It doesn't convert thermal to electric, that unit is for making Hot Water - Heating, not electricity generation.
The SolarTron website does say that some sort of conversion from concentrated sunlight coming out of the dish to electricity is in the works:
Electricity: The SolarBeam stands out as the first ever solar concentrator to produce up to 3.5kW kW of electricity from a single system. Using the latest concentrated photovoltaic technology, the system will be able to produce 3.5kW on the concentrator surface that is 10”x10”. Seems unbelievable? No other solar hot water heater or thermal heater can match the SolarBeam.
But it's confusing, because they still seem to be talking about hot water. Bad tech writing, nothing new about that.
Further that is just the federal bill. The whole problem with the tax system in this country is that you end up paying so damn much for so little in return. The waste in social spending and pork is just incredible. I suspect people would be less resistant to the tax rates if the feeling of being ripped off didn't exist.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
I don't know where you get your 31%, but based on their latest audited annual financials, here are the effective tax rates for some of the oft-discussed companies:
Google 21%
Apple 25%
IBM 25%
Amazon 24%
Microsoft 18%
EBay 14%
Contrary to what is popularly believed - and leaving aside stupid, apocryphal tales like that of a GE that paid zero in taxes (which was because it was carrying forward prior losses as allowed under the law) - many good, profitable companies in the US pay their 'fair share'. (Well, I guess EBay and Microsoft could cough up a bit more....)
Good for Apple. Good for the United States. Good for the U.S. solar industry. Screw China.
It's bad for Apple because they will be paying far more for an unreliable power source. It's bad for the US because the investment could be better used else where. Further the solar industry, especially the solar electric panel industry, is a house of cards; it is an industry that can not support itself.
As for China I'd rather see Aple do business there than in Europe or some of the other places in the world where the evils of the left have taken root.
Perhaps Apple feels like putting a little money back into the US economy. They pay relatively little US taxes
Just normal corporate domestic tax rates. You don't have a problem with that, do you?
Quote:
and keep Billions in overseas accounts..
On which they pay taxes to the countries in question. You'd prefer they were double taxed on offshore income? Why do that, when they've got sizable foreign operations to run?
Could it be that Apple is investigating getting into solar power as another line of business? You don't build a manufacturing facility on a whim, you know.
I already suspect that Apple will use Siri to revolutionize (there's that word again) smart home systems, from there it's just a half step into home solar power generation.
I mean wow. Another source for start-up like growth figures for Apple.
Could it be that Apple is investigating getting into solar power as another line of business? You don't build a manufacturing facility on a whim, you know.
I already suspect that Apple will use Siri to revolutionize (there's that word again) smart home systems, from there it's just a half step into home solar power generation.
I mean wow. Another source for start-up like growth figures for Apple.
Hmm? They already design their own battery tech but they don't produce their batteries, as far as I can tell. I would think they would design their own panels but not build them if they were going to do anything in this energy field.
Could it be that Apple is investigating getting into solar power as another line of business? You don't build a manufacturing facility on a whim, you know.
I already suspect that Apple will use Siri to revolutionize (there's that word again) smart home systems, from there it's just a half step into home solar power generation.
I mean wow. Another source for start-up like growth figures for Apple.
This crossed my mind too. But where's the "great products for people" angle?
It would be great to have a well-designed sun-tracking dish for solar thermal/electric purposes for everybody's roof or yard. That stuff can even be made in the USA, where we still have aluminIum manufacturing.
Edit: I missed your point about Siri as a home controller. That's obviously a great product for people.
As for China I'd rather see Aple do business there than in Europe or some of the other places in the world where the evils of the left have taken root.
No derailing, please, this could be a good thread.
Hmm… They already design their own battery tech but they don't produce their batteries, as far as I can tell. I would think they would design their own panels but not build them if they were going to do anything in this energy field.
Sorry, I wasn't clear, I was referring to the "300MW world-class manufacturing facility" that Leaf Solar is rumored to be building. Yes, it's not Apple as I first thought, but still that would be a tremendous commitment for Leaf and maybe the prospects of future partnership business with Apple makes the project less risky.
