The first commercial solar cell was purchased in 1953 by the US Army. At the time, the Army was in charge of the US attempt to put a satellite in outer space, and scientists there hoped to use solar cells to power the satellites once they were in orbit. They succeeded a few years later - and you can see the solar cells on the body of the satellite in these photos! www.deepspace.ucsb.edu/outreach/the-space-race/the-story-of-vanguard Thanks for watching!

@xanthespace5141

Жыл бұрын

Ah, so close to the anniversary of human spaceflight! Wish you had some videos on the Space Race or something

@alainpannetier2543

Жыл бұрын

I think it's worth mentioning that, by heavily subsiding solar energy when there was no strong business case for it, Germany unlocked the potential for transformation at the scale of the planet. They created a market large enough to enable a big drop of costs and prices. This then benefited China as a supplier; but beyond the immediate trade aspects, we all benefit from this inspired foresight because, *now*. developing countries don't have to install cheap coal power station to fuel their growth. The cheapest solutions are now based on solar, of which they have plenty. The best part is that solar and wind power don't require a costly national electric grid. Production and consumption are local and can scale up and down. Deployment is fast and modular. Need more power? Install new panels. Need more storage? Install new batteries. I hope that what's left of the pro-nuclear crowds realize that nuclear energy would never have been so impactful on climate and that they stop vilifying Germany.

@geniunerf4868

Жыл бұрын

Producing batteries for storage makes it not sooo clean energy

@alainpannetier2543

Жыл бұрын

@@geniunerf4868 " Producing batteries for storage makes it not sooo clean energy" So car batteries are clean but solar panel batteries are not?

@secularmonk5176

Жыл бұрын

As was mentioned in the final moments of the vid, what we need now is good energy storage ... cuz solar and wind don't necessarily produce power when the grid needs it most. On top of that, the grid will need to be modified because currently it is built around a "flywheel" model, where the sheer mass of the natural gas and coal turbines keeps the grid stable for the few minutes it takes to adjust to switches in supply to meet demand. Solid state batteries storing renewable power, or water reservoirs with gravity storage, operate at a different scale. It's not impossible, but don't assume all we need is public support and a snap of the fingers.

Man, Reagan really took a look at everything cool America was doing and took that personally.

@TheVerendus

Жыл бұрын

Him and his medusa of a wife. Single-handedly responsible for a lot of the woe the country faces now. It should be a national pastime to desecrate the Reagans' graves.

@catboynestormakhno2694

Жыл бұрын

@@TheVerendus it should be an international passtime

@AndrewBehm

Жыл бұрын

So true!

@hypergraphic

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, Reagan was definitely one of the worst Presidents in recent memory, in my opinion.

@ThierryVerhoeven

Жыл бұрын

To illustrate: when Jimmy Carter was president solar panels were placed on the roof of the White House, which were removed during the Reagan administration. A completely pointless act since they were already installed and paid for. Nothing was gained by removing them.

If anything, solar technology is going to be extremely transformational in the development of the global south. Cities in my country Zimbabwe have been installing solar powered street lighting, saving millions in their energy bills.

@Rainbowhawk1993

Жыл бұрын

I wish you the best.

@TheAmericanAmerican

Жыл бұрын

Based! Solarize EVERYTHING!!!

@Kartoffelbrei-zv6yc

Жыл бұрын

your country is a mess bruv, wish you the best

@a.p.6580

Жыл бұрын

Very good. Investing in renewable sources is the BEST thing to invest in, and does wonders in the Global South because it's both cheap and does not come with the disadvantage of beign reliant on other countries like fossil fuels.

@Student0Toucher

Жыл бұрын

Zimbabwe is a hilarious name

Adds another thing to the "Ronald Reagan ruined it" list

@Chris-wq3pe

Жыл бұрын

Ronny Ray-Gun

@robertkirchner7981

Жыл бұрын

Add another thing to the "Carter was a better president than anyone thought at the time" list.

@JohnVKaravitis

Жыл бұрын

How so?

@technicolordiode9891

Жыл бұрын

@@JohnVKaravitis gulp gulp

@luisfilipe2023

Жыл бұрын

What does regan have to do with anything lol

Energy got cheaper while housing market more expensive, what a time to be alive

@caharlie2127

Жыл бұрын

2minutepapers

@Emerald_Forge

Жыл бұрын

​@@caharlie2127 I love his videos but why are you just randomly commenting that?

@Eoin-B

Жыл бұрын

Everything got cheaper in the last 20 years and housing swallowed up the savings.

