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Last year China generated almost 3 times as much solar power as the EU did, and it's close to overtaking all OECD countries put together (whose combined population is 1.38 billion people) (aussie.zone)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Last year, China generated 834 terawatt-hours of solar power.

Which is more than the G7 countries generated, and more than the US and EU combined. In fact the only country group that generates more solar power than China is the OECD, all 38 countries of it.

Data: @ember-energy.org

Source: https://bsky.app/profile/nathanielbullard.com/post/3lsbbsg6ohk2j

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[–] 8 points 1 year ago* (14 children)

I think they don't get that your comment is fighting the same fight by being pro solar & anti coal/gas.

Unless you meant keeping the coal and gas plants, which really should be turned off and ended at this point. They're just sources of lung cancer & emissions

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    No. We get exactly what his comment is about.

    If he was in the renewables camp, there would be no point, in this discussion over solar, to bring up nuclear. It's absolutely unrelated.

    What he's doing is pushing the thought into people's heads that nuclear is a good solution, and that's why I'm calling him out for. For being a shill.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I'm with you on solar. We literally have a fusion reactor at the core of our solar system, so there's no point in having ones on earth. And the more we use solar, the more it'll be improved through research.

    There's no argument for any carbon based fuels

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  • [–] -5 points 1 year ago (9 children)

    Yes, of course I've meant it in a positive way - a way to replace coal and gas. But solar is not just positive, they are problematic when you couple them with nuclear for the simple reasons that solar is not reliable and you can't throttle nuclear - they are like big ships, they require a lot of time to steer. Furthermore solar energy low price causes problems for nuclear higher prices. Which wouldn't be a problem if solar was reliable and continuous (long winter nights much?). But it's not, but you still need a reliable energy source. And so on. The pro solar panel crowd don't understand many of these implications and go with simple "idiotic" and downvotes.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    Why wouldn't solar and other renewables combined with batteries be better?

    It's very early days, yet California recently had 98 days on renewables. That started in winter.

    What is it about renewables with batteries that you believe will fail, despite the mass adoption that is under way?

    Why will the projected, continued decline in battery prices and advances in battery tech not occur?

    Why would adjacent solutions, like the massive storage ability of vehicle-to-grid, be worse compared to nuclear?

    Why are so many "in the know" getting it so wrong?

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    What batteries are you referring to? Do you realize the amount of energy those batteries would have to store? Perhaps somewhen in the not so near future, but today? Go ahead and show me a western city able to store a couple of days worth of energy. More realistically a week.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)

    Las Vegas has already achieved 97% storage supply for its needs - a city that barely sleeps at night.

    Again, where is your evidence that it is not going to improve across the board, and will all fail?

    "It's not all happening right now," is not even close to a convincing answer. If that was the reason to exclude any technology, there'd be none.

    And it's an especially ironic answer given that it takes up to 20 years to commission a nuclear power plant. And they are down for scheduled maintenance for up to a month a year, etc.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Las Vegas has already achieved 97% storage supply for its needs - a city that barely sleeps at night.

    Hard data is where? And I bet LV heavily relies on hydro and gas powerplants. Solar is a tiny fraction, even though, where is its energy stored?

    Again, where is your evidence that it is not going to improve across the board, and will all fail?

    Instead of trying to pick a fight, please read what I write: "Perhaps somewhen in the not so near future, but today?"

    And it’s an especially ironic answer given that it takes up to 20 years to commission a nuclear power plant. And they are down for scheduled maintenance for up to a month a year, etc.

    The difference with nuclear power plants is that we have the technology today. Can you say the same for batteries? Also you'd build a surplus of nuclear energy power plants (or have another backup plan) just for cases like you mention. The maintenance frequency varies, i.e. for a Slovene one is once per 18 months. But that's something you know in advance and one plans for.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    OP sepcifically mentioned EVs. This sector is deflationary even in US, where better value/performance cars cost less every year. More dramatic deflation in less corrupt countries. Australia home solar costs under 1/3rd of US due to different politico-social corruption levels.

    EVs and home solar are a great match that permits going offgrid at substantially lower cost if an EV is parked at home during day. That same dynamic allows a society/community to power itself through solar+batteries, and EVs parked at work. It's not a question of look at our corrupt obstructionist oligarchical monopoly state of societies for examples of lack of economic success as proof that it will forever be impossible.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    EVs are rare (in the context of total energy consumption, even more so because not so many models offer this feature), limited to houses (what do you do when you live in a flat?) and not a reliable source - "honey, I need to drive fetch some groceries, you won't have energy in meantime". How many houses with only EVs as energy storage are disconnected from grid? I bet the number is next to 0. OTOH EVs as energy storage can provide buffering to energy grid when properly connected. This feature has its place, but they can't be used for reliable storage.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    V2L and V2H are desirable features worth paying for. Grid sharing is not rocket appliances. In other thread, I showed how a 2nd EV that is barely used can pay for itself, but some static batteries are cheaper. 10kwh can power 2-5 homes overnight. Apartment units don't individually pay for exterior flood lighting. Mid to higher end cars have 50-100kwh battery packs. As an overall society, 80%+ of cars are parked somewhere at any time. The point of powering one house, applies to sharing for 1m houses.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    That's why we have all that power available, right? You guys keeping listing various technologies but it isn't they aren't available nowhere at scale. Even this feature is not that common among the cars of today. And 10kWh is nowhere enough during winter (and perhaps summer with A/C), perhaps for single not big house with heat pump. Good luck with big cities.

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