Mirrors and Solar panels.

[RandomRyan]

so here i am, again. in the labs. should wear a coat

anyway, i have a question.about mirrors and solar panels.

SO.mirrors reflect light right?right.

SOlar panels.it makes free electricity.with sunlight.at a small amount.

on to the question:

By reflecting the light concentrating on a solar panel will it increase the amount of power made?

ok. i GTG

[Darnok]

I doubt it you can get lots of power by reflecting light, but concentrating light on solar panel is interesting idea

[duncan1297]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_thermal_energy

There are some similar ideas here, im not sure if this is what you were looking for.

[rtxoff]

If a bunch of birds is the biggest problem in realizing this technology then there is no hope for humanity anyway.

[Guest]

The main issue so far is that it has a nasty habit of vaporizing any flying creatures that get too close.

Well, windmills also kill lots of birds, and they're still used in electricity production.

[pincushionman]

One problem with using mirrors or lenses to collect light onto photovoltaics is that as they get hotter it affects their output. There certainly are solar collection designs that rely on arrays of mirrors to concentrate light, but usually you're talking about solar thermal power generation rather than photovoltaics.

Plus you have to actively steer these mirrors, which adds complexity, cost, bulk, and weight. Whereas with just a PV panel you find a "good enough" spot and you leave the low-profile panel there.

[KerbMav]

If a bunch of birds is the biggest problem in realizing this technology then there is no hope for humanity anyway.

Well, windmills also kill lots of birds, and they're still used in electricity production.

Which is why - apart from the "they ruin my view and make noise"-people - it is rather difficult to find spots to build them in Germany and why there are people opposing them, counting the dead birds and bats under the wheels. Not to mention the probems with water plants and shredded fishes ...

One problem with using mirrors or lenses to collect light onto photovoltaics is that as they get hotter it affects their output.

Would that be the reason one of the solar observer satellties whats-its-name was powered by RTGs?

[Elthy]

Which is why - apart from the "they ruin my view and make noise"-people - it is rather difficult to find spots to build them in Germany and why there are people opposing them, counting the dead birds and bats under the wheels. Not to mention the probems with water plants and shredded fishes ...

Cant remember lots of people protestzing against 5 very large (200m height) wind power plants a few kilometer from my home. Propably because they were build in a forest, over 1,5km from the next home, so noone has the shadow on them (which would be a no go). They used clearances in the forest which were caused by a heavy storm a fey years back, so only a few trees had to be cut. Also you have to remember that domestic cats kill way, way more birds than wind turbines, they only cause lots of bird deaths when build in bad spots.

[PB666]

It's been proposed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_tower

The main issue so far is that it has a nasty habit of vaporizing any flying creatures that get too close.

They will eventually figure it out.

Just use mirror already there.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/03/world/europe/uk-london-building-melts-car/index.html

[WestAir]

PB666,

That is hilarous. Thanks for the link.

[Stone Blue]

Well, windmills also kill lots of birds, and they're still used in electricity production.

Yeah, but there is still TONS of controversy about this...In my area, windmills have not been allowed, due to this, and noise and view issues.

[Nikolai]

Well, windmills also kill lots of birds, and they're still used in electricity production.

The number of birds killed by windmills is utterly dwarfed by the number of birds killed by cell towers and especially cats.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/09/15/wind-turbines-kill-fewer-birds-than-cell-towers-cats/15683843/

There are a fair number of birds also at risk from climate change.

If you really care about birds, I would have to suspect that you'd have been going after cats long before this. If not, then there is the distinct possibility that any concern you are currently showing for birds could potentially be driven by some ulterior motive -- so you'll forgive me if I'm a little skeptical of your worries about the environmental impact of reducing the bird population with more windmills.

[justidutch]

I wouldn't say cows are exactly holy either, seeing as how much methane they dump into our atmosphere !

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/cow-emissions-more-damaging-to-planet-than-co2-from-cars-427843.html

[PB666]

I wouldn't say cows are exactly holy either, seeing as how much methane they dump into our atmosphere !

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/cow-emissions-more-damaging-to-planet-than-co2-from-cars-427843.html

Eat buffulo! milk cows. Its against the law in the US to selll buffulo fed grain or lot fed.

[Albert VDS]

What's the problem with the noise anyway? There a lot more noisy things outside than windmills, but no one complains about that.

[Nuke]

Well, windmills also kill lots of birds, and they're still used in electricity production.

house cats kill far more birds than power generation ever will.

[sgt_flyer]

house cats kill far more birds than power generation ever will.

Yup, but how many cats vs how many windmills ?

[peadar1987]

Yup, but how many cats vs how many windmills ?

Well cats kill about 3 billion birds per annum in the US, whereas wind turbines kill about 300,000, so 10,000 birds killed by cats by every one killed by a wind turbine.

There are 49,000 wind turbines in the US, which means each turbine kills about 6 birds per year.

There are up to 100 million domestic cats in the US, which means each cat kills about 30 birds per year.

Your average cat is about 5 times more lethal than your average turbine, and significantly worse at generating electricity!

[PB666]

Well cats kill about 3 billion birds per annum in the US, whereas wind turbines kill about 300,000, so 10,000 birds killed by cats by every one killed by a wind turbine.

There are 49,000 wind turbines in the US, which means each turbine kills about 6 birds per year.

There are up to 100 million domestic cats in the US, which means each cat kills about 30 birds per year.

Your average cat is about 5 times more lethal than your average turbine, and significantly worse at generating electricity!

Create a large exercise wheel and tie the birds by their feet so the cats cannot reach them, place a generator on the wheel..........problem solved. :^)