@BeMyArt

Жыл бұрын

So rich could be richer again. Magnificent truly ❤

@caharlie2127

Жыл бұрын

@@Emerald_Forge it’s cause i was wondering if he was quoting, although it is a common saying ‘what a time to be alive’ which is twominutepapers catchphrase

I remember learning about solar power in junior high in 07-09. My tech teacher said you’d only find solar panels on the homes of rich people. Fast forward to now and there are middle class homes across the city with owners who can afford to put solar panels on their homes if they choose.

@majidmehmood3780

Жыл бұрын

you can find them in Africa, Afghanistan too

@averagecucumber

Жыл бұрын

Not just middle class homes but countries like Singapore have based their life around solar power. Phenomenal whaat humans can achieve in such small specks of duration.

@lovestein92

Жыл бұрын

my house is one of the only ones without solar in my neighborhood in california. there’s nothing but great things you hear about them

@illbeyourmonster3591

Жыл бұрын

@@averagecucumber You mean the other 90% of their power that comes from fossil fuels doesn't count? I'm guessing that you don't know about how the rest of us can use the internet either?

@RaterProTrickster

Жыл бұрын

Even work well in England. People who have them here tend to make money back as the remaining gets sold to the grid.

As a german, it makes me sad that 20 years ago, we were doing so well and now, after 16 years of conservative governments with ties to the coal industry, we're lacking behind so greatly...

@nimicmo

Жыл бұрын

Indeed, we get a little bit too much credit in this video imo

@SomePotato

Жыл бұрын

@@nimicmo It truly was vitally important for the solar industry as a whole. But you can blame the conservatives for killing the German solar industry.

@udishomer5852

Жыл бұрын

Germany is not lagging behind in solar energy. Even with a low number of sunny hours per year, Germany has the 3rd highest solar deployments per capita in the world (after Netherlands and Australia).

@SomePotato

Жыл бұрын

@@udishomer5852 Sorry for being unclear. Germany used to have a world-leading industry manufacturing solar panels. We still install them, we just install Chinese panels these days.

@gasdive

Жыл бұрын

Think how I feel living in New South Wales where we lead the world in solar panel technology, only to completely ignore it for so long that the Chinese finally said, "if you're not going to do it, we may as well".

"Eventhough Germany is not the sunniest place in the world." I felt that.

Vox always explains stuff so clearly

@SomeKidFromBritain

Жыл бұрын

Simp

@David-dv6yv

Жыл бұрын

🤣😂😂😂

@Handle35667

Жыл бұрын

Clown comment for sure

@colincolenso

Жыл бұрын

You should be in prison for being so foolish Blackjack.

@qihaoliu3631

Жыл бұрын

Uhm they completely ignored the scientific and engineering breakthroughs of solar efficiency and solely focused on political policies. Governments are the last thing I think of when dicussing PV costs

This research is more about economical side of how and why it got cheaper. One of the main reason of price drop was changing the material inside of solar panel. Back in 60's solar panels were used mainly in space applications and GaAs (Gallium Arsenide) were main material in panels in satellites. Then for commercial purposes mono silicas started to produce massively and then to drop the price we started to apply polysilicons, which has a little bit less efficiency, but produces more energy than mono cells. So, in conclusion, usage of cheaper yet effective elements made a key part in price drop as well, which weren't included here. (And yet because silica being not environmentally friendly, we're trying to find new better materials such as Perovskite based cells)

@dryzalizer

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for mentioning the materials, if all these panels are being deployed worldwide they need to be as recyclable as possible when their lifespan ends.

@udishomer5852

Жыл бұрын

Technologically you are correct, but the reason to all this technological progress was governments funding research and subsidizing solar energy deployment. Governments pushed the technological developments much faster then it would have happened naturally.

@nisbahmumtaz909

Жыл бұрын

@@udishomer5852 the issue i have with the video is they highlight pretty much everything about the market development EXCEPT on the actual technological developments no idea why they got polisci writers and moore's law enjoyers to cover this instead of actual engineers

@acchaladka

Жыл бұрын

​@TheBoy Meister because technology improvements don't make the market. The market doesn't progress as fast as it could otherwise if technology remains static but the economics make the transaction go, not vice-versa usually.

@jpcool95480

Жыл бұрын

This is fair, the market plays a big role. But multiple order of magnitude decreases in cost are largely linked to scientific advancements that drastically change the game.

I’ve been telling everyone for years, when I was in grad school for chemistry the groups that had the most money, publications, and success were always the ones that did research on solar. I have no doubt it’s the way it’s the way of the future

@andrewyang7763

Жыл бұрын

this and batteries -- lots of money to be made in these emerging industries

@chickenleg440

Жыл бұрын

why try to harness the power of something we have no control over? at least with nuclear, coal, and natural gas we can control the output of electricity, we have no such control over solar and wind. highly dangerous to try and harness the power of nature, as nature is extremely unpredictable.

