I've just listened in to 'Costing the Earth' on radio 4 and their presenter introduced a chap from Southampton University that told the listener that they could buy and install 15 sq metres of solar PV for just £5,000!!

We need to find his supplier.

Though the presenter then went on to say this would provide the average householder with all their energy for the year. In defense of the Southampton boffin he did say this would be 'in theory'

Who does their research?

Nice to hear Dave Elliot of the Open University on the programme who, by the way, did talk a lot of sense.

Not thin film cells at $1/w by any chance?

I thought much of it a rather good programme. The stuff on solar powered generation of electricity in North Africa and trans-continent HVDC grid is important and deserves greater attention. We're going to be hearing a lot more about that. The low point of the programme was the walk on part played by our apology for an Energy Minister, Malcolm Wickes.

No, but the UK could import solar energy from North Africa and export wind, tidal and wave energy, depending on the weather.

Posted By: chipedwoodI wasn't aware that you could possibly get all your energy from solar sources in the UK.

You can if your installation is big enough and you are prepared to export and import from the grid.

For off-grid you will need a hybrid system and take your demand by the horns and tame it.

I really hate to burst your bubble on the North Africa HVDC solar idea, but currently the Paris-Dakar rally has been cancelled this year due to unacceptable risks of terrorism.

This from an rally which routinely accepts deaths on the part of both spectators/participants.

So if anyone thinks that Europe can build huge stationary power generation systems and power lines stretching to Spain and not have them suffer the same hostility as a small organised event, then I'd say that's the very definition of optimism.

Remember much of Africa is populated with poverty stricken Muslims and the fundamentalists are doing their level best to recruit as many of these folk as possible. Remember that pissed off locals can cause huge problems. Look at the situation in Nigeria. Fundamentalists won't care if its a dirty or a clean power source, if it powers our western civilisation, then it will be a target all the same.

Although for the record I think the solar concentrating power systems in the desert are a good idea in principle. I just think we'll really struggle with cost effective implementation.

Given that I'm generally pro nuke, I'd rather have domestic nukes (where we can defend/keep an eye on them) rather than have huge, expensive power systems in someone else's sovereignty. A good example of that going bad is Venezuela, where most of the foreign investment was nationalised (stolen) from shareholders in the west.

Andy

I agree with Andy on this one. Solar power in the Sahara seems no more secure to me than gas from Russia and the Persian Gulf.

Ooops, no e in Wicks. Thanks Nick. :)

Right, Andy, let's give up on Africa as 'populated with poverty stricken Muslims and the fundamentalists' shall we? Or maybe we should make a bit more effort to be friends. It could be to our mutual benefit. Frankly, I'm not interested in listening to people who look at impossible problems and say "it can't be done". If humanity as we know it is going to survive we've got learn how to do at least six impossible things before breakfast.

The bigger and more interconnected we can create our grids the more we become mutually dependant. That way security lies. And that is not incompatible with having a lot of domestic generation capacity, including dispersed micro-generation, giving further layers of security. It is likely that with Britain's windy, wavy, tidey position the UK could be a net energy exporter. An HVDC grid makes for system stability.

Here's a first step in the right direction: http://www.ukinvest.gov.uk/OurWorld/4025455/en-GB.html

Venezuela going bad? I rather think that the flow of wealth between Venezuela and 'the west', has been pretty much in one direction until very recently.

<blockquote><cite>Posted By: andytk</cite>Remember much of Africa is populated with poverty stricken Muslims and the fundamentalists are doing their level best to recruit as many of these folk as possible. Remember that pissed off locals can cause huge problems.</blockquote>

Actually I got the impression from the program that the solar mirrors project was going to be very beneficial to locals, be they 'poverty stricken Muslims' or ordinary people like most Afrikans I know and/or are related to.

Under the shade of the installations it will be possible to grow things, so the net result for local communities will be energy, food and an income from selling power to Europe.

That's assuming it isn't all owned by npower or Gritish Bass...