“I hear the train a comin’
It’s rolling round the bend….”
-Johnny Cash, Folsom Prison Blues

“Now arriving on cell phone track 3…..the 5G Express. This is an all tickets train folks with station stops everywhere. All aboard!”

This train will change everything we have come to expect in telecommunications, transformational as some experts say – even bigger than the automobile and electricity others claim.

With 5G, the combination of speed, responsiveness and reach could unlock the full capabilities of other hot trends in technology, offering a boost to self-driving cars, drones, virtual reality and the internet of things.

Here are just a few of the general expectations:

• Every cell phone can offer cheap, unlimited Internet access
• Internet speeds many times faster than 4G service
• 5G will also affect the Internet of things—it all speeds up.
• Augmented and virtual reality applications
• Remote surgery via teleoperation
• Tactile sensation of sights, sounds….etc.
• Self-driving cars and traffic control
• Health monitoring, especially for seniors
• Weather warnings, and forecasting
• Environmental monitoring

It’s all in the G’s!

Some of the first 5G phones could be in your pocket/purse in 2019, a full year ahead of earlier projections, and premiering first at highest speeds in big cities like the Big Apple and San Fran. 5G will work best with higher communication frequencies, thus more cell towers, closer spaced, will be needed. This could cause cluttering and aesthetic concerns in urban neighborhoods. Expect lawsuit challenges as it all shakes out.

Thomas Edison so respected the importance of information and knowledge, he placed his office in his corporate library. Imagine if he had a 5G wireless Internet connection and cell phone!

“Time is really the only capital that any human being has and the thing that he can least afford to waste or lose…”

Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Who says you must install solar panels on a house roof, or in big open fields in the desert; or perhaps on reclaimed landfills and brownfield sites? Why not float the renewable energy systems on water?

There are obvious advantages to doing this; such as, but not limited to:

• No land areas taken up with panels
• Cool water can help remove heat from the panels-making for better efficiencies
• Less surface evaporation of water, especially in arid areas
• Light reflection off water surface could increase panel performance by 5-15%
• Decommissioning of plant much less disruptive than land based installations
• Reduces algae growth on water surfaces.

China is a leader in this technology, as well as being a worldwide “monster producer” of solar panels. They have built the largest floating solar power plant in the world, 40 MW of renewable energy production comprised of 120,000 panels.

China’s largest floating solar station—40 MW in size

According to a report compiled by the International Renewable Energy Agency, Asia accounted for more than two-thirds of the worldwide increase in renewable energy generating capacity in 2017. It is likely many new types of solar applications, like floating systems, will be seen in the coming years. China, Japan, and India were among the top-most contributors to this increase.

What if you installed a floating solar plant atop a lake behind a dam? Could this help increase the output of the dam? Maybe you could use it to pump water back from the dam’s outlet to help refill the lake for use again later as electrical demand increased? Water evaporation is a dam’s enemy, so reducing that evaporation is desirable. Same with locating a solar plant atop a drinking water supply—less evaporation.

Japanese water based solar station at 13.7 MW

California is also experimenting with floating solar stations. Experts believe 20-30 percent of the state’s energy needs could be derived by harnessing that state’s suitable lake locations.

Edison on solar energy – “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. I wish I had more years left.”

Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.