@MrSupernova111

Жыл бұрын

Rich people were, and still are, getting subsidies funded by you, the tax payer, to put solar panels on their roof. You should have also taken an economic class so you better understand how people like Elon Musk gets rich beyond belief on the backs of the working class.

@Valentin-oc5nh

Жыл бұрын

when we finally have sustainable batteries we only need solar and wind

“Something good is happening in my country? Not on my watch” -Ronald Reagan

I got solar installed last summer. Expensive up front, but after tax credit and rebates was estimated to be about $16k. It's already made back over $1500 in under 10 months, putting me on track for ~8 year breakeven. Even better, I was informed a while back that the SREC prices went up, meaning my rebate amount will go up by about $2300, so my actual net cost will be around $14k. I'm in the Chicago suburbs, not exactly where you'd think of first for cost effective solar.

@RealRiders

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing. Unfortunately, $16k is still expensive compared to other countries, and Solar salesmen are predatory at most. Can I ask what's your interests rate on your loan?

@Tesserex

Жыл бұрын

@@RealRiders no loan, I bought outright. I agree the price is still too high for most. It's a 13.5 kW system though, a bit on the large side for residential.

@RealRiders

Жыл бұрын

@@Tesserex Thanks for the reply. Buying outright is the way to go.

@ass4sale2

Жыл бұрын

I just put in for my solar system the total amount is coming to 62k in Maryland. 16000kw a year system. Anyone who says it's cheap is wrong cause 62k upfront is a lot of money.

@Tesserex

Жыл бұрын

@@ass4sale2 I just checked again, and my system is actually 14.4 kW, and it was $43k up front, so just a hair under $3 / watt. Yours is about $3.87 per watt. Who was your installer? Even so, you'll get almost two thirds of that back from the tax credit and SRECs.

On top of that now in Spain you can even divide the consumption of your different possessions under the same contract. That means that you can basically build your own powerplant and use it to reduce the payment on all your contracts. This is a game changer

@aturchomicz821

Жыл бұрын

The magic of Socialism✨✨

@TheSh00ty

Жыл бұрын

@@aturchomicz821 ???

@andresgarciacastro1783

5 ай бұрын

Only some companies allow that, unless your buildings are less than 2 km away, if i'm not mistaken.

yes really, 10 years ago I did not even imagine that something like this would be possible, but now when I travel around the country I see a lot of solar "farms", and even in my village two privat households have installed these solar panels, and I live in Moldova!!!

Everything always points to Reagon being the worst

@Phantom0123456

Жыл бұрын

Keep in mind Vox tends to lean towards the left and is more likely to paint Reagan negatively. Reagan's domestic policies weren't always the best, but he definitely wasn't anywhere near the worst president either, domestically speaking.. Definitely more "mid" to moderately below average if anything. That said, his foreign policy was actually fairly strong.

@youraveragekomodo

Жыл бұрын

Reagan has 'okay' domestic policy, but his foreign policy is just really, _really_ awful.

@Phantom0123456

Жыл бұрын

@youraveragekomodo You could make that argument. Some do. I think how Reagan handled the berlin wall and the Cold War as a whole was very strong. He had multiple failures in latin america but ultimately was a major figure heard in propelling the world out of the Cold War.

@aldeno8055

Жыл бұрын

@@Phantom0123456 He didn’t do nothing really in the Cold War the Berlin Wall wasn’t even his doing, only thing that was notable was the Iran Contra scandal internationally. The whole Iran hostage situation was suspicious as well given what happened later.

@EvilDransChannel

Жыл бұрын

@@Phantom0123456he really jump started income inequality with his trickle down economics, so I do believe he was one of the worst presidents.

I guess Jimmy Carter was ahead of his time. I remember growing up in Japan, solar water heater was quite common

@ShankarSivarajan

Жыл бұрын

He thought the world was running out of "fossil fuels." At 1:24, he calls supplies "dwindling." There's plenty of gas and oil; that was a mistaken concern.

@abdallababikir9154

Жыл бұрын

@@ShankarSivarajan he was right for the wrong reasons. That still makes him right

@ShankarSivarajan

Жыл бұрын

@@abdallababikir9154 His factual claims were wrong. That's literally the opposite of being right.

@drakerbaker1756

Жыл бұрын

​@@ShankarSivarajanI don't think there's "plenty" fossil fuels left. Of what we have, the amount of easily reachable reserves, like in the Middle East, are running out incredibly quickly. After that, we're left with the hard to get oil reserves, which cost much more to extract, and would probably be like buying rooftop solar in 1990, except the technology has no room to grow and become more affordable.

