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Solar power growth is currently exponential - with the potential for a terawatt to be deployed annually in just a few years - “No single energy tech ever in history has grown as massively steeply" (pv-magazine-usa.com)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (2 children)

What's the solution for generation of electricity for the other 50% of the year though?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Well just get an extension cable from the Antarctic

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I unironically think this is inevitable eventually, barring apocalypse. Not for a long time though, since there's many many shorter hops that make more economic sense.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

This is Lemmy, so I'm almost legally required to say nuclear. But:

It's not a theoretical problem; our northern native people have a carveout in environmental regulations for exactly the reason they can't just put out a panel in the polar night, even if that would be a lot more convenient than diesel for a tiny community mostly cut off from the world. I wonder if e-gas would be the next best solution. Our future settlers could even make it or hydrogen during the on season, sell it, and then burn what's left for the smaller wintering population during the off season.

I wonder if pumped air would work well in an ice cave? It's already a very cheap way to store energy, and it doesn't really have a shelf life if done right.