A few years back an energy expert here in Austin wrote a great article about low tech solar power. He was always the number cruncher type which is why I liked his articles - his data was out front and center for the whole world to examine.
The idea came from the 1970's and consisted of curved steel panels. They looked like the front of a snow plow essentially. The panels both tilted up/down and right/left to follow the direct angle of the sun. It was the curvature of the panels that focused the sun's energy into a collector box gizmo which then sent power on down the line.
From an efficiency standpoint there were a slight step down from the best panels on the market. But at a fraction of the cost to manufacture and their ability to track the sun, it made the panels heads and shoulders winners over the solar panels being pushed by our fearless leaders in Washington. But it gets better.
The sheets of curved steel could be produced right here in the U.S. where thousands of pieces factory equipment are sitting idle in the Rust Belt of the country. Where solar panels have to compete with China's low prices the curved sheets of steel do not. And where solar panels must rely on government subsidies to compete, curved steel panels do not. Eliminating subsidies and replacing them with jobs, jobs, jobs sounds like a win/win to me. But it gets better.
Due to their low cost and easy installation a bank of 20+ steel panels could be plopped down on farm land all over the midwest. Being close logistically to Rust Belt factories keeps shipping costs low and come with the kicker that anyone can install the units. And farmers have no shortage of irregularly shaped fields that would be ideal locations. They do require utility companies to make the final connection to the grid and that is not always a pleasant experience depending upon where you live.
But it gets better. We haven't even started talked about millions of acres of desert land in Texas, New Mexico or Arizona yet.
