Today is a federal holiday in the states so my day is starting a little late/slower. To my suprise, this video is waiting in the YT notifications. Great way to start the morning by having coffee and listening to a great interview.
I could have listened to this conversation for at least another hour. Please make another follow-up video. Doctor Case is a fountain of knowledge, ideas and understanding, as well as being an excellent teacher. Imogen, your questions and summaries were on point and well-thought out. Thanks to both of you, and to the rest of the Fully Charged team, for making the video and for presenting this topic to us.
This was so informative and in depth whilst easy to follow. Absolutely fascinating to listen and watch and I definately could have listened longer. Great job!
That was not how I had been planning to spend the last hour but I am glad I did. A fascinating episode with a really interesting guest and excellently tied together by Imogen.
Great stuff. Always enjoy these podcasts. Interesting to hear that the cost of solar panels is no longer the determining factor in the cost of a solar installation but all the peripheral devices - inverters, electrical cabling, installation etc. Heard about Perovskite a few years ago but also the major issues back then. Amazing that these new and better technologies are coming forward so quickly.
I love an interview like this cause the honesty is vital - science & Technology in the right hands is AWESOME - and PEOPLE matter - and yes - when the costs do come down we all gain that little bit of liberation. Thank You for giving us hope.👏
I keep being told that the price of solar panels has fallen through the floor but………….. I bought a complete solar installation from Hanergy via IKEA (yes that IKEA) fully installed and connected to the grid and FITS for £5750 (after 15% discount for using my Family Card!) in 2012 - this was 39 x small solar panels to give a 3.9Kw capability, with inverter and generation meter, including scaffolding and labour . Now when I look to add the same size system on the other side of my roof I’m being quoted more than double that for a system without any battery - adding that doubles the price again. So where have the huge drops in the price of solar since then gone to?
Yes...I installed a 4 kw system 10 years ago for about that price ..and I don't think a 4kw roof solar system is any cheaper now despite all the massive price drops I keep hearing about. I think the installers are just looking for more profits and not passing any price reductions on at all.
A 3.9kw system is just not something youd go for these days. Typically youd be looking at something like a 10 Kw system for a typical house. But mainly the cost reduction is in the amount of power a single panel generates. I Had like 70KW panels back in the day, now they are typically over 400-500KW. And so that also means you need alot less panels.
It sounds like you need to find another quote. In October 2024 I was quoted just under £2700 for an 8 x 420W system. Extra panels each added about £200 to the quote, so around £3100 for 4.2kW. On the same quote, a 4.7kWh battery was an extra £2164. For comparison I got a quote for exactly the same system the previous year (2023) and the cost then was £4200 for the 8 panels and £3600 for the battery. Given that installation made up around £1000 of the 2024 quote, applying that to the 2023 quote implies that the cost of the panels has roughly halved in price in the last couple of years.
There was an article the other day about how manufactured diamonds are now indistinguishible to Natural diamond but retail for 1/4 the price. The thing is they only cost 1/14 the price wholesale. As the cost reduces retailers pad their margins.
This was by far the most interesting, well explained and therefore entertaining episode of this programme that I've ever seen. Full marks to Dr Chris Case for his ability to make complex matters so easily understood. I wish all science could be so clear. Only moan: The sound was really duff in places. Not at all clear and dropping fragments of speech. Made it hard to follow. Or perhaps it's my phone and Bluetooth speaker? I don't know. But if the sound could be re-engineered, I'd love to rewatch this to further improve my knowledge of the area. Thanks.
I went all-in with solar when I built an almost-tiny passive solar home nine years ago. The PV array and passive solar heating and cooling is only half of the equation; the other half is making the house very efficient and adopting smart consumption habits is the other half.