I get the feeling Tim Cook lean towards alternative energy and home production.
I hope so...I'm a huge apple fan and would consider myself pro-business...but when I look at the cheap goods from china in target and Walmart and then look at the sad souls working there I feel we've been sold a bill of goods allowing US businesses to move factories and jobs overseas.
It's like eating your leg for dinner...no future in it!
Bravo Apple, it's moves like this that will help our economy. Another smart move would be to bring all your overseas money home and pay whatever tax rate the government sets, you REALLY don't need any more money.
I've always been torn between wanting Apple to use their money to reduce product prices, but honestly I think that would just cheapen the brand and saturate demand, how about pumping that money into North America so that we can stop blaming our problems on the government and realize it's the corporations that aren't investing in their own home markets.
This whole story seems fishy to me. The company's website has almost no information on it.
In particular, they say nothing whatsoever about being a manufacturer of solar panels.
Note too that the story is based on something somebody said directly to Neil Hughes at AI, and that Leaf Solar Power has no news coverage whatsoever for anything they have ever done.
ISTM that some guy at Leaf is trying to set up a deal with Apple, and he's using AI to do it.
I hope so...I'm a huge apple fan and would consider myself pro-business...but when I look at the cheap goods from china in target and Walmart and then look at the sad souls working there I feel we've been sold a bill of goods allowing US businesses to move factories and jobs overseas.
It's like eating your leg for dinner...no future in it!
Yeah - its a sorry state of affairs but I am not sure it has anything to do with China per se. If American companies had to produce their goods in the US you would still see plenty shoddy products and sad people working in horrible conditions. Just like crap can be produced anywhere, quality products can be produced anywhere.
If you were to move production of goods home and pay the workers the kind of money they could reasonably expect to live off and perhaps even buy a home and raise a family... well, you've gotta pay. In truth we are all complicit in a pretty horrible system which entirely relies on exploitation in order for us to live it up.
Yes, I remember reading about how they actually had a decent product, but that hardly matters of course, if it is way more costly than anything else.
Solyndra was doomed from the start. Making solar cells is an environmentally nasty product to begin with. Using US workers, making US wages, benefits, etc.. along with higher US taxes in general, and all other kinds of add ons with doing business in the US, there was no way Solyndra could compete with China due to their more lax environmental regulations (if they even have any), and super cheap human workforce. Just no way. Ethics and morals aside, Solyndra was a bankruptcy waiting to happen.
Sorry, I wasn't clear, I was referring to the "300MW world-class manufacturing facility" that Leaf Solar is rumored to be building. Yes, it's not Apple as I first thought, but still that would be a tremendous commitment for Leaf and maybe the prospects of future partnership business with Apple makes the project less risky.
That would be interesting, especially if a company like Apple had a publicly stake in the company like it does with Imagination Tech.
I hope so...I'm a huge apple fan and would consider myself pro-business...but when I look at the cheap goods from china in target and Walmart and then look at the sad souls working there I feel we've been sold a bill of goods allowing US businesses to move factories and jobs overseas.
It's like eating your leg for dinner...no future in it!
I don't think you know what you are talking about. A strong economy doesn't mean that the stupid disappear from the planet. This whole idea that the unfortunate would be any better off in a strong economy is BS.
Honestly do you think WalMart will go away in a strong economy? They existed long before the current downturn and will exist well after. What there is no future in is looking for excuses and place to put blame.
Bravo Apple, it's moves like this that will help our economy. Another smart move would be to bring all your overseas money home and pay whatever tax rate the government sets, you REALLY don't need any more money.
I've always been torn between wanting Apple to use their money to reduce product prices, but honestly I think that would just cheapen the brand and saturate demand, how about pumping that money into North America so that we can stop blaming our problems on the government and realize it's the corporations that aren't investing in their own home markets.
How about they use some of their excess money to pay living wages to their employees in the United States.
