Friday, August 1, 2008

A solar power breakthrough?

MT pointed to this:
'Major discovery' from MIT primed to unleash solar revolution, Anne Trafton, News Office: In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine. ...

More engineering work needs to be done to integrate the new scientific discovery into existing photovoltaic systems, but Nocera said he is confident that such systems will become a reality. ...

And a commenter:
As an engineer, I smile at the sentence "More engineering work needs to be done...". Ah, what years of sweat and tears and money burned hides behind that little innocuous sentence....

Pie in the sky? I hope not. I'm hoping to go solar in about 10 years when everything else has been paid for. Perhaps better storage technology will actually be in the market by then.

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