I'd love to hear what Chris's opinion is on "quantum dot" solar cells. I was reading about these, but I'm not sure how seriously to take it. Because the article was boasting about how - in the lab, at least - they could actually push for 67% efficiency. Which is yet another step change higher again. And the explanation didn't sound too outrageous. Because "quantum dots" are a real thing - found in some modern TV sets, so they can be mass-produced at scale (at reasonable cost, because though QD TV sets aren't the cheapest, they're also not vastly more expensive to non-QD TVs of similar sizes), as that's already happening for a different application - which are able, via a quantum effect, to change the frequency of light. So the basic concept is that the Sun's light comes in many frequencies - some stronger than others - but you'd use layers of "quantum dots" to step the frequency up or down to match the bandgap of the photoelectric material. Take the Sun's blue / UV light and then change its frequency to the IR that the PV material is good at absorbing. And, you know, in my wild imagination, I'm picturing perovskite cells - because they're thin film and cheaper than silicon - with "quantum dots" attached, that funnels all the different frequencies of sunlight into perovskite's bandgap. For yet another step change, up to maybe that quoted 67%. Of course, we all know to be cautious. There are new "breakthroughs" reported in solar and batteries all the time that you never hear anything more about. But this sounded more plausible to me than most, simply because "quantum dots" are not a theoretical thing. They are already being used in TV sets to improve quality and saturation. They're already mass produced at a large scale in that industry (as a single TV screen has many millions of pixels). Thus, if it's true that you can use quantum dots to funnel the stronger frequencies of sunlight into the bandgaps of PV materials, then this could further help efficiencies to soar.
@@lua-nya Yeah, it sounds good. But that's why I'm a little hesitant, as you know what they say about things that sound too good to be true... ...but, at the same time, the article I read also made perfectly plausible sense and didn't seem like hyperbole. Quantum dots are a real thing actually in mass production for consumer products right now - so we know they can be mass-manufactured economically - and the article had a graph showing the frequency spectrum of sunlight, pointing out (as Chris does in this video too) that a problem for efficiency is that the sun is shining brightest in frequencies that photovoltaic materials don't absorb too well. The "bandgap" is in the wrong place. So the proposal - which sounded reasonable - was using quantum dots to change the frequencies of sunlight to "funnel" them all towards that bandgap and that's why, they suggested, they could achieve such high efficiencies. They're attempting to not leave any sunlight on the table, but try to funnel it all to electricity generation. The whole thing might be bollocks, admittedly. I don't know. But the article made sense, and it's talking about a thing that already exists and is economically mass-produced right now, so there was no obvious impediments that I could see to what they were saying. So, yeah, I'm not saying that this is definitely a thing. But it sounded good and plausible - and if it were a thing, to step change up to 3 times more electricity generated for the same area of PVs (compared to silicon) would absolutely make solar a "no brainer". Solar roofs already make a lot of sense for many people - if they suddenly made three times more sense, paid for themselves in a third of the time, etc. then the calculus would become compelling for pretty much everyone. This was why I was courting Chris's opinion. Because if this is a real thing, then he'd know about it (if he's not looking into it himself, then he'd know whether his rivals are taking this seriously).
the last section re decentralized power took my interest, as installing PV with batteries on a home away from 'the grid' and fuel supply lines, will enable these people to become educated and have a better life style. Also, for the rest of us, having solar and batteries could take the pressure off the grid and provide local energy security.
I enjoyed this podcast. In the spirit of your last point. Covering Texas with PVs. I wondered how much power you could get from covering the deck of a large container ship with PVs and would it be enough to get moving. Short answer, yes but at 12.7 knots instead of the usual 16. These vessels cost 2 billion and taking 26% longer each trip might not add up on the balance sheet but it is more feasable than I thought
Fascinating I remember my Father having a light meter for photography using Selenium. I never previously considered that this was connected with the solar panels on my roof.
Made me cry with frustration re the third world countries. Have recently covered East and West facing roofs with solar panels but the grey weather this winter is very frustrating, is this now going to happen every winter?
I have a large PV system which is great for many months of the year but these low light months with gloom are hopeless. Is there something that works better in low light ? The bi sided pannels look better but are they worth it. I have a NW facing roof left to fill
To Imogen - I pronounce it per-OV-skite, possibly a relic of Russian O level a very long time ago or a crystallography course at university. Almost p'rovskite, but not quite. Not PER-ovskite. With that out if the way, this is a brilliant podcast episode. Keep them going!
