New solar panel info

[kandrathe]

I personally would like to see a major push towards Fusion power. Fusion provides the highest power density and we have enough fuel to never worry about running out.

I agree for phasing in a replacement to grid power.

Solar is nice, but there are problems with it (lower power density, ~200 W per sq ft, best efficiency is in area where there is little cloud cover where you get that ~200 W/sq ft)

I think there are some specific roles that Solar power could play in every home, like providing hot water. We could easily change the paradigm from that insulated tank sitting near the water source, to add a simple device mounted on the roof that takes advantage of solar heat when possible.

Geothermal you have to have an area where the crust is thin so you can tap into the magma flowing underneath.

Geothermal heat pumps are viable almost everywhere for home heating, and take advantage of the massive average temperature that exists just 10 to 15 feet below the surface. They work like an air conditioner, only on a more massive scale.

Tidal is only useful in places where you see a large tidal variance. Hydroelectric is specific areas and there are only so many times you can put a dam on a river (see the Columbia in Washington state).

Agreed, very few limited opportunities.

Fission would be good if we return to reprocessing of fuel as about 0.5% to 0.75% of the total pulled from a reactor after burning fuel for a year is truly junk, the rest is usable in some manner (as fuel, medicinal uses, and for other industrial uses).

Agreed. It is almost criminal to not reprocess spent fuel.

Fossil fuels have the pollution issues to deal with.

The pollution issues can be eliminated with efficient burning and costly scrubbing, but the carbon dioxide issue will be very hard to overcome economically.