Moore’s Law — Does It Apply To Renewable Energy?

I often refer to Moore’s Law, which posits that the effectiveness of technology increases exponentially over time. I talk cavalierly about how this “law” (named for Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, which originally applied to the number of transistors that could be crammed onto a semiconductor chip) can be extrapolated to what we’re all trying to do here in renewable energy.

But how legitimate is all this?  Does it apply in some cases, like IT, and not others, e.g., power engineering? In particular, can we use it to predict accurately the results of our driving the technology of renewables forward, as we increase the output of solar, wind, and other forms of clean energy?

If you want a lecture that is anything but cavalier, I present this talk on Moore’s (and Wright’s) Law at the University of Waterloo, Canada. On the other hand, if you don’t like really academic stuff, you may want to skip this one.