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#Post#: 459--------------------------------------------------
FERC Hands Down Key Decision; Solar Growth Explodes in October
By: AGelbert Date: November 26, 2013, 7:40 pm
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FERC Hands Down Key Decision; Solar Growth Explodes in October
Rhone Resch
November 25, 2013
Even though they were overshadowed by the Senate’s historic
decision to eliminate the use of the filibuster when it comes to
most Presidential nominees — the so-called “nuclear option” —
there were some major developments this week at the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that are critically
important to solar and renewable energy.
First, FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff, who proclaimed earlier
this year that, “solar is growing so fast it is going to
overtake everything,” [img width=80
height=70]
HTML http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/yayayoy/yayayoy1106/yayayoy110600019/9735563-smiling-sun-showing-thumb-up.jpg[/img]<br
/>announced that he’s officially leaving his position at the end
of the week. Chairman Wellinghoff has been a true champion to
solar, and we wish him well in all of his new endeavors.
But before leaving, Wellinghoff presided over one last
Commission meeting on Thursday as a new rule was approved by
FERC that will expedite and reduce the cost of solar project
interconnections, while maintaining the reliability and safety
of the electric grid. In a nutshell, this action — which SEIA
has championed for nearly two years — will help to spur new
solar deployment nationwide. The rule was approved by a 4-0 vote
with Chairman Wellinghoff abstaining because of a possible
conflict of interest.
Here’s the back story. In 2005, FERC issued Order No. 2006,
which — for the first time — established national
interconnection procedures applicable to generation projects
that are 20 megawatts (MW) or less in size and subject to FERC’s
wholesale jurisdiction.
Order No. 2006 was groundbreaking at the time, and the
procedures were voluntarily adopted by many states to also apply
to the retail interconnection process. However, demand for solar
energy has grown dramatically since the original order was
issued more than seven years ago, and certain aspects of the
order have resulted in needless barriers to cost-effective and
timely interconnections >:(.
The rule approved today will allow solar projects that meet
certain technical requirements to qualify for a “fast track”
interconnection process, thus eliminating the need for costly
and time-consuming studies. Most importantly, today’s decision
will help to reduce interconnection bottlenecks.
[img width=60
height=60]
HTML http://www.smile-day.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Smiley-Thumbs-Up2.jpg[/img]<br
/>
As an association, we applaud FERC for recognizing the
challenges facing wholesale distributed generation development,
which is one of the fastest-growing segments of America’s solar
energy industry. But it’s important to point out that the new
rule also maintains electric system safety and reliability,
making it a win all the way around.
This is the way government should work.
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/301.gif
We deeply appreciate
FERC’s open-minded approach and willingness to revisit this
issue based on unforeseen developments. We look forward to
working with FERC and all other interested stakeholders in the
future to help further the deployment of clean, reliable and
affordable solar energy nationwide. SEIA is also urging state
regulators to consider using FERC’s new rule as a model and
starting point for updating their own interconnection rules.
And, finally, this brings me to the other really good news
coming out of FERC this week. According to the agency’s “Energy
Infrastructure Update” report, 99.3 percent of all new electric
generation placed in service during the month of October came
from renewables — with solar leading the way by a country mile!
Twelve new solar units accounted for 504 MW or 72.1 percent of
all new capacity last month. This is truly astonishing, not to
mention historic, and should serve as a reminder to everyone
in Washington and in state capitals that smart public policies —
such as the solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), Net Energy
Metering (NEM) and Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) — are
paying huge dividends for America. ;D
Today, solar is one of the fastest-growing sources of new energy
in the United States. More than 30 utility-scale, clean energy
solar projects are still under construction, putting thousands
of electricians, steelworkers and laborers to work and helping
to reduce carbon emissions from power plants. These facilities,
along with rooftop solar on homes, businesses and schools, will
generate electricity for generations to come.
There are now more than 9,400 megawatts (MW) of cumulative solar
electric capacity installed in the U.S. — enough to power more
than 1.5 million American homes — and that number is expected to
hit nearly 13,000 MW by the end of this year.