Tony Seba predicts nearly free energy due to solar and batteries. It would be interesting if you could go into how this would work out for the energy providers and how they would make money if this would happen. What timeline are we looking at? It would be great if electricity prices would go down soon in the UK!
great stuff but I would have loved to see some tables and diagrams - as I'm a visual learner - especially of how a PV cell works and of the final calculations of how much land in needed to supply the world's needs through solar - spoiler =the size of Texas.
Solar panel introduction and that material was found in same year because when big planets like saturn rahu or jupiter come to specific zodiac sign they unlock entire thing related to that energy of zodiac. Which is usually can be clubbed together.
That is a question I would ask. I can remember the 1970's where President Jimmy Carter and Congress at the time really increased research into solar power, and spent billions on it. Then when President Reagan came into office, he cut all the research spending for solar power. I was wondering where we would be with solar if they keep researching solar power.
Around 75% of people will live in cities by 2050, and cities are excellent places to put solar panels - on rooftops, shading roads & car parks, as noise barriers along highways, as fencing... perhaps even as roadways. Solar panels are also great at shading many agri-plants (i.e, agrivoltaics), awa waterways. The possibilities are endless. Of course some countries have better solar potential than others. I wonder when the UN will start talking about a global electricity grid? Africa has enough wind to power the whole world, awa massive solar potential (as long as we don't interrupt ecosystems & wildlife migration pathways etc). Coastal cities can take advantage of off-shore wind as a backup.
When folks talk about nuclear fusion, I like to make a slightly tongue-in-cheek joke to satirically make a point. Why should I trust that we'll make good use of a "mini Sun down on Earth", when humanity is not yet taking proper advantage of the free nuclear reactor we already have in the sky? Like, I'm not altogether serious there. But you hopefully get the gist of the point. When I see so many roofs covering vast areas of urban sprawl without any solar - we're not even scratching the surface of what's possible - and we're not bothering too much to exploit the free nuclear reactor we've already got. Then even if we had economically viable sustained nuclear fusion down here on Earth, why should I have any trust whatsoever that it'll be properly exploited? We're not even trying with what we've already got - and which is freely available - so why should I believe that this tough, expensive, difficult thing of recreating a sustained nuclear fusion reactor here on Earth will go any better? It's like all the push for hydrogen cars. It's not because it actually makes sense, it's because it maintains the "we produce it, you pay for it" model for making massive profits from what should be a basic necessity for all.
Highest cost at present is the installation? Oregan company now selling 2 axis panels that are on a 20ftpole to allow for life underneath without fences etc..!
With continuing developments in solar and batteries, we will be able to break the stranglehold of our corrupt fossil fuel cartels and electric utility monopolies! That’ll enable regular people to build wealth instead of building wealth only for oligarchs!
Instead of spending money on large solar farms and enhancing the grid, why not subsidise commercial and manufacturing to built on their rooftops? Afterr transmission losses, levies and markups by the time it reaches the consumer, would it not be cheaper in the long run? The money should be spent on local infrastucture, such as substations and batteries (storage).
I'm not sure he's presents to mixed audience much, sort of stream of thought, and a lot of one off comments. Interesting but not as zippy as this channel tends to be. Probably why it's so long. Enjoy with a meal. Or you'll miss lots of golden nuggets. Good job by our moderator, Imogen Bhogal.
Imogen smiling like a like a kid in a candy store. There's so much positivity here on a day when an orange man singlehandedly wants to destroy the planet so his rich buddies get even richer. 😮
Why hasn't the UK government sorted out funding for this company so the panels are built here, in a purpose built factory? It's absolutely crazy to be wasting time on a UK based company and sharing the financial rewards with Germany. Give them everything they need to deploy an enormous factory here and make the UK a powerhouse (no pun intended) of PV manufacturing.