@kaitlyn__L

Жыл бұрын

@@ShankarSivarajan yes and no. We didn't find that many huge new sources, it's mostly that fracking became commercially feasible to make previously un-viable sources viable. A lot of fracking is on previously-tapped-out wells, or sites which were previously surveyed and found to be too diffuse. Can't really blame him, or anyone else at the time, for not just blindly hoping there would be some technological fix to increase yields so much.

I got into the solar panel industry 7 years ago because I saw its potential to END the fossil fuel industry... business is a boomin' and I'm all for it!

@firepod21

Жыл бұрын

Well, it didn’t really end fossil fuel. Look at how much fossil Germany needs to have to compensate for intermittency of renewable. Germany actually has extremely high emissions factors compared to France, Sweden or Canada

@TheAmericanAmerican

Жыл бұрын

@Cyril dude... where did I say it has ENDED the fossil fuel industry? 🙄🤦🏻 Obviously, it's something that will take years, if not decades, to achieve. Sorry to be a d*ck here, but seriously think before you post.

@MikeCalhoun

Жыл бұрын

@@firepod21 Didn't end it yet but it chips away at it every year.

@iba7648

Жыл бұрын

​@@firepod21solar+wind+energy storage will economically and ecologically outperform all other sources of energy in maximum 10 years from now.

A similar video with other renewable energy sources, like electricity generated by wind, would be wonderful!

@himenesu93

Жыл бұрын

as far as I'm concerned, they're nowhere near as cheap as solar technology.. also wind appears to be stuck in the efficiency by the winds nature, and the way of extracting energy volumetrically (the bigger the aerogenerator, more energy will be generated, making this huge windmills is really costy), on the other hand solar advances with the development of semiconductors which we all know is an upgoing curve

I’m not even 20. But I remember when people were pouting about how “it’s too expensive” just 8~10 years ago. Though, I didn’t hear people brush off the idea of it becoming widespread. But I don’t think anyone I knew imagined that so many INDIVIDUAL homes would adopt solar panels. We thought for the foreseeable future, it would just remain a sideshow power source only found in large open & rural spaces.

@pHixiq

Жыл бұрын

22 here, fax

@averagecucumber

Жыл бұрын

Turning 19 this year, this guys spitting facts.

@MastrDante

Жыл бұрын

4 years old here, i was saying the same exact thing.

@pHixiq

Жыл бұрын

@@MastrDante 😂

@michaelransom5841

Жыл бұрын

i don't know where these numbers are coming from.. its still basically the same as it was 8-10 years ago.. way too expensive...

Can we all agree that between Vox, Vice and maybe Business Insider they have the best described and animated videos on current topics. Vox videos are always so well done and explained in my opinion.

@LittleA1991

Жыл бұрын

Kurzgesagt is also very good

@kenbobcorn

Жыл бұрын

@@LittleA1991 True, but Vox and other like them cover more recent news stories and events, while Kurzgesagt covers more technology and society. They are all good, lets be real.

I love the "invisible hands" reference. The world won't be fixed by itself. It takes efforts and commitment of others

@AnimMouse

Жыл бұрын

And that is the "invisible hand".

@akeem2983

2 ай бұрын

@@AnimMouse This hand is pretty visible if you know where to look

@AnimMouse

2 ай бұрын

@@akeem2983 The silent majority is pretty loud if you know where to hear.

4:00 I wasn't expecting my uni to pop up in a Vox video 😂 Given UNSW's success with the World Solar Challenge (solar car racing) maybe I shouldn't be so surprised

Pretty much any story about ambitious US plans that could have helped revolutionize and improve society ends with 'Reagan destroyed it'.

The bit about Germany was really interesting. I wonder how many years / decades we would have been delayed to reach our current progress if it wasn't for them.

@shake6321

Жыл бұрын

zero. solar is following a natural power law of technology. if you notice the curve stays steady over time. if germany was responsive then it would take a drastic dip

@FarmerSchinken

5 ай бұрын

​@@shake6321That doesn't make sense. Technology doesn't advance by itself but by people adopting and advancing it. With your logic, Hyperloops (a.k.a Vactrains, which is what it was called in 1910), would be everywhere because by now they should be dirt cheap to build and operate...

@shake6321

5 ай бұрын

@@FarmerSchinken agreed that technology advances due to humans. but you asked about germany specifically. you didnt say "what would happen if humans didnt do something..." if germany didnt intervene other humans would have picked up the slack somewhere.

