If every roof had a solar panel.....

[eldar]

Brother D said:

I forgot about that site - it's absolutely awesome. Slightly depressing how lack of investment in little Nuclear Energy is used, it should really be up to covering the base load. And how variable the wind generating capacity is.

Yes, quite interesting, particularly the French stats , 84% nuclear.

[mcflurry]

Aren't the Chinese government looking at solar plans in a large way, with excess electricity being stored in cars locally?

[rovermorris999]

ecs said:

You can sell back on hot sunny days in the summer when you're using very little power to heat and light your home, but in the winter you'll be consuming a lot of power. It averages out throughout the year and if you've got a very modern, energy efficient home then you can break even/have very low bills.

But only thanks to the subsidies paid for by everyone.

[Chris Type R]

MrCarPark said:

Hydro is over half Sweden's energy supply. Try that in the UK!

It also depends on nuclear for a third of its supply, and has abandoned its nuclear phase-out plans.

Not much solar in Sweden!

wiki said:

53 United Kingdom 62,041,708 January 1, 2010 243,610 94,060 255 660
195 Sweden 9,366,092 May 30, 2009 449,964 173,732 21 54

1/6th of the population with almost twice the surface area though.

[robinessex]

We have a huge coastline, and a very high/low tide difference. Any help?

[hidetheelephants]

robinessex said:

We have a huge coastline, and a very high/low tide difference. Any help?

The problem is that no-one has yet come up with a cheap turbine, there's also the problem of the cost of installation, interconnect and maintenance. The costs at the moment are estimated to be 2-3 times that of offshore wind.

[MartG]

hidetheelephants said:

The problem is that no-one has yet come up with a cheap turbine, there's also the problem of the cost of installation, interconnect and maintenance. The costs at the moment are estimated to be 2-3 times that of offshore wind.

Not to mention the destruction of the natural beauty of our coastline

[hidetheelephants]

MartG said:

hidetheelephants said:

The problem is that no-one has yet come up with a cheap turbine, there's also the problem of the cost of installation, interconnect and maintenance. The costs at the moment are estimated to be 2-3 times that of offshore wind.

Not to mention the destruction of the natural beauty of our coastline

I was referring to subsea turbines, although tidal pens/ponds or barrages are no cheaper.

[jshell]

robinessex said:

We have a huge coastline, and a very high/low tide difference. Any help?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-bus...