In addition, SEIA recently released a comprehensive new report
outlining ways to create 50,250 new American jobs and save more
than $61 billion in future energy costs by expanding the use of
innovative and cost-effective solar heating and cooling (SHC)
systems across the nation.
Today, solar employs nearly 120,000 Americans at more than 6,100
companies, most of which are small businesses spread across the
United States, making solar one of the fastest-growing
industries in America. Part of this amazing growth is attributed
to the fact that the cost of a solar system has dropped by
nearly 40 percent over the past two years, making solar more
affordable — and more popular — than ever. And as solar
continues to scale up, costs will continue to come down.
So in a week filled with high drama on Capitol Hill, you could
say that solar — in its own way — has become the new “nuclear
option”
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/cowboypistol.gifwhen
it
comes to helping America meet its future energy needs.
HTML http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/11/important-week-for-americas-solar-energy-industry#comment-127965
#Post#: 534--------------------------------------------------
Re: Photvoltaics (PV)
By: AGelbert Date: December 11, 2013, 5:14 pm
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US Solar Industry Records Explosive Growth in Third Quarter ;D
Rhone Resch
December 11, 2013
When it comes to renewable energy, you could call it the “shot
heard round the world.”
[img width=640
height=580]
HTML http://www.pv-tech.org/images/sized/assets/default/USsolarmarketinsightQ313-600x0.jpg[/img]
According to a new report by GTM Research and the Solar Energy
Industries Association (SEIA), the U.S. installed 930 megawatts
(MW) of photovoltaics (PV) in Q3 2013, up 20 percent over Q2
2013 and 35 percent over Q3 2012. This represents the second
largest quarter in the history of the U.S. solar market and the
largest quarter ever for residential PV installations.
Even more importantly, 2013 is likely to be the first time in
more than a decade that the U.S. installs more solar capacity
than world leader Germany. Since 2005 – just before the solar
Investment Tax Credit (ITC) was enacted – cumulative PV
installations in the U.S. have grown from 171 MW to a
“no-one-expected this” 10,200 MW through Q3 of this year. As the
Germans would say: Wunderbar!
FIGURE: Cumulative PV Installations by Quarter, U.S. vs. Germany
Source: U.S. Solar Market Insight Q3 2013
When all of the numbers are finally in, 2013 will go down as a
record-shattering year for the U.S. solar industry. We’ve now
joined Germany, China and Japan as worldwide leaders when it
comes to the installation of new solar capacity.
This unprecedented growth is helping to create thousands of
American jobs, save money for U.S. consumers and reduce
pollution nationwide. When it comes to preparing for America’s
future, clean, dependable and affordable solar energy has become
the “Little Engine That Could,” defying expectations and
powering economic growth – and, frankly, we’re just scratching
the surface of our industry’s enormous potential.
But let’s take some time to soak up what’s happened this year.
Most impressively, the residential market continues its rapid
growth. Through Q3, residential PV installations were up 45
percent year-over-year, driven largely by increasingly
attractive economics and fair net metering policies.
The utility market continues its steady ascent, as well, and is
forecasted to exceed 1 gigawatt (GW) of installed capacity in
the fourth quarter, including Abengoa’s Solana, the world’s
largest parabolic trough concentrating solar power (CSP) plant.
This will be the first time any individual market segment has
hit that mark.
The non-residential (commercial) market, on the other hand,
remains pretty much flat over last year – although blue chip
companies like Walmart, Costco, Kohl’s, Apple and IKEA continue
to invest heavily in solar.
But here’s the real takeaway: When you add all segments of the
industry together, solar is the second-largest source of new
electricity capacity in the U.S. this year, trailing only
natural gas.[img width=30
height=30]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-141113185701.png[/img]
The U.S. Solar Market Insight: 3rd Quarter 2013 predicts that
5.1 GW of PV and CSP will be installed this year. Cumulative
capacity has already surpassed the 10 GW threshold, which means
solar is now generating enough electricity to effectively power
more than 1.7 million homes across the United States.
Here are some other key findings of the report:
•Strong growth is forecast for the non-commercial market in
2014.
•Blended average PV system prices fell 4.2 percent in Q3 2013
compared to the previous quarter, reaching a new low of $3.00/W.