@FarmerSchinken

5 ай бұрын

@@shake6321 Maybe, maybe not. Still it is like saying "If Einstein didn't came up with the theory of relativity, someone else would have". Just like demand by computer games has accelerated parallel computing which led to the current AI "revolution", artificial demand by German subsidies has accelerated the viability of solar power by a few decades

My family purchased new solar for the roof, and it's both cheaper and more efficient than the old pannels we got in 2017. Incredible how fast the changes are. Hopefully soon we generate enough to offset the entire cost of the energy bill.

@teiuq

Жыл бұрын

you replaced panels from 2017?

We should thank China actually

You teach me stuff about germany I didn't know as a German. 😂 Good vidoes, like always :)

@Student0Toucher

Жыл бұрын

Haha we own you still🇺🇸😂

I wish we could all get solar

@WhiteSharks-wz6kn

Жыл бұрын

Sadly, the oil companies fund a world-wide desinformation campaing against solar and bribe policy makers to deny any kind of solar expansion. They additionally fund millions annualy into climate change denial so their co2 emitting products, who are responsible for the unpresidented warming, don't recieve any liability for the damage they cause.

@TheAmericanAmerican

Жыл бұрын

It's coming! It will be part of the mandatory building code for new houses and buildings country wide soon! Already the case in California and in all of Germany :)

We have solar panels on our roof, and I’m happy to be an early adopter. There’s not that many houses with solar panels around in Wisconsin where I live. We could afford to put them in and we are lucky we could make this choice. We could afford to make this decision to make our lives just a little greener, and in turn the planet. Doing our part.

Pls @Vox do a part 2 about the battery technology to store stop at energy, and its pitfalls! Very important part of the equation that we can’t overlook

My home runs 100% on solar, I also drive a EV. Despite few downsides, Solar can drastically improve the global energy landscape - of course it must become much more affordable.

Why they silencing Mike?

The story of Solar is both the drop in prices and the increase in efficiency. Vox gets it half right. Vox should have included the enormous contribution of Professor Richard Swanson (Stanford Professor and Founder of SunPower). His research moved the efficiency of solar from a few percent to over 20%. Without his contribution, solar would not make economic sense.

@shake6321

Жыл бұрын

but then how could they blame reagan and make gov look great?

@steventodd787

Жыл бұрын

Yes, and how do efficiency gains happen? Through new technologies and who funds that research? Based upon what we see right now with new solar technology research, that comes from the government. They are discovered in universities.

Very clear and concise explanation.

hey chatters from Mike stream

Hi Chat

This shows that with right policy and enough investment it is possible to develop affordable, renewable energy production. Hope similar approach will be taken for solving the global greenhouse emissions.

Hi mike from pa chat

This is fantastic news, hopefully it becomes a larger part of energy production

Solar Pannels may have become cheap. But its still out of budget for millions of families, because its still expensive. Because Panel alone dont help, you need other system along with it, which does not got cheap as compared to panels.

@nickstersss

Жыл бұрын

its definitely on track to get there! i mean look at smartphones only used to have expensive models then now bam we have super budget models too in as like a decade of smartphone!

@huckleberryfinn6578

Жыл бұрын

It depends on the country. In Germany Solar is extremely cheap. You have a return in under 2 years, compared to energy from local supplier.

@johnsamuel1999

Жыл бұрын

Yes solar installation costs are high due to labor prives

@quentinwilliams1158

Жыл бұрын

As with all technology, the price will come down. At some point the cost to finance a solar system will cost the same as your monthly electricity bill. The difference is once you pay it off you eliminate or severely reduce your electric bill.

@autohmae

Жыл бұрын

Which is why leasing, etc. is a thing...

Where mike? GRUG

Donde esta MikefromPA?

Love these videos

PepeLa shadowban

That graph showing Lazard’s LCOE shows PV at around 40$/MWh, which is probably based around utility scale in a sunny region(Spain, Australia, California etc). Latest auction in Germany for PV a few days ago had a weighted average of around 70€/MWh which is competitive with current fossil fuel prices in the region but way higher than that plot. Therefore be very careful about these estimates as they are very condition dependent.

A lot of people are getting solar down here in South Africa because of load shedding... it’s become a very popular solution.

Very insightful. Thank you for this video.

Test comment to see if you banned Mike fromPA

A HIGHLY underrated challenge for solar in the coming decades is the cost of the raw materials. When demand for solar skyrockets to a massive scale, the metals used to produce will get more expensive and more scarce. Mining industry experts are very worried that there will simply not be enough metals to feed the "green transition".

