this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2026
86 points (100.0% liked)

technology

24445 readers
293 users here now

On the road to fully automated luxury gay space communism.

Spreading Linux propaganda since 2020

Rules:

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] SootySootySoot@hexbear.net 10 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

In a weird way this is the wildest bit. It's because they don't have moving parts that really makes them incredibly portable, incredibly easy to mass produce, little-to-no maintenance, magic endless electricity squares. Anything with a turbine is basically impossible to both mass-produce and install on unattended/domestic properties.

From another science is neat perspective, we've actually reached insane levels of efficiency. Average panels get about 20% nowadays, degrading to about half that after a couple decades. Top-end commercial panels are about 25% efficient. Experimental panels have claimed up to 40% efficiency in real-world conditions. Plant photosynthesis solar->usable energy is, depending on how you calculate it, somewhere between 3 and 11% efficiency.

[โ€“] scrungus@hexbear.net 8 points 4 days ago

I knew they were getting more and more efficient, but seeing the hard numbers is wild! Like literally enough to help push back on my ever present climate related doomery, ty comrade fidel-salute