Comments
Good for Apple. Good for the United States. Good for the U.S. solar industry. Screw China.
Good cheerleader, bad sport. A little geopolitical perspective please.
It doesn't convert thermal to electric, that unit is for making Hot Water - Heating, not electricity generation.
The SolarTron website does say that some sort of conversion from concentrated sunlight coming out of the dish to electricity is in the works:
Electricity: The SolarBeam stands out as the first ever solar concentrator to produce up to 3.5kW kW of electricity from a single system. Using the latest concentrated photovoltaic technology, the system will be able to produce 3.5kW on the concentrator surface that is 10”x10”. Seems unbelievable? No other solar hot water heater or thermal heater can match the SolarBeam.
But it's confusing, because they still seem to be talking about hot water. Bad tech writing, nothing new about that.
I don't know where you get your 31%, but based on their latest audited annual financials, here are the effective tax rates for some of the oft-discussed companies:
Google 21%
Apple 25%
IBM 25%
Amazon 24%
Microsoft 18%
EBay 14%
Contrary to what is popularly believed - and leaving aside stupid, apocryphal tales like that of a GE that paid zero in taxes (which was because it was carrying forward prior losses as allowed under the law) - many good, profitable companies in the US pay their 'fair share'. (Well, I guess EBay and Microsoft could cough up a bit more....)
Good for Apple. Good for the United States. Good for the U.S. solar industry. Screw China.
It's bad for Apple because they will be paying far more for an unreliable power source. It's bad for the US because the investment could be better used else where. Further the solar industry, especially the solar electric panel industry, is a house of cards; it is an industry that can not support itself.
As for China I'd rather see Aple do business there than in Europe or some of the other places in the world where the evils of the left have taken root.
Perhaps Apple feels like putting a little money back into the US economy. They pay relatively little US taxes
Just normal corporate domestic tax rates. You don't have a problem with that, do you?
and keep Billions in overseas accounts..
On which they pay taxes to the countries in question. You'd prefer they were double taxed on offshore income? Why do that, when they've got sizable foreign operations to run?
I already suspect that Apple will use Siri to revolutionize (there's that word again) smart home systems, from there it's just a half step into home solar power generation.
I mean wow. Another source for start-up like growth figures for Apple.
Could it be that Apple is investigating getting into solar power as another line of business? You don't build a manufacturing facility on a whim, you know.
I already suspect that Apple will use Siri to revolutionize (there's that word again) smart home systems, from there it's just a half step into home solar power generation.
I mean wow. Another source for start-up like growth figures for Apple.
Hmm? They already design their own battery tech but they don't produce their batteries, as far as I can tell. I would think they would design their own panels but not build them if they were going to do anything in this energy field.
Could it be that Apple is investigating getting into solar power as another line of business? You don't build a manufacturing facility on a whim, you know.
I already suspect that Apple will use Siri to revolutionize (there's that word again) smart home systems, from there it's just a half step into home solar power generation.
I mean wow. Another source for start-up like growth figures for Apple.
This crossed my mind too. But where's the "great products for people" angle?
It would be great to have a well-designed sun-tracking dish for solar thermal/electric purposes for everybody's roof or yard. That stuff can even be made in the USA, where we still have aluminIum manufacturing.
Edit: I missed your point about Siri as a home controller. That's obviously a great product for people.
As for China I'd rather see Aple do business there than in Europe or some of the other places in the world where the evils of the left have taken root.
No derailing, please, this could be a good thread.
Hmm… They already design their own battery tech but they don't produce their batteries, as far as I can tell. I would think they would design their own panels but not build them if they were going to do anything in this energy field.
Sorry, I wasn't clear, I was referring to the "300MW world-class manufacturing facility" that Leaf Solar is rumored to be building. Yes, it's not Apple as I first thought, but still that would be a tremendous commitment for Leaf and maybe the prospects of future partnership business with Apple makes the project less risky.
I get the feeling Tim Cook lean towards alternative energy and home production.
