nearby, yes, very well. Put yeah, um, 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:09.800 and apparently that ends up being uh. I mean, it's 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:11.680 an issue in certain parts of the world where people 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:13.920 have brought that up and said, we really seriously have 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:18.000 to uh examine this, especially as we start to see 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:20.720 more and more of those materials used in the technology 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:23.840 we rely upon day after day. But it's still pretty 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:27.120 much the status quo. Sure, sure, yeah, and and researchers 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:30.960 are to be clear making headway into finding alternate materials 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:35.040 or or making less stuff work more efficiently, right right. 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:39.200 So so there's that, But beyond the cost of the materials, 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:44.200 there's also the cost of installation, which can be expensive 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:46.400 depending upon where you are and who you know, what 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:48.440 sort of contractor you get to do it, And it's 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:51.600 not something that the general you know, do it yourself, 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:54.760 is necessarily going to be comfortable with. I'm sure there 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:58.200 are people who installed their own solar panels and they're 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:02.880 perfectly confident and competent at doing such. I would be 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:05.280 terrified that I would mess things up, and so I 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:08.240 would end up hiring somebody who knows what they're doing. Uh. 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:11.600 I would not rely upon my own abilities. So there's that. 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:16.680 There's also the cost of maintenance, typically solar panels tend 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:18.840 to the quote you usually here is that they have 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:22.560 an expected lifespan of about twenty years. So even if 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:26.640 you are maintaining them properly and making sure that they're 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:30.360 not suffering due to exposure to the elements and other things, 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:35.160 after twenty years, you're gonna have to replace them. So ultimately, 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:37.600 when you start looking at all of these elements, you 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:39.520 also have to think about, all right, how much money 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:43.520 would I spend in that twenty years span, let's say, 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:46.440 on electricity if I were to rely solely upon the 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:51.079 power grid, assuming that the prices UH throughout that twenty 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:54.560 year period remain relatively stable. And you figure that up 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:56.360 and you say, all right, here's how much I would 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:59.520 spend in that twenty year period. Okay, how much would 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:03.480 it cost me to get enough solar panels to provide 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:08.200 the electricity I need for my house? Uh, knowing that 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:10.760 in twenty years I would have to replace them, And 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:13.480 if that amount is lower than the amount you would 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:15.680 spend on electricity, otherwise you could say, all right, at 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:20.680 least on this level, economically, solar panels would make sense. 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:22.360 But of course, for a lot of people it's not 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:25.920 just a cost saving feature. There are reasons to adopt 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:29.560 solar panels. Yeah, there there's the you know, the very 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:33.560 strong argument of I want a more environmentally friendly approach 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:36.439 to generating electricity. I want to be independent of the 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:39.000 power grid. If something were to happen to the power grid. 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:41.760 I want my house to still be capable of of 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:45.200 generating electricity when the zombies are out on the porch. 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:47.719 I want to be able to watch the NFL, right, 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:49.640 or The Walking Dead and then at that point is 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:53.559 just a documentary series. Right, So that would be, uh, 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:56.160 some of the examples that I think people would cite 0:09:56.360 --> 0:10:00.040 for their reasons beyond just the economic factor. Right. I 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:01.719 think a lot of people who are early adopters of 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:04.400 solar panels did so because they saw it as a 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:09.000 more green option and also this idea of independence from 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:11.640 from a larger system that if it were to go 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:15.479 down for whatever reason, they would no longer be vulnerable 0:10:15.520 --> 0:10:19.480 to that same problem. So we've got that to keep 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:22.160 in mind as well. Now cost is just one of 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:25.600 those challenges, right. Uh. We we also have the problem 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:29.640 of efficiency now with solar panels. When we're talking about efficiency, 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:32.719 you're not necessarily talking about all right, how much electricity 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:37.480 does a solar panel generate. It's really about how much 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:40.760 of the solar energy hitting that panel actually gets converted 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.720 into electricity. That's what we talk about with efficiency. So 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:48.920 there's a basic amount of solar radiation energy that's falling 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:51.400 on the Earth at any given time. Now you have 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:54.440 some external reasons for that. Some would be like, uh, 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:57.640 you know, weather like cloud cover and things like that. 