The plant in Germany is due to partnerships, which reduce the risk of developing technologies. However, it's a trial production facility to producer cells for grid energy generator customers around the world. Also developing pervoskite manufacturing process and equipment that can bolt on to existing silicon only PV production lines. However, OxfordPV are also following a licensing model (similar to other successful UK tech starts ups like Arm holdings), providing IP and manufacuring know-how and equipment sources for other PV manufacturers to produce PV cells. This will ramp up global production much quicker and a lower overall risk that productuon by a single company.
Small (and honestly unimportant) correction. Earth is 510 million square kilometers in area, and considering it's 1,000,000 square meters per square kilometer, that means earth is 510 trillion square meters, not 10 billion :p At 29% land coverage that's 148.362 trillion square meters. At 500,000 cubic meters of perovskite over an area of 10,000,000,000 square meters, it comes out to 0.00005 cubic meters per square meter, which would mean 0.00005*148.362 trillion square meters, giving 7,500,000,000 cubic meters assuming the same calculations. Regardless the main point still stands, it requires very little solar PV's to power the entire worlds needs.
The One Sun, One World, One Grid global initiative takes advantage of this point plus that the Earth has a sun belt where maximum solar radiance can be collected.
Because our governments are too stupid to incentivise modern factories to come here and the Germans weren't. It's not that they didn't want it here, it's that they couldn't afford to build it here. We should be acting on this and doing everything we can to invest with them and make their next factory a modern, purpose built facility which can truly output large quantities of panels. That's how Tesla got funded and they paid off their loans as quickly as possible so they were out of that agreement - it wouldn't actually cost the UK anything to fund this as we'd get the money back and have a factory producing money for our economy.
Back to reality, the German factory is due to a partnership with a Swiss PV production line equipment manufacturer. OxfordPV are not only innovating the science of tandem solar cells they're establishing the commercialisation process and production technology. Their approach is to prove the technology in the field at scale at utility customer sites, for whom the extra generation efficiency at higher initial price is cost effective, then license the technology as a complete solution to worldwide PV manufacturers. This removes the risk of scale out and competition in non-core areas whilst enabling the technology to become universal more quickly. Given the viewpoint of locallised production expessed in the video, then a UK solar PV partner could indeed use their technology to produce for the local market. Even UKSOL, a UK PV panel manufacturer only performs assembly in the UK, the components are made in China, Turkey and Spain. This is true of most manufacturing in the UK, if not all parts of the world, these days.
Was just now having a down moment, next thing Imogen shows up to talk about solar pv! Like two of my favourite things. Ok now I'm gunna watch this.
Good. Good.Good. Good.
Cheers to being cheered up by Imogen!
Today is a federal holiday in the states so my day is starting a little late/slower. To my suprise, this video is waiting in the YT notifications. Great way to start the morning by having coffee and listening to a great interview.
@@steve32627and then spend the rest of the day listening to crazy talk from that orange man baby that the u.s has just made president 😂
❤ I'm so so proud that uk is involved in this Thankfully Doc Case who sounds like a God in the the would of solar is here to work with us.😊
I could have listened to this conversation for at least another hour. Please make another follow-up video. Doctor Case is a fountain of knowledge, ideas and understanding, as well as being an excellent teacher. Imogen, your questions and summaries were on point and well-thought out. Thanks to both of you, and to the rest of the Fully Charged team, for making the video and for presenting this topic to us.
This is THE BEST episode so far, Imogen. Bar none. Wow. Full stop.
What an absolutely fascinating episode! Thanks so much.
This was so informative and in depth whilst easy to follow. Absolutely fascinating to listen and watch and I definately could have listened longer. Great job!
☀️Imogen's smile is the living Sun that shines all the energy the World could possibly need
This was my favourite by Imogen by far love her enthusiasm and her huge smile 😊
That was not how I had been planning to spend the last hour but I am glad I did. A fascinating episode with a really interesting guest and excellently tied together by Imogen.