I hope so...I'm a huge apple fan and would consider myself pro-business...but when I look at the cheap goods from china in target and Walmart and then look at the sad souls working there I feel we've been sold a bill of goods allowing US businesses to move factories and jobs overseas.
It's like eating your leg for dinner...no future in it!
I've always been torn between wanting Apple to use their money to reduce product prices, but honestly I think that would just cheapen the brand and saturate demand, how about pumping that money into North America so that we can stop blaming our problems on the government and realize it's the corporations that aren't investing in their own home markets.
In particular, they say nothing whatsoever about being a manufacturer of solar panels.
Note too that the story is based on something somebody said directly to Neil Hughes at AI, and that Leaf Solar Power has no news coverage whatsoever for anything they have ever done.
ISTM that some guy at Leaf is trying to set up a deal with Apple, and he's using AI to do it.
I hope so...I'm a huge apple fan and would consider myself pro-business...but when I look at the cheap goods from china in target and Walmart and then look at the sad souls working there I feel we've been sold a bill of goods allowing US businesses to move factories and jobs overseas.
It's like eating your leg for dinner...no future in it!
Yeah - its a sorry state of affairs but I am not sure it has anything to do with China per se. If American companies had to produce their goods in the US you would still see plenty shoddy products and sad people working in horrible conditions. Just like crap can be produced anywhere, quality products can be produced anywhere.
If you were to move production of goods home and pay the workers the kind of money they could reasonably expect to live off and perhaps even buy a home and raise a family... well, you've gotta pay. In truth we are all complicit in a pretty horrible system which entirely relies on exploitation in order for us to live it up.
Yes, I remember reading about how they actually had a decent product, but that hardly matters of course, if it is way more costly than anything else.
Solyndra was doomed from the start. Making solar cells is an environmentally nasty product to begin with. Using US workers, making US wages, benefits, etc.. along with higher US taxes in general, and all other kinds of add ons with doing business in the US, there was no way Solyndra could compete with China due to their more lax environmental regulations (if they even have any), and super cheap human workforce. Just no way. Ethics and morals aside, Solyndra was a bankruptcy waiting to happen.
Sorry, I wasn't clear, I was referring to the "300MW world-class manufacturing facility" that Leaf Solar is rumored to be building. Yes, it's not Apple as I first thought, but still that would be a tremendous commitment for Leaf and maybe the prospects of future partnership business with Apple makes the project less risky.
That would be interesting, especially if a company like Apple had a publicly stake in the company like it does with Imagination Tech.
This whole story seems fishy to me.
The only thing that smells like (bad) fish around here are your posts.
.. when I look at the cheap goods from china in target and Walmart and then look at the sad souls working there ...
That is the most incredibly condescending thing I've heard here in a while.
"Cheap goods" = More consumer surplus for America's less well-off.
"Sad souls working there" = Better lives for the Chinese workers relative to the alternatives.
I hope so...I'm a huge apple fan and would consider myself pro-business...but when I look at the cheap goods from china in target and Walmart and then look at the sad souls working there I feel we've been sold a bill of goods allowing US businesses to move factories and jobs overseas.
It's like eating your leg for dinner...no future in it!
I don't think you know what you are talking about. A strong economy doesn't mean that the stupid disappear from the planet. This whole idea that the unfortunate would be any better off in a strong economy is BS.
Honestly do you think WalMart will go away in a strong economy? They existed long before the current downturn and will exist well after. What there is no future in is looking for excuses and place to put blame.
Bravo Apple, it's moves like this that will help our economy. Another smart move would be to bring all your overseas money home and pay whatever tax rate the government sets, you REALLY don't need any more money.
I've always been torn between wanting Apple to use their money to reduce product prices, but honestly I think that would just cheapen the brand and saturate demand, how about pumping that money into North America so that we can stop blaming our problems on the government and realize it's the corporations that aren't investing in their own home markets.
How about they use some of their excess money to pay living wages to their employees in the United States.