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:00.560 But then also you have internal reasons to the solar 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:04.439 panels themselves that they can't get of that energy turned 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:08.160 into electricity. Yeah, I mean, even under ideal conditions, a 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:11.160 solar panel cannot convert all of the energy that's hitting 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:14.840 it into electricity. And that's really what we're getting at here. 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:18.320 And like you, any solar panel, no matter how efficient, 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:21.680 is obviously going to generate less electricity. On a day 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:24.960 where there's you know, partly cloudy skies, it's going to 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:27.680 have you know, it'll be less effective. It will be 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:31.840 not effective at all at night. Simple simple thing there. 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:36.480 But even with the most efficient solar panels possible, even 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:39.920 theoretically possible, you can't convert all of the solar energy 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:43.680 into electricity. In fact, the theoretical limit is uh, eight 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:48.280 six percent efficiency. Now, six percent efficiency is incredibly high, 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:50.760 especially compared to what we see with solar panels right now. 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:53.600 Oh yeah, and especially out of the lab. That's that's 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:57.959 basically not not a possibility, right. Uh. When I say theoretical, 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:00.600 I really do mean theoretical, as in, it is not 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:04.079 a possible thing to do in reality. Why not, because 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.880 you would require an infinite number of layers of solar 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:10.520 panels in order to make this happen. Well, let's just 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:14.560 get working on them. How close we are too infinite? 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:18.520 I think we're eleven off. It's not like that uh 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:23.960 so soo of these theoretical solar panels, the energy hitting 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:27.640 them would be lost and not be converted. But again, 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:30.439 you can never build it in the first place. It's 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:34.280 it's something that the math works out that is physically 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:39.280 the the best you could ever expect under unrealistically ideal circumstances. 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:41.679 And that's just because of the of the mere process 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:46.160 of converting uh photons into usable energy, like some of 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:48.880 that gets lost. Yeah, and the fact that that you 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:54.600 can't have a uh perfectly non reflective solar panel, so 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:56.440 some of that light's going to bounce off with with 0:12:56.480 --> 0:13:00.920 an infinitely large surface area. Yeah, it's just strangely enough, 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:03.480 whenever the word infinite comes up, it really gets beyond 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:05.840 our capacity to make it. Okay, well, so we can't 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:08.959 get up to eighty six percent efficiency, how what percent 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:12.959 efficiency can we get today? So average consumer panels tend 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:17.600 to hover between eleven and fifteen percent efficiency, significantly lower 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:22.520 than in other words, so because of that. Now, again 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:27.080 this doesn't necessarily this doesn't relate directly to uh, the 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:30.040 amount of electricity produced. This is again how much of 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:33.960 the Sun's energy gets converted into electricity. But that does 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:36.880 mean that in order for you to generate enough electricity 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:41.240 for your home, you may need lots of surface area 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:45.719 to generate that electricity, because each individual solar panel is 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:48.880 only going to be eleven to fifteen percent efficient under 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:53.400 good circumstances like you know, direct sunlight as opposed to 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.720 again a cloudy day or something along those lines. Um, 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:59.480 a typical solar panel will produce around two d wats 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:02.080 of electric city. Keep in mind that solar panels are 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:04.720 made up of lots and lots of solar cells. So 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:06.880 you have tons of solar cells that are in an 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:10.000 array together that make up a solar panel. Uh. So 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:12.920 one solar panel would produce about twos of electricity, So 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:16.600 to produce five kilowatt hours of electricity, you would need 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:20.080 twenty five of these panels. Uh. And that of course 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:23.960 assumes that you are getting good solar exposure in that area. Obviously, 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:25.520 if you live in a place where there are a 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:27.880 lot of tall trees that cast shadows throughout part of 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:31.640 the day, that's going to affect the amount of electricity 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:34.080 you can generate through solar panels. So we might suggest 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:36.240 if that's the case, that's probably not where you should 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:38.280 put your solar panels, right, But if you don't have 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:41.440 the choice, I mean, like it's the roof of your 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:44.280 house is sometimes shaded. Uh, you know, you might have 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:46.720 to just you may have to come to the conclusion 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:49.920 of solar panels just aren't a reliable option. I've got 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:53.520 a solution to our world carbon problems. We can just 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:55.840 cut down all the trees on the planet so they 0:14:55.840 --> 0:15:00.520 would never block any of the solar panels. Okay, So 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:04.720 I'm going to move on without acknowledging that. Now. Obviously, 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:07.320 another challenge we've alluded to it is that you're dependent 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:10.280 upon when the sun is out in order to generate electricity. 