David,
 
DW> Warming water requires energy. If the energy comes from the sun, then
DW> it's an application of solar energy. You said that there are no viable
DW> applications of solar energy. You were wrong.
 
That is wordplay ... the discussion centered around generating energy,
obviously generating electricity. Not warming the water of a swimming-pool.
 
DW> There are situations in which electricity produced from sunlight is
DW> economically preferable to other sources. In Egypt, there are
DW> cell-phone sites along the highways, even out in the desert.
 
You do not need to go that far, I've seen such sites all over North America
and in Europe, which proves nothing.
 
DW> It is true that producing large quantities of electricity with PV is
DW> more expensive than nuclear power ...
 
Actually, it is fu***ng more expensive to point of being impossible. Not
just the cost but also the potential of polution during the production of
PV cells. PV-cells cannot be used economically without government
incentives.
 
DW> But other factors can enter the overall calculation, making PV (and
DW> solar-thermal power) economically preferable.
 
PV cells cannot produce the kind of power needed by a city. Solar thermal
can't either, no way to store enough heat long enough to run turbines
during the night. Storing those amounts of electricity in batteries does
not work, that kind of battery simply does not and for the time being
cannot exist.
 
The latest solar-thermal mega-project in Spain funded by the EU was a
terrible failure. Worked perfect during the day, but died after sundown
because the heat could not be conserved.
 
Take care,
 
 \%/{at}rd

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