Another great episode. An incredibly knowledgeable and articulate guest. Fantastic antidote to all the naysayers.
I love the optimism of this episode which is supported by the progress of development over time since that wonderful year of 1839 😅
Absolutely riveted to this excellent podcast!
Fascinating
Fascinating! Great speaker.
I love the way Imogen steps in occasionally and summarises points in a concise digestible way.
Great stuff. Always enjoy these podcasts. Interesting to hear that the cost of solar panels is no longer the determining factor in the cost of a solar installation but all the peripheral devices - inverters, electrical cabling, installation etc. Heard about Perovskite a few years ago but also the major issues back then. Amazing that these new and better technologies are coming forward so quickly.
Excellent episode!
Absolutely adore this 💯
Fab podcast, thanks.
Great information! Thank you from 🇨🇦
I love an interview like this cause the honesty is vital - science & Technology in the right hands is AWESOME - and PEOPLE matter - and yes - when the costs do come down we all gain that little bit of liberation. Thank You for giving us hope.👏
Really interesting… I always wondered why the efficiency of panels is so low. And now they’re making amazing progress. Thanks Imogen
Yeah! !
Dr. Chris Case, CTO of Oxford PV, about the groundbreaking potential of perovskite tandem solar cells and the future of solar energy.
Excellent! Imogen, that is the best podcast episode i have lesioned to this year, Well done!
thanks
Outstanding
I keep being told that the price of solar panels has fallen through the floor but………….. I bought a complete solar installation from Hanergy via IKEA (yes that IKEA) fully installed and connected to the grid and FITS for £5750 (after 15% discount for using my Family Card!) in 2012 - this was 39 x small solar panels to give a 3.9Kw capability, with inverter and generation meter, including scaffolding and labour . Now when I look to add the same size system on the other side of my roof I’m being quoted more than double that for a system without any battery - adding that doubles the price again. So where have the huge drops in the price of solar since then gone to?
Yes...I installed a 4 kw system 10 years ago for about that price ..and I don't think a 4kw roof solar system is any cheaper now despite all the massive price drops I keep hearing about. I think the installers are just looking for more profits and not passing any price reductions on at all.
I agree completely. There is no evidence in the prices I can get of any reduction.
A 3.9kw system is just not something youd go for these days. Typically youd be looking at something like a 10 Kw system for a typical house. But mainly the cost reduction is in the amount of power a single panel generates. I Had like 70KW panels back in the day, now they are typically over 400-500KW. And so that also means you need alot less panels.
It sounds like you need to find another quote.
In October 2024 I was quoted just under £2700 for an 8 x 420W system. Extra panels each added about £200 to the quote, so around £3100 for 4.2kW.
On the same quote, a 4.7kWh battery was an extra £2164.
For comparison I got a quote for exactly the same system the previous year (2023) and the cost then was £4200 for the 8 panels and £3600 for the battery.
Given that installation made up around £1000 of the 2024 quote, applying that to the 2023 quote implies that the cost of the panels has roughly halved in price in the last couple of years.
There was an article the other day about how manufactured diamonds are now indistinguishible to Natural diamond but retail for 1/4 the price. The thing is they only cost 1/14 the price wholesale. As the cost reduces retailers pad their margins.
The modern solar cell is Australia’s gift to the world.
This was by far the most interesting, well explained and therefore entertaining episode of this programme that I've ever seen. Full marks to Dr Chris Case for his ability to make complex matters so easily understood. I wish all science could be so clear.
Only moan: The sound was really duff in places. Not at all clear and dropping fragments of speech. Made it hard to follow. Or perhaps it's my phone and Bluetooth speaker? I don't know. But if the sound could be re-engineered, I'd love to rewatch this to further improve my knowledge of the area.
Thanks.
I went all-in with solar when I built an almost-tiny passive solar home nine years ago. The PV array and passive solar heating and cooling is only half of the equation; the other half is making the house very efficient and adopting smart consumption habits is the other half.