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:13.480 These panels do not generate electricity unless they're solar energy 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:17.160 hitting the panels, So anytime it doesn't, it doesn't hang 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:19.960 out in the panel. There's not there's not like a 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:23.600 lag time where electricity is still coming up. So if 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:26.560 it's nighttime or if there's a sufficient cloud cover that 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:29.120 there's not enough solar energy hitting the panels, you're not 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:33.000 generating electricity at that point. And electricity is a use it, 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:35.800 store it, or lose it kind of thing, right, So 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:39.520 this is true with any type of electricity generation, like 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:43.960 your big coal power plants. You only you only want 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:47.320 to generate as much electricity as there is demand, because 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:50.040 you can't do anything with the excess and unless you 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:53.720 put it into batteries, which we don't, right, So are 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:57.200 our current power grid structure is based solely upon demand. 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:01.000 When the demand increases, production increases. When the demand goes down, 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:06.440 production goes down. Otherwise you'd be wasting resources generating electricity 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:08.800 that no one is using. So same thing is true 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:11.320 with solar panels. If you don't use it immediately, then 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:12.880 you have to have a way to store it or 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:15.880 else you're you're just losing. Now, this is where one 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:18.640 of the previous topics we've talked about in this subject 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:21.600 area came in when we did the podcast about the 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:25.560 power wall, the Tesla power Wall, which is this proposed 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:29.200 product that would be a home storage system for your 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:32.840 own energy independence. Right, So this would be an important 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:36.520 part of anyone's strategy if they wanted to switch to 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:39.920 solar power. Uh, you're not necessarily the power wall, but 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:42.640 some system like it, right, the power wall. I think 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:44.880 what the power wall managed to really do, which was 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:48.440 really important, is it started to usher in a more 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:52.840 affordable class of rechargeable batteries for home use, for for 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:56.560 that kind of thing. Because batteries are also made with 0:16:56.680 --> 0:17:00.760 some rare elements that are are not rare elements rather, 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:02.640 I mean that's not that they're rare in the ground, 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:06.080 they're just difficult to get ahold of um and uh 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:08.760 and and yeah. That makes them very expensive and can 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:13.760 be very carbon footprint heavy to uh to produce. Yeah. Now, 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:18.879 with Tesla creating their Gigga factory where they're producing tons 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:23.160 of batteries, literally tons of batteries when it's finished, Uh, 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:25.160 that could mean that we'll see these prices go down 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:28.200 even more because of just the economy of scale, where 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:31.240 you're able to ramp up manufacturing, increase efficiency in the 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:35.080 manufacturing process, and past the savings on to you. But 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:37.320 the cool thing here is that if you look at 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:41.240 the history of solar energy for the home, batteries were 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.719 some of the most expensive elements in those in those 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:47.600 conversion kits. So some people might have said, while I'll 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:49.280 use solar panels, but I'm just going to use the 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:52.600 solar panels to provide electricity during daylight hours. At night, 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:55.440 I'll rely on the power grid, or on cloudy days, 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:57.399 I'll rely on the power grid because I can't afford 0:17:57.440 --> 0:18:01.160 to install the battery system that will allow me true independence. Yeah, 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:04.040 and and this. You know, batteries can certainly help, but 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:09.679 the sheer sun factor can make it really not worthwhile 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.640 to install solar panels in certain geographic areas, not even 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:15.600 if your personal house doesn't it has too much tree 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:17.280 cover or something like that. But you know, it's the 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:18.880 kind of thing that works really great if you live 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:21.520 in like l a or the desert, like the kind 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:23.600 of place where if someone sees a rain drop that 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:28.000 like Instagram and immediately um. But but it works less 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:30.560 well if you live in like Seattle or London or something. 