I can't see how the 'sun cube' is an improvement over a Fresnel Lens. The Fresnel lens has no moving parts to screw up and it can be made out of plastic.

It isn't, because in essense it uses (according to Wikipedia) fresnel lenses. Even if it just used "standard" lenses, considering the short distance from lense to PV cell, it probably doesn't make much difference.

The transparent cover thing with the lenses looks like plastic to me as well. The lense used in the suncube also doesn't have any moving parts, it just needs to be held in place - just like a fresnel lense.

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Aside from solar; hydro-electric, wind, geothermal, and tidal forces come to mind. None will produce the amount of power necessary. But in combination and in large numbers, these sources hold great promise of getting away from combustable fuels.

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Tax & Spend > Borrow & Spend

I reject your reality and substitute my own.

Every feeling you've ever felt can be found in the works of Beethoven, Bruckner, Mahler, and Wagner.

Well guess what?

Solar is not practical in alot of areas on this planet.

It needs direct sunlight, unhindered by trees, (which if you are a enivron-freak we cant cut down b/c that helps global warming) and a non-cloudy day.

So in all actuality solar is limited to where you can use it. Unless you cut down every tree on the planet thereby creating constant light to hit the panels, but then you still have to deal with cloudy days.

So either way it is not ever going to be the sole source of energy.

Same with wind and wave. Windwills need wind to power them. Some places here in the south only get wind during storms or when fronts pass through. What do you do on the calm still days? Practical? Nope.

Wave power doesnt help anybody in the midwest. Plain as that.

To be a viable replacement for oil based fuels an alternative source has to pack a tremendous amount of energy in a compact, easily stored and transportated form - such as gasoline or diesel. These fuels can be stored for long periods and still retain their ability to power jet engines, autos and ships. Solar, wind and waves may help to fill in some of the electrical power needs, but they will not keep the planes flying or the the current massive fleet of autos running.

Wind, Wave and even Hydroelectric are in essence Solar power, so your statement is a bit off there. Still, the amount of Solar radiation on the earth is enough to cover our energy needs thousands of times over. Of course you won't be cutting down the rainforests to put up solar panels, that'd be dumb, but it's not like, to use your example, there weren't enough barren spaces in the Midwest where really noone would really care if you set up a big solar plant.

But you of course correctly analysed that a combination of all different variations of solar power is needed, but the statement that it will never suffice is wrong.

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what abaut deserts? we can not use them on any other way...

Even if it were possible to cover the deserts with solar panels (and it isn't), it wouldn't solve the problem of liquid fuel shortages. There are no techno fixes for declining oil supplies. One way or another we will have to learn to live with a much smaller energy budget.