I'd love to hear what Chris's opinion is on "quantum dot" solar cells.
I was reading about these, but I'm not sure how seriously to take it.
Because the article was boasting about how - in the lab, at least - they could actually push for 67% efficiency. Which is yet another step change higher again.
And the explanation didn't sound too outrageous.
Because "quantum dots" are a real thing - found in some modern TV sets, so they can be mass-produced at scale (at reasonable cost, because though QD TV sets aren't the cheapest, they're also not vastly more expensive to non-QD TVs of similar sizes), as that's already happening for a different application - which are able, via a quantum effect, to change the frequency of light.
So the basic concept is that the Sun's light comes in many frequencies - some stronger than others - but you'd use layers of "quantum dots" to step the frequency up or down to match the bandgap of the photoelectric material. Take the Sun's blue / UV light and then change its frequency to the IR that the PV material is good at absorbing.
And, you know, in my wild imagination, I'm picturing perovskite cells - because they're thin film and cheaper than silicon - with "quantum dots" attached, that funnels all the different frequencies of sunlight into perovskite's bandgap. For yet another step change, up to maybe that quoted 67%.
Of course, we all know to be cautious. There are new "breakthroughs" reported in solar and batteries all the time that you never hear anything more about. But this sounded more plausible to me than most, simply because "quantum dots" are not a theoretical thing. They are already being used in TV sets to improve quality and saturation. They're already mass produced at a large scale in that industry (as a single TV screen has many millions of pixels).
Thus, if it's true that you can use quantum dots to funnel the stronger frequencies of sunlight into the bandgaps of PV materials, then this could further help efficiencies to soar.
Great idea!
That'd be exciting if it reaches mass production anywhere near that number, let us keep watching.
@@lua-nya Yeah, it sounds good.
But that's why I'm a little hesitant, as you know what they say about things that sound too good to be true...
...but, at the same time, the article I read also made perfectly plausible sense and didn't seem like hyperbole.
Quantum dots are a real thing actually in mass production for consumer products right now - so we know they can be mass-manufactured economically - and the article had a graph showing the frequency spectrum of sunlight, pointing out (as Chris does in this video too) that a problem for efficiency is that the sun is shining brightest in frequencies that photovoltaic materials don't absorb too well. The "bandgap" is in the wrong place.
So the proposal - which sounded reasonable - was using quantum dots to change the frequencies of sunlight to "funnel" them all towards that bandgap and that's why, they suggested, they could achieve such high efficiencies. They're attempting to not leave any sunlight on the table, but try to funnel it all to electricity generation.
The whole thing might be bollocks, admittedly. I don't know. But the article made sense, and it's talking about a thing that already exists and is economically mass-produced right now, so there was no obvious impediments that I could see to what they were saying.
So, yeah, I'm not saying that this is definitely a thing. But it sounded good and plausible - and if it were a thing, to step change up to 3 times more electricity generated for the same area of PVs (compared to silicon) would absolutely make solar a "no brainer". Solar roofs already make a lot of sense for many people - if they suddenly made three times more sense, paid for themselves in a third of the time, etc. then the calculus would become compelling for pretty much everyone.
This was why I was courting Chris's opinion. Because if this is a real thing, then he'd know about it (if he's not looking into it himself, then he'd know whether his rivals are taking this seriously).
the last section re decentralized power took my interest, as installing PV with batteries on a home away from 'the grid' and fuel supply lines, will enable these people to become educated and have a better life style. Also, for the rest of us, having solar and batteries could take the pressure off the grid and provide local energy security.
I enjoyed this podcast. In the spirit of your last point. Covering Texas with PVs. I wondered how much power you could get from covering the deck of a large container ship with PVs and would it be enough to get moving. Short answer, yes but at 12.7 knots instead of the usual 16. These vessels cost 2 billion and taking 26% longer each trip might not add up on the balance sheet but it is more feasable than I thought
Great conversation.
I have been enjoyed, so thank you for sharing.
Fascinating I remember my Father having a light meter for photography using Selenium. I never previously considered that this was connected with the solar panels on my roof.
