New House Thermal

Le mercredi 28 juin 2017 14:26:00 UTC+2, a écritÂ*:
On Wednesday, June 28, 2017 at 7:49:39 AM UTC-4, Tango Whisky wrote:
Le mercredi 28 juin 2017 13:36:44 UTC+2, a écritÂ*:

No. Let us know when they can build solar panels in a factory powered only by solar panels. Including refining the metal bits. Same for windmills. Chasing this stuff is a net negative for energy produced and the environment(and the economy.) Is it ironic that we land in cornfields but don't like ethanol in our gas?

Today's solar panels have an energy payback time of less than 2 years.
If you haven't noticed - the 80s and 90s are gone...

Bert TW
Payback including gov't subsidies. The 80's and 90's are gone...

Energy payback means that they have generated more energy than the energy used for their production. It doesn't say anything about payback in terms of cost.

Again, I'm not promoting anything. Any kind of energy has its own drawbacks, and there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Take a look at our home airfield now:

Ball Airport
145 Ball Airport Rd, Louisburg, NC 27549
36.134316, -78.281947

(Above address comes from Google Maps)

Notice the tobacco fields to the east and south of the runway (North is up).. They are quite large, but soon, so I've heard, some of the tobacco will give way to solar panels.

Right now, I've never found "boomers" there. I have, however, found some thermals there, and some just strong enough to keep me from falling any farther. Maybe the ponds influence that? Even when the fields are fallow, before the tobacco has been planted, nice thermals are just not normally there.

When the PV panels go in, it will be interesting to know if there's a change for the better...