NO MENTION OF THE COST, as the left are prone to do.
A pumped hydro needs to be- sited where it is hilly, and this is not suited to be near solar farms. In hilly areas, power lines cost many times more to erect.
A 2 Megawatt pumped storage costs the same as a 2 Megawatt coal powered power station- about 2.2 billion dollars.
The difference- Pumped hydro generates NO power, so its cost has to be added to the solar generated or wind generated cost.
And guess who will pay? The consumer, by a further doubling in the price in electricity.
A coal plant has 50 year design life, Windmill 10 years, with many failing in two years.
Solar panels--- are designed for Chinese or European UV loadings. The inner layer on top of the silicon is made of a clear layer of EVA- Ethylene vinyl acetate, which turns brown in UV and gives off acetic acid, which will destroy the wiring.
In Australia the UV is triple that of other Countries, the panels will die within their warranty period, necessitating the cost of solar panel replacement twice in 50 years.
The price of solar may be dropping, but the installed cost is- 1/3 solar 1/3 Labor 1/3 profit so even if solar panels halve in price it will only make very little difference to the installed cost.
I just wish those "Professors" who are paid to sprout poo poo would look at the big picture, which is the current price of electricity is 5x higher than it should be, given our resources. 5x. Even our nearest northern neighbours pay 4C / KWhr in their factories- 1/7.7 of what we pay. That is why they have a burgeoning industry, and ours is dying.
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