•The U.S. is expected to install a total of 4.3 GW of new PV in
2013 – up 27 percent over 2012.
•The 392 MW Ivanpah CSP project, one of the largest solar
projects in the world, is scheduled to begin delivering
electricity to the grid before the end of 2013.
According to yet another new report, FERC’s Energy
Infrastructure Update, a whopping 99.3 percent of all new
electric generation placed in service during the month of
October came from renewables – with solar leading the way by a
country mile!
Twelve new solar units accounted for 504 MW or 72.1 percent of
all new capacity in October. This is really remarkable, not to
mention historic, and should serve as a reminder to everyone in
Washington and our state capitals that smart public policies –
such as the solar ITC, Net Energy Metering (NEM) and Renewable
Portfolio Standards (RPS) – are paying huge dividends for
America.
And if that news doesn’t make you smile during the holidays,
then here’s one other thing to remember – 2014 looks even better
for solar!
HTML http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/12/u-s-solar-industry-records-explosive-growth-in-third-quarter?cmpid=rss
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#Post#: 569--------------------------------------------------
Do Many Companies Have Solar Panels on Their Roofs?
By: AGelbert Date: December 16, 2013, 10:24 pm
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Do Many Companies Have Solar Panels on Their Roofs? [img
width=45
height=100]
HTML http://images.ame4u.com/Animated_Clipart/Animated-Solar/sun_shining_solar_panel_hg_clr__st.gif[/img]
An estimated 32,800 companies in the US had solar panels — or
modules that convert sunlight into electricity — installed on
their roofs, as of 2013. This was a 40% increase from 2012.
Walmart is the company that used the most solar power in terms
of wattage, and it also had the most installations in 2013, at
more than 200.
Furniture retailer Ikea had solar roof panels on stores in the
most US states, at 20. Ikea also was the company with the
highest percentage of facilities being solar powered, at 89%.
The increase in companies installing solar panels on their roofs
is thought to be the result of a desire to cut electricity
costs, which is often one of the top operating expenses for a
business.
More about solar energy:
One out of every three Americans are estimated to live within 20
miles of at least one company that has solar panels on its roof.
Solar energy has been used by the space industry to provide
energy on board spacecrafts since the 1960s.
The cost of installing solar energy systems in the US dropped by
about 50% from 2002 to 2012.
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/balloons.gif
HTML http://www.wisegeek.com/do-many-companies-have-solar-panels-on-their-roofs.htm
#Post#: 624--------------------------------------------------
Re: Photvoltaics (PV)
By: AGelbert Date: December 26, 2013, 2:46 pm
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Solar Energy Payback Time (Charts) ;D
[img width=640
height=480]
HTML http://i0.wp.com/cleantechnica.com/files/2013/12/energy-payback-solar-europe.png[/img]
HTML http://cleantechnica.com/2013/12/26/solar-energy-payback-time-charts/
#Post#: 626--------------------------------------------------
Solar May Reach 49 Gigawatts in 2014
By: AGelbert Date: December 27, 2013, 1:14 pm
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[img width=640
height=480]
HTML http://i1.wp.com/cleantechnica.com/files/2013/12/MercomSolarDemandForecast.png[/img]
Solar May Reach 49 Gigawatts in 2014 ;D
Chris Meehan
December 27, 2013
HTML http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/12/solar-may-reach-49-gigawatts-in-2014
#Post#: 686--------------------------------------------------
Solar Dropping Wholesale Electricity Prices Like A Bad Habit
By: AGelbert Date: January 12, 2014, 3:31 pm
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Solar Dropping Wholesale Electricity Prices Like A Bad Habit
(Charts) [img width=45
height=100]
HTML http://images.ame4u.com/Animated_Clipart/Animated-Solar/sun_shining_solar_panel_hg_clr__st.gif[/img][img<br
/>width=30
height=30]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-141113185701.png[/img]
Agelbert NOTE:The article is great but I got a kick out of the
comments. It seems quite a few of us were on to the fossil fuel
utility "energy expert" BULLSHIT game from the start. ;D
COMMENTS:
[quote]Jouni Valkonen
• 8 hours ago
And soon batteries will eliminate that evening spike and little
bit later also morning spike will be eliminated.