@ZayneEnterprizes

Жыл бұрын

Especially if they stop using slavery & child labor to mine them…

@gpsfinancial6988

Жыл бұрын

Silicon is the second most common element in the earths crust

@firepod21

Жыл бұрын

@@gpsfinancial6988 silicon is not the only thing needed… The IAE indeed says that there will be resource and energy scarcity to produce more renewable in the future

Would love to see a breakdown of the inovations, technology, and breakthroughs that paved that trend downwards.

Amazing how far we have come. I'm about to build a home that runs on solar which is incredibly affordable.

Coming from a Southwest solar installer, this is awesome to see!

cheers to the death of big oil 🥂

@cyrilpecoraro2764

Жыл бұрын

It doesn't lead to the end of big oil in Germany. Germany needs to use more coal + gas since they closed nuclear power plants and that they require a source when renewable can't provide energy (at night, when there is no sun or no wind). In the end, natural gas and coal consumption didn't decrease, and even increased for coal, which is the worst in terms of emissions.

Omg is there one thing Reagan didn’t almost not ruin. Every time you hear Reagan about something in the past our country is pushed back a couple decades

@8is

Жыл бұрын

Vox is left-leaning, they aren't going to bring up all the good things Reagan did because Reagan has become an icon of then right. The same isn't true for Carter, which means they can bring up good things he did, even though Carter and Reagan had pretty similar policies that were mostly products of their time.

@bighamster2

Жыл бұрын

Similar things happened in the UK with Thatcher. For example, the UK could have had a full fibre-optic connection to every house in the 80s/90s but it was stopped because of ideology (it would have been done by a then state-owned company). Decades later the UK still doesn't have much fibre and has pretty poor internet speeds as a result.

@brettmeikle

Жыл бұрын

@@8is Ah, like his involvement in the indigenous genocide in Guatamala in the 80s - that kind of 'good thing'?

@hobocop632

Жыл бұрын

@@bighamster2 Same thing in Germany. Kohl decided against wide spread fibre-optic connections in favour of decade old tv cables.

@AisuruMirai

Жыл бұрын

​@@8is "all the good things Reagan did" Such as?

PepeLa

no mike...

Am I the only one who always watches vox videos because I'm learning English language and I am a student right now or are we lots of ❤

This is awesome, kudos to the Vox team for being so articulate. Is there a similar content for Wind?

Great video on how subsidise help support a market's growth. However I feel obliged to mention that the Feed-in-tariff and similar schemes in the EU were phased out in the late 2010's due to costs to the governments. Subsidise However do still exist in a similar auction based format, with the goal of stimulating competition to drive costs down quicker. A great case study for this is the drop in offshore wind. But the main message of the video, subsidise are essential, is still very valid and as shown in the case for solar NOT perpetual as detractor may imply.

@Henning_Rech

Жыл бұрын

Feed-in tariff exists until today in Germany for typical residential new installations (means: until 2043 if installed this year).

Why are you hiding smart comments with important counterpoints?

I studied at UNSW in Sydney but majored in Criminology. They still have an extensive program in the engineering faculty for solar energy from what I remembered and did enter the well known World Solar Challenge. Amazing what technological advances can be made when governments put aside differences and throw money at something. Sadly it only happens when something dire occurs in the world. US govt finding 1 billion reminds me of how governments around the world funded billions for a covid vaccine that was created in only a year. Hope we can do the same for battery tech and fusion energy.

@dtmt502

Жыл бұрын

New South No Doubt

@Skybar23

Жыл бұрын

@@dtmt502 yes new south

The part I love most about solar energy is solar water heaters, hot shower with from free energy is just awesome!

Consider this: end fossil fuel subsidies. It would be easier for renewable to compete without those.

Ah yes, the real free energy. not some weird magnet arrangement or antenna and coil configuration

It’s funny that my country, Malaysia, which is next to the equator doesn’t do a lot of solar. Why does this happen? People who owns power plants in this country are connected and powerful. Can’t have their gravy train disturbed.

@kaitlyn__L

Жыл бұрын

You see it in Australia too, all the coal mines and lucrative export contracts oppose solar, even though it's super sunny and has a lot of suitable land. Meanwhile, in countries without existing built-out power grids, solar being cheaper than infrastructure means it's showing-up everywhere. Vested interests indeed. Of course this will probably create the inverse vested interest, if anyone wants to link all their solar together and share, I imagine the business interests behind new solar sales will oppose it.

@yolotrollo6343

Жыл бұрын

Because without subsidies solar isn't cheap or efficient at all. If you installed them on your home you would need 15 years just to break even. After that it highly questionable how much longer would they last considering they are mostly produced in China, also their efficiency drops on a yearly basis.

@user-qwertyuiopasdfghj

Жыл бұрын

@@yolotrollo6343 you guys just can’t stop smearing Chinese products

Deng Xiaoping is an underrated figure in the western world. the guy deserves more recognition

Very very interesting and very promising. Thanks for the share and take care!