Made me cry with frustration re the third world countries.
Have recently covered East and West facing roofs with solar panels but the grey weather this winter is very frustrating, is this now going to happen every winter?
Innovation is fascinating.
I have a large PV system which is great for many months of the year but these low light months with gloom are hopeless. Is there something that works better in low light ? The bi sided pannels look better but are they worth it.
I have a NW facing roof left to fill
To Imogen - I pronounce it per-OV-skite, possibly a relic of Russian O level a very long time ago or a crystallography course at university. Almost p'rovskite, but not quite. Not PER-ovskite.
With that out if the way, this is a brilliant podcast episode. Keep them going!
I pronounce it Perov-SKITE!.
Tony Seba predicts nearly free energy due to solar and batteries. It would be interesting if you could go into how this would work out for the energy providers and how they would make money if this would happen. What timeline are we looking at? It would be great if electricity prices would go down soon in the UK!
great stuff but I would have loved to see some tables and diagrams - as I'm a visual learner - especially of how a PV cell works and of the final calculations of how much land in needed to supply the world's needs through solar - spoiler =the size of Texas.
Solar panel introduction and that material was found in same year because when big planets like saturn rahu or jupiter come to specific zodiac sign they unlock entire thing related to that energy of zodiac. Which is usually can be clubbed together.
Great scientist, i could hear him clearly but couldn't see his mic.
It would have been interesting if they discussed whether the price drop on solar cells could have happened before the 2010s.
That is a question I would ask. I can remember the 1970's where President Jimmy Carter and Congress at the time really increased research into solar power, and spent billions on it. Then when President Reagan came into office, he cut all the research spending for solar power. I was wondering where we would be with solar if they keep researching solar power.
if we slap thermo electric generator in the back of the solar panel it can generate electricity from the heating of panel as well.
Around 75% of people will live in cities by 2050, and cities are excellent places to put solar panels - on rooftops, shading roads & car parks, as noise barriers along highways, as fencing... perhaps even as roadways.
Solar panels are also great at shading many agri-plants (i.e, agrivoltaics), awa waterways. The possibilities are endless.
Of course some countries have better solar potential than others. I wonder when the UN will start talking about a global electricity grid? Africa has enough wind to power the whole world, awa massive solar potential (as long as we don't interrupt ecosystems & wildlife migration pathways etc).
Coastal cities can take advantage of off-shore wind as a backup.
When folks talk about nuclear fusion, I like to make a slightly tongue-in-cheek joke to satirically make a point.
Why should I trust that we'll make good use of a "mini Sun down on Earth", when humanity is not yet taking proper advantage of the free nuclear reactor we already have in the sky?
Like, I'm not altogether serious there. But you hopefully get the gist of the point.
When I see so many roofs covering vast areas of urban sprawl without any solar - we're not even scratching the surface of what's possible - and we're not bothering too much to exploit the free nuclear reactor we've already got.
Then even if we had economically viable sustained nuclear fusion down here on Earth, why should I have any trust whatsoever that it'll be properly exploited?
We're not even trying with what we've already got - and which is freely available - so why should I believe that this tough, expensive, difficult thing of recreating a sustained nuclear fusion reactor here on Earth will go any better?
It's like all the push for hydrogen cars. It's not because it actually makes sense, it's because it maintains the "we produce it, you pay for it" model for making massive profits from what should be a basic necessity for all.
Highest cost at present is the installation? Oregan company now selling 2 axis panels that are on a 20ftpole to allow for life underneath without fences etc..!
With continuing developments in solar and batteries, we will be able to break the stranglehold of our corrupt fossil fuel cartels and electric utility monopolies! That’ll enable regular people to build wealth instead of building wealth only for oligarchs!
Instead of spending money on large solar farms and enhancing the grid, why not subsidise commercial and manufacturing to built on their rooftops? Afterr transmission losses, levies and markups by the time it reaches the consumer, would it not be cheaper in the long run? The money should be spent on local infrastucture, such as substations and batteries (storage).