Adam Devereaux
• 7 hours ago
Isn't it incredible how solar went from a technology that could
never generate an appreciable amount of power to a technology
that is bad because it steals profits away from utilities and
disrupts the standard revenue pattern? ;)
Zachary Shahan Top Commenter > Adam Devereaux
• 6 hours ago
Ha ha, so incredible and cool. (And also from a power source
that "couldn't be integrated into the grid at more than ~5% of
the power supply" :P Funny how that claim turned out. :D)
Matt > Zachary Shahan
• 3 hours ago
People still try to use the "can't be integrated" line. Its like
living in Oz. But instead of "Ignore the man be hid the curtain"
it is "Ignore those countries in Europe" ;D
Zachary Shahan Top Commenter > Matt
• 2 hours ago
True.
SecularAnimist
• 3 hours ago
The utility company alarmism about "integrating solar into the
grid" was always a bit of a red herring. That may be a relevant
issue if you are talking about integrating utility-scale solar
power plants into the grid. But it is mostly irrelevant with
regard to distributed end-user solar power, which doesn't really
have to be "integrated" into the grid. As far as the grid is
concerned, it just looks like demand reduction. Which, as is
becoming apparent, is what the utilities were really worried
about all along.
HTML http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_0293.gif
Zachary Shahan Top Commenter > SecularAnimist
• 2 hours ago
Well summarized.
Dave R
• 2 hours ago
Got any data on California wholesale prices? There's enough
solar on the California grid (~3GW utility scale, ~2GW
distributed) that we should be seeing a similar effect there as
well.
[/quote]
agelbert > Dave R
• 7 minutes ago
I would be interested in that too. California has double whammy
going on in favor of solar and wind because the new surcharge on
dirty energy is raising the cost of fossil fuels as the
renewable energy cost goes down. Good!
HTML http://cleantechnica.com/2014/01/12/solar-dropping-wholesale-electricity-prices-like-bad-habit-charts/
Do NOT expect Charles Hall, Gail Tverberg, Nicole Foss, Tyler
Durden or any of the other "energy" pundits out there to own up
to the FACT that they pushed the fossil fuel mendacious
propaganda for years! Now they are getting SO quiet about what
they previously loudly claimed (up about one year ago when the
Renewable Energy tsunami began to eat into their cred).
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/5yjbztv.gif
INFAMOUS Fossil Fuel Propaganda about Renewable Energy:
It is too expensive - It is not competitive with fossil fuels -
It's over subsidized with feed in tariffs while fossil fuels are
cheap (no mention of fossil fuel gigantic subsidies LOL!) - It's
a fad - it's pie in the sky - it's hopium and fartum - it's
magical thinking - it's EROI is too low! - it's polluting! -
it's unhealthy! - it's a niche - we need to better use our
resources![/I] - it lowers our GDP! - [I]it makes us less
powerful as a country!
HTML http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-scared002.gif[/I]
-
it's a drop in the bucket - [i]it takes food off the table
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/tissue.gif-
it will destabilize
the grid! -[I] it hurts the poor[/i]
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/shame.gif-
it's a bad investment
- the upfront costs are too high - it isn't cost effective -
it isn't reliable - it won't last because we will always have to
use fossil fuels to make the machinery for it - it's ugly and
lowers real estate values - it can't respond to demand spikes
and people will freeze to death in winter or roast in summer
from lack of RELIABLE fossil fuel power!
HTML http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-scared004.gif
- it
cuts into health insurance profits because less people get SICK
from fossil and nuclear fuel poisons
HTML http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-scared005.gif<br
/>(Actually they didn't say this because it is the only statemen
t
of all the above that is actually true!). ;D
#Post#: 691--------------------------------------------------
Re: Photvoltaics (PV)
By: AGelbert Date: January 13, 2014, 1:58 pm
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[quote author=Eddie link=topic=1702.msg41453#msg41453
date=1389568127]
When I set out to build the Bug-Out PV Kit, I did so for a
number of reasons. There were a number of questions I had in my
own mind...
What is a reasonably sized portable PV Set-up? Is it even
practical to design a mobile PV kit? How much would such a kit
cost at current prices?
