Turbines are our friends

Comments

• humanspiral@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

  This is old technology that is more expensive/complicated/maintenance-ey than PV. An economic falacy is that if you have oil/fossils you should use that instead of solar. It’s always better to use cheapest energy. Export the fossils, import solar. It is more jobs to have solar as well, and in fact most of the deployment costs are local work/materials (wiring/support structures).

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• EmptyAsparagus@piefed.social ⁨12⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

  guys its literally in fallout, so its canon.

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• megopie@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I really like the concentrated solar systems that use molten salt, where rather than heating water directly, molten salt is heated and stored In large insulated tanks and tapped off to a heat exchanger to run the turbines, thus allowing power generation to match demand and continue at a constant rate even when light level very (such as at night).

  One interesting idea is to use a concentrated solar system to run an Einstein–Szilard refrigerator, or some other absorption refrigerator cycle.

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• queerlilhayseed@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  It turns out spinning things is really useful and boiling fluids is a convenient way to spin things.

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  • state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    It’s still funny that so much boils down to steampunk with a fake mustache.

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    • f314@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      boils down to

      I see what you did there!

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    • rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Wait, it’s all steampunk?

      Always had been.

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  • fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    “I’ll try spinning! That’s a good trick!”

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    • queerlilhayseed@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Wisdom from a Jedi born to bring balance to things.

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    • llii@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      But spinning is so much cooler than not spinning!

      youtu.be/g9XrrEaZ7Y4?t=188

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• Bombastic@sopuli.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  They can’t keep getting away with this!!

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• Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Solar thermal is kinda obsolete I thought, now China is churning out PVs for pennies.

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  • freebee@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    But t solar boiler can still be useful in some cases. Where heated water in “solar” on the roof is used immediately for shower etc.

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    • Redjard@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      Modern solar into a modern heat pump is gonna be more efficient than heating water. It’s also more versatile and convenient, cause it maintains that efficiency when you pull power from the grid at night. And of course lets you use the power for other purposes.

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  • megopie@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Solar thermal has some distinct advantages when you start talking about really big instillations. Especially when considering power storage, molten salt systems can store heat and allow the generators to keep working even at night. Much cheaper than batteries at very large scales.

    Thermal solar systems are generally very efficient when the goal is heating something, not just generating power. So say, you want to run an ammonia plant without burning natural gas, or if you want to melt down metals for recycling. There are so many industrial applications where it’s a better way of doing it than using an electric heating element.

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  • oneser@lemmy.zip ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I mean it seems the more complex solution in deployment for sure, but its design could still have use in low heat industrial uses (sub 250°C, e.g. food prep, textile, sanitation etc.) where it is used heat -> heat rather than heat -> electricity -> heat. Maybe these replace thermal collectors eventually.

    But that is not the point of this article, just my thoughts.

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    • rumschlumpel@feddit.org ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      IDK, heat pumps are basically multiplying the electricity they use.

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  • VibeSurgeon@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    For heating I’d guess it can still be relevant. As a means of producing electricity though? Yeah

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• oppy1984@lemdro.id ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  It all boils down to steam…

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• fubarx@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Image

  Everybody with a college course in Thermodynamics.

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• A_Chilean_Cyborg@feddit.cl ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Yes, Everything, always turns back to mechanical enginnering.

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  • Quill7513@slrpnk.net ⁨7⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

    carcinization but for steam engines instead of crabs

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• DarkSpectrum@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  heat transfer fluid is circulated

  solar battery pumps?

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• CapuccinoCoretto@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Punches below the belt. Right in the photovoltaics.

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• OwOarchist@pawb.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  At least hydro and wind power are still safe from the boiling water…

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• sexy_peach@feddit.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  wait these could be built with co2 turbines as well, right??

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  • megopie@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Yes, super critical CO2 turbines can work in such a system. As can sterling engines. Or thermoelectric solid state couples.

    Any system that uses a temperature differential to generate power can be used. It’s just a matter of what you care about in a given situation. Upfront cost, mechanical reliability, noise/vibration, and availability of needed components play in to what makes the most sense.

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• panda_abyss@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  With all the solar mirrors, won’t we overhear the sun shooting all that light back?

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  • chromeleon@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    there’s a silencer on its gun, so we probably won’t hear much.

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• mindbleach@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Seems iffy outside of totally clear skies.

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