Not only have solar panels gotten cheeper, they have ago become more efficient, meaning they create more energy from the same amount of sunlight.

Yeah it looks amazing and all, but what about recycling them? They don't last forever and can be broken by weather for example. It looks like another clean energy like wind turbines and electric cars where people forget about what to do with disposal of those sources

I work in solar and it's great. I really love my job and helping customers get their systems going. A word of advice, remember it is a sales driven industry. Not all companies or salespeople are legit and honest, so do your research and read everything that you are asked to sign from start to finish. This helps customers stay informed and keeps and helps make sure you're choosing the right company.

It's amazing how far us as a species has come in terms of technology.

Downside of solar (or anything in general) is the destruction of ecosystems caused by excavations for the minerals needed to produce the product. Solar and wind energy are good but unless mining companies are required to fix the ecological damage caused by their mines, the planet still suffers massively. Especially countries in the southern hemisphere that supply most of the minerals.

@stygian4011

Жыл бұрын

Ever seen an open pit coal mine?

Big thanks to Germany for making this happen. I’ve started solar energy company in 2005 and since then prices for solar panels went down over 90%.

This is very exciting story of one of the perspective energy source in history of humanity, we can easily produce, use, and one day efficiently store it!

I've only ever heard of China being the place we point the finger to about developing economies still being polluters. It has never been mentioned to me once about being a pioneer in solar energy. Why is this the first I'm hearing of it.

I'm a little confused, did solar become cheaper from subsidies alone? Or even without the subsidy is solar more efficient than coal(not sure how to measure this, maybe kilowatts per hour?) , and the market just needed to be encouraged to switch?

@ChineseKiwi

Жыл бұрын

it's both.

@bighamster2

Жыл бұрын

The market needed to be encouraged to *invest*. That investment led to the development of more efficient and cheaper technologies. Now solar is simply just cheap. Same with wind power.

@reddixiecrat

Жыл бұрын

Just cheaper with subsidies

@BloodWoof

Жыл бұрын

Subsidise it to get it rolling bro, to the point where there is no need for subsidy anymore😊

@CatatonicImperfect

Жыл бұрын

Think of subsidies as a temporary helping push to get things rolling until the technology matured and became economically viable.

Interesting to see one type of clean energy getting cheaper and cheaper. Our crew investigated nuclear energy, and we even went to a non active plant in Austria to find out why nuclear energy has gained a bad reputation and if it could actually be safer than we think. Some say nuclear energy is our only chance to save the planet. Our producer look for answers for the questions: What really are the benefits and risks? What would it cost to scale up nuclear energy, and how long would it take?

From around 0:16-0:20 How would it cost $300,000/month to generate electricity? Maintenance?

fantastic video, I learned a lot. the incentivized solar market seems a lot like tales as old as the country. the government subsidizes the big upfront costs of our ultra high scale industrial agriculture in order to make it feasible for farmers to operate and affordable to all us eaters. sustainable energy is just another product that is recognized as immensely beneficial to the public and which an upfront incentive toward adoption clearly pays off.

as a german let me add a little more information on why we were so obsessed with solar: gemany isnt the most windiest nor sunniest place. but after we decided to phase out nuclear power (after chernobyl and fukoshima) we had a problem. we needed a new source to generate carbon neutral energy if we wanted to end our dependacy on coal and gas. but because there is a LOT of push back for wind parks by the public and politicans (especially in the south), windmills arent really a possibilty. so solar (combined with water turbines) is basically our only source of renewable energy, even if it isnt really practical here.

@TheAmericanAmerican

Жыл бұрын

Now just imagine how amazing Germany could be if they bring back their nuclear power as a backup energy system for their solar and wind sources... 😮 Sidenote: I work in the Germany solar PV industry 😉

@Student0Toucher

Жыл бұрын

I don’t like Germany…Responsible for 2 world wars.

@gpsfinancial6988

Жыл бұрын

@@TheAmericanAmerican Don't worry, France can send you nuclear power

@firepod21

Жыл бұрын

No. Coal and gas is your main source of energy. Phasing out Nucleae is probably the biggest mistake Germany made in the last 10 years. It led to dependency on Russian gas (hello schroder) and huge increase of emissions. Today Germany has a higher emission factors than when it still had nuclear and less renewable. Finally, nuclear is the Safest source of electricity, and this is said by UN (usnscear). Less than 50 people dead in tchernobyl + Fukushima. I Hope Thant Germany will continue with renewable but will admit one day that they did a huge mistake that impacted whole Europe

Bruh always a guy that goes First😂

The problem now is energy storage. Great summary of solar energy. The problem is using it when demand is high which is partially at night time

@ChineseKiwi

Жыл бұрын

In reality, demand is relatively even throughout the day, as residential demand is replaced by industrial demand during the day and vice versa.