How many and exactly what kind of batteries would be required
for such a system?
How much power could such a set-up yield, and what could you do
with it?
How often would you need to resort to a grid-based battery
charger or a portable generator to keep the batteries charged?
How easy would it be to monitor the system and keep the
batteries properly topped off. Would I need to check them daily?
Weekly? Hourly?
Some questions I forgot to ask, but would eventually answer:
How much storage space would it take to accommodate all the
parts of this system?
How much would the system weigh?
All the handy calculators on the internet designed to help you
estimate PV system size work the same way. They begin by getting
you to estimate your daily power needs, and then help you figure
out how many amp-hours of battery storage it might take to
provide that amount of power. After that, you calculate how many
panels you need to keep those batteries charged, based on how
many sunny hours per day you expect to experience, and how many
days of no sun you might need to plan for, based on your
geographic location.
For a kit like the one I envisioned, I needed to work from the
other direction. How many panels were practical to carry around?
What kind of panels were available that met the criteria of
being easily portable? Were they 12 Volt? 24 Volt?
I decided to buy 12 Volt 120 W folding panels, with light weight
integral folding legs, made sort of like a card table. I first
bought two of those, and then eventually decided I could add a
third one, after I bought my charge controller, which I figured
out would work well for up to about 400W in panels. (The folding
panels I got from Solar Blvd were equipped with primitive charge
controllers, but I chose to bypass those leaving them in place
for back-up)
The cost for the panels was $190 each, or $570 for the 360W
total.
[img]
HTML https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTfVig42AuGGsvYLhZ4qaBxwQPYcZBNLO6UiNdzdecqBxp-Pru4[/img]
I also learned, by reading about other people's adventures, that
it takes about 400W in panels to keep a 12 Volt 225 Amp hr
battery bank (made of two heavy duty 6V Golf Cart batteries from
Sam's Club) charged, in an average sun environment. I bought the
batteries from my local Sam's and paid $220. It would have been
slightly less had I shlepped a couple of dead 12V batteries to
the store to offset the "core charge", but I didn't.
[img]
HTML https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT11YAZeF55fa9VktSC8HXHyzyYmAEbznAn_OlECgmQ8jf51Qgu[/img]
Why 6V g-cart batteries? Simply, they are the best bang for the
buck. 12V deep cycle batteries are generally rated at about
50-60 amp hrs, cost about the same as the g-cart batteries. It
would take four of them to give the same storage as 2 of the
ones I got, and they would need to be wired in parallel, which
is something to be avoided with batteries if you can. (Although
many people do it anyway.) Gel batteries are nice, but cost much
more than wet cell lead acid batteries. The only advantages are
that they don't have the potential for leakage, and they don't
have to be ventilated. For me, I didn't need to pay double to
get those features.
I also learned that such a 400W system is not an uncommon size
for RV's, and that I could buy the basic wiring harness, with
various junction boxes, switches, circuit breakers, and the
correct wiring, along with the Blue Sky charge controller I
liked, and a matching battery monitor, from a small Mom and Pop
RV solar outfit called AM Solar.
I had already sourced the controller from Solar Blvd, but I
bought the rest of the kit from AM. If I'd bought the complete
the kit from AM Solar (They call these kits "system cores ". The
appropriate one for my system was their Sunrunner(tm) Signature
Series 25/6 PRO Core.) it would have cost $815, including the
combiner box.
That price includes a lot of gear. An MPPT charge controller and
matching battery monitor (expandable to grow the system if
desired), a custom metal box for the charge controller designed
to overcome some problems with wiring heavy wire to the CC., Two
30 ft lengths of #6AWG, a bridge shunt for wiring the battery
monitor, a temp cable for the batteries and wiring for the
battery monitor, and a combiner box with bus bars for
paralleling the three panels into one circuit. Also included are
all the tiny bits you'd have had to buy yourself after you
figured out you needed them. AM kits are well thought out.