52:15 if they don't have capacity for residential solar they should partner with big solar makers of china or india to spread it rapidly
I'm not sure he's presents to mixed audience much, sort of stream of thought, and a lot of one off comments. Interesting but not as zippy as this channel tends to be. Probably why it's so long. Enjoy with a meal. Or you'll miss lots of golden nuggets. Good job by our moderator, Imogen Bhogal.
💯👌
What happened to Einstein’s photoelectric effect story?
all these panels everywhere there must be a better solution on the long run or?
How can I get you to knock together this guy with the Octopus guy, and get both of them to talk to Starmer?
Imogen smiling like a like a kid in a candy store. There's so much positivity here on a day when an orange man singlehandedly wants to destroy the planet so his rich buddies get even richer. 😮
Why hasn't the UK government sorted out funding for this company so the panels are built here, in a purpose built factory? It's absolutely crazy to be wasting time on a UK based company and sharing the financial rewards with Germany. Give them everything they need to deploy an enormous factory here and make the UK a powerhouse (no pun intended) of PV manufacturing.
The plant in Germany is due to partnerships, which reduce the risk of developing technologies. However, it's a trial production facility to producer cells for grid energy generator customers around the world. Also developing pervoskite manufacturing process and equipment that can bolt on to existing silicon only PV production lines.
However, OxfordPV are also following a licensing model (similar to other successful UK tech starts ups like Arm holdings), providing IP and manufacuring know-how and equipment sources for other PV manufacturers to produce PV cells. This will ramp up global production much quicker and a lower overall risk that productuon by a single company.
Baghdad battery 250BC
Small (and honestly unimportant) correction. Earth is 510 million square kilometers in area, and considering it's 1,000,000 square meters per square kilometer, that means earth is 510 trillion square meters, not 10 billion :p
At 29% land coverage that's 148.362 trillion square meters.
At 500,000 cubic meters of perovskite over an area of 10,000,000,000 square meters, it comes out to 0.00005 cubic meters per square meter, which would mean 0.00005*148.362 trillion square meters, giving 7,500,000,000 cubic meters assuming the same calculations.
Regardless the main point still stands, it requires very little solar PV's to power the entire worlds needs.
The One Sun, One World, One Grid global initiative takes advantage of this point plus that the Earth has a sun belt where maximum solar radiance can be collected.
Why a German factory,? When will UK get solar manufacturing?
Because our governments are too stupid to incentivise modern factories to come here and the Germans weren't. It's not that they didn't want it here, it's that they couldn't afford to build it here. We should be acting on this and doing everything we can to invest with them and make their next factory a modern, purpose built facility which can truly output large quantities of panels. That's how Tesla got funded and they paid off their loans as quickly as possible so they were out of that agreement - it wouldn't actually cost the UK anything to fund this as we'd get the money back and have a factory producing money for our economy.
Back to reality, the German factory is due to a partnership with a Swiss PV production line equipment manufacturer.
OxfordPV are not only innovating the science of tandem solar cells they're establishing the commercialisation process and production technology. Their approach is to prove the technology in the field at scale at utility customer sites, for whom the extra generation efficiency at higher initial price is cost effective, then license the technology as a complete solution to worldwide PV manufacturers. This removes the risk of scale out and competition in non-core areas whilst enabling the technology to become universal more quickly.
Given the viewpoint of locallised production expessed in the video, then a UK solar PV partner could indeed use their technology to produce for the local market.
Even UKSOL, a UK PV panel manufacturer only performs assembly in the UK, the components are made in China, Turkey and Spain. This is true of most manufacturing in the UK, if not all parts of the world, these days.
Please use different mikes. The large one infront of the face is not a good idea!!!!!
I have an idea,
Box, vacuum, concentric mirrors *2 introduce light, 4 sides of box solar cells
Cooling is an issue.
If you cannot hear and understand what is being said, the programme becomes almost meaningless!
No no ty
Y not?