I love solar panels. Very awesome and useful technology!

Says something about why battery technology has become so important.

Cool, now store that energy long term. That will be the real game changer to renewables.

@Chris-wq3pe

Жыл бұрын

Yes, battery tech needs to catch up, but also a better way of making batteries, Lithium is not the answer

@arcssssss

Жыл бұрын

Now the power plants already can store the energy using hydropower. By storing the energy in the form of potential energy of water. Though this method has a low efficiency

@ChineseKiwi

Жыл бұрын

@@Chris-wq3pe there already is. It's sodium-ion batteries. Lithium has greater energy density for the size and is lighter, thus why it is used for your phone for example. Renewable battery storage doesn't need to consider size and weight as it is stationary. Sodium-ion is also cheaper for the energy density vs lithium.

@8is

Жыл бұрын

@@arcssssss It's the best we've got since electrical batteries are just more expensive and resource inefficient. Nuclear is also really important for its reliability. It can easily form the base of any energy grid.

@8is

Жыл бұрын

​@@Chris-wq3pe Electrical batteries are just expensive and resource inefficient, we can't afford an absurd amount of them that would be needed to store a significant amount of energy.

The world’s biggest solar farm is in INDIA spanning over an area of 14000 acres. Would’ve loved to hear this bit in the video. But its a great video nonetheless. Keep motivating people for clean energy.

Finally, some news that was good news ❤

Next video should be why are batteries so expensive. Not cheap when you factor in all the costs.

@kaseywahl

Жыл бұрын

Batteries are by FAR the most expensive part of switching to solar. 3/4 of the cost of the solar system my wife and I installed was the cost of the battery. The inverter, regulator, and panels were cheap.

@antoniocipolla3259

Жыл бұрын

@@kaseywahl and probably that battery could feed tour house for minutes only

@kaseywahl

Жыл бұрын

@@antoniocipolla3259 At full capacity the battery lasts for about 4 days.

@Asterius_101

Жыл бұрын

The same thing that happened to solar is happening to batteries now. There's a bunch of new subsidies and incentives for companies to develop/mass produce them and the price is dropping dramatically. For the first time in a while, there's a bunch of new battery tech that's being researched and headed towards mass production.

dsaL

Loving my solar system. We had a blackout. My home was the only one with lights. Should have done this long ago.

I keep hearing that solar prices are low..... But the reality is no average consumer can actually obtain prices near $0.25 per watt. An average solar quote is over 2 dollars a watt.

Yes... it's the politicians and their policies, not the scientists and engineers that actually improved efficenies that brough down cost with solar, smh

@grimaffiliations3671

Жыл бұрын

Scientists need money

@unliving_ball_of_gas

Жыл бұрын

It's both. The scientists couldn't have done research and development in solar without proper funding. And the politicians couldn't have succeeded without the scientists. Politicians actually did something right for once.

@Maxawa0851

Жыл бұрын

It was both. Sure, solar can't be cheap without scientific developments, but those cant happen with investments abd actual interest, which in turn are heavily affected by politics.

It did?!

5:42 “invisible hand” nice shot ;)

thanks for explaining

Technology Connections on his extra channel, highlighted a negative point about renewables that I never thought of. Not directly related but important point to consider as well. It was related to consumers being able to sell electricity back to the grid and how if your energy provider allows you to discount what you sell back to the grid. The grid company actually loses money as not all the cost of electricity is from generation some of it is from transmission infrastructure. By allowing people to discount what they put back in to the grid against what they consume, it weakens the grid as the grid ends up subsiding the consumers electricity bill. He does a much better job of explaining this point than I do and recommend checking it out.

@grimaffiliations3671

Жыл бұрын

power companies can determine the rate at which they buy the energy back from you tho, couldn't they just chose a rate that allows them to make even?

@michaelbrules

Жыл бұрын

@@grimaffiliations3671 they absolutely can and they will have to do that, to sustainably finance the grid infrastructure. But that may make consumer power generation to the grid less attractive.

dsaRose

appreciate that this video did not have any lengthy intro about solar, just dense info. sadly, in our third world country with California like cost of electricity, solar is still a niche. the poor with smartphones and the rich. the poor need solar to charge phones, lighting and probably an electric fan.

At one point Australia led the way in solar research (among other things). Unfortunately they couldn’t secure more funding to go further. It’s all hindsight now but we could have led the way.