HTML http://www.amsolar.com/shop/images/2512ix-hv.png
HTML http://www.amsolar.com/shop/images/IPNPRO.jpg
HTML http://www.amsolar.com/shop/images/2512-Wall_Box.jpg
HTML http://www.amsolar.com/shop/images/th_2512-6-pro-core.png
HTML http://www.amsolar.com/shop/images/4:2_Roof_C-Box.jpg
That kit basically got me wired from panels to charge controller
to batteries. To get AC current, I needed additional battery
cables, another fuse, and an inverter. I chose the Morningstar
300W Sure-sine for its durability, simplicity, low cost and
small size. I paid about $200. The #2 AWG battery cables I
needed (six short ones with lugs and heat shrink installed) cost
me $108 from Don Rowe, a company that sells inverters and
cables.
[img]
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I had a big plastic mil-surp box in the garage that once held
dental equipment of the Gulf War era. The batteries and the
electronics, fuses, switches and other paraphernalia will mount
inside the box, once I make some plywood bread boards to fit the
lid and bottom of the box.
[img]
HTML https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTqCZb_7Ei_93Gxo09kBNdo8wHgfL4fDXO9folm9OIRjSdDHu7FDw[/img]
Total cost for the completed kit, which I hope to finish this
week, will be less than $2000.
The biggest surprise? Weight. The panels weigh 30 pounds each,
the batteries 64 pounds each. Inverter weighs 11 pounds. the
entire kit should tip the scales at roughly 250 pounds! Yeah, a
lot more than I would have thought.
From the beginning, the one major requirement I had for the
system was that it should power refrigeration. I researched a
variety of refrigerators, both 12V units and 120V AC. Nice 12V
chest style units could be had that would be compatible, but
they were about $750 minimum. EcoCool makes a nice midsize 12V
fridge for about $1100 that is efficient enough to run off my
little system....but I kept looking.
Just before Christmas I watched one of Lamar Alexander's videos
in which he evaluated the 3.1 cubic ft. Edgestar. These are
little 120V AC units the size of a large dorm fridge, with
separate freezer and fridge. They can be had for under $250
bucks, and their Energy Star rating is 338kWh/yr. They draw
maybe 75W for a few seconds when the compressor kicks on, and
then only use about 30W continuous while the compressor runs,
which is about 50% of the time, based on ambient temperature and
how often you open the fridge.
I ordered an "open box special" for $129.95 from an online
seller, CompactAppliance.com, and waited...and waited. Finally I
checked back and saw my order had been cancelled. My guess is
that they sold the unit before I clicked on it, or some
such...maybe they never had it. They get some bad reviews for
customer service. So before I ordered another one for the
regular price of $232, I checked around some more.
I found two other brands of 3.1 size refrigerators that are even
more efficient than the Edgestar. Avanti makes one. And Sears
sells one under their Kenmore brand. Energy Star rating of
270kWh per year. That's the energy used by the interior light of
most refrigerators...unbelievable. And I bought one at my local
Sears on sale for $159.95. Score!
[img]
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I have some 12V LED lights I picked up at Home Depot. I'm
continuing to research lights.
When the kit is functional, sometime this week, I intend to
experiment with running fridge, lights, laptop, phone charger,
AA battery charger, etc., just to see how it all works out. I've
answered a lot of the questions that came to me in the
beginning, but I expect that I'll be learning a lot more very
soon, and answering the rest of the questions on my list, and
maybe some more I forgot to ask.
Oh yeah. How big is it? The whole shooting match will fit easily
in the trunk of my car (not including the fridge), with room to
spare.
[img]
HTML https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQzIQrBVIYnXBYaz3iHJleuHEBwCdQHSHKSQGedtuGjMnQmWaMEBw[/img]
And this system would be perfect to integrate into a bug-out
van or small camping trailer.
[/quote] [img width=30
height=30]
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#Post#: 700--------------------------------------------------
Re: Photvoltaics (PV)
By: AGelbert Date: January 15, 2014, 2:35 pm
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15 Jan 2014 6:59 AM
Native sun: In the Deep South, a solar farm rises on a former
cotton plantation [img width=45
height=100]
HTML http://images.ame4u.com/Animated_Clipart/Animated-Solar/sun_shining_solar_panel_hg_clr__st.gif[/img]
By Brentin Mock
Green tech entrepreneur