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:34.760 I think if you're in a subterranean cavern, yes, yes, 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:39.120 it works less well for gallum or then perhaps Yeah 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:42.879 the Morlocks. Yeah, there's a whole there's a whole population 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:45.720 that we're not serving here, but there are the Morlocks. 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:49.440 Are the Warlocks really concerned with with with their carbon footprint? 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:54.119 They are? But the Morlocks use geothermal energy. Good on you, Morlocks. 0:18:54.760 --> 0:18:59.199 So at any rate, boy, I gotta just keep on 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:02.240 top of this cat. Uh. So anyway, let's say that 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:04.800 you are at home and you're considering switching over to 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:08.600 solar power. How do you know if it's actually a 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:12.760 a an intelligent choice for you to make. Let's I mean, 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.320 environmental concerns are definitely a big part of it. And 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:19.920 if you have enough money where you are comfortable investing 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:22.000 in something that may or may not pay off in 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:26.000 the long run, depending upon your own situation, I applaud 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:29.440 you for moving off of a system that relies heavily 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:33.160 on fossil fuels. But not everyone has that luxury, right, 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:37.040 Not everyone has enough money where they can arbitrally make 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:39.720 that decision. They might have enough where they can say 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:43.399 if in twenty years I will have saved money over 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:46.960 that course of time, then I can afford to do this. 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:49.920 That's a different story. Sure, sure, it's It's like when 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:53.040 we were in the early stages of electric electric and 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:55.879 hybrid cars in this country, where it was a it 0:19:55.960 --> 0:19:58.359 was an environmental choice that you were making, not a 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:01.879 not a personal savings choice. Definitely an early adopter person 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:04.399 with a lot of a lot of capital to be 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:07.520 able to spend on that sort of thing, big green heart. Yeah, yeah, 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:11.720 which again I mean that those are the people that 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:14.960 we depend upon in order to bring these technologies to 0:20:15.040 --> 0:20:17.080 a point where the rest of us can afford them. 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:20.000 So questions you have to answer, does your home get 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:23.240 enough solar exposure not just with the the shadows like 0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:27.040 the tall trees or whatever, or or how much cloud 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:29.480 cover do you get on average per year? But you know, 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:32.800 the further away you are from the equator, the more 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:37.440 time your home is going to have exposure to non 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:41.760 sunlight hours. Right, So like if you're really way up 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:44.280 there in Alaska, there's gonna be some stretches of time 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:46.360 where you're not going to get very much sunlight at all. 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:48.639 And during that time, of year, you will not be 0:20:48.680 --> 0:20:52.040 able to rely solely upon solar power to generate the 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:54.760 electricity you need. Uh So, fortunately you don't have to 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:58.120 spend much energy on air conditioning that you would think so. 0:20:58.600 --> 0:21:01.440 But the one time I visited Alaska, they were having 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:04.879 a record breaking heat wave and everyone was going crazy 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:10.120 because no one could sleep. So, boy, they were some 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:13.160 I mean, I don't know how you Alaskans are normally, 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:17.920 but you were a little ornery when I visited at 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:21.080 any rate. Uh So, other questions you should ask, does 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:26.560 does your area offer tax incentives or rebates for switching 0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:28.480 to solar because a lot of places do have these 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:31.880 incentives in place, and if you can take advantage of that, 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:35.359 that removes some of that upfront cost for the purchase 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:38.399 and installation of solar panel systems. So that's an important 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:41.240 question to ask. Also, how much does electricity cost in 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:44.040 your area? Yeah, you mentioned this cost different things in 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:46.320 different places. So in Georgia, again, it's one of those 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:48.760 things where if you switch to solar power, it may 0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:52.959 be more of an altruistic approach because generally speaking, our 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:55.639 electricity rates are pretty low in the state compared to 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:59.600 other places in the United States. Uh. So, then you 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:02.280 can gure out how many years will it take for 0:22:02.320 --> 0:22:05.640 you to pay off your solar power panels based upon 0:22:05.680 --> 0:22:08.240 the savings you make and electricity use, and as long 0:22:08.240 --> 0:22:10.480 as that number is less than what it would take 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:13.400 for you before you have to replace them, it may 0:22:13.400 --> 0:22:15.480 be a good choice. And if this sounds like it's 0:22:15.520 --> 0:22:19.480 all a lot of math and difficult number looking up 0:22:19.520 --> 0:22:21.560 that you might not have, you know, at access to 0:22:21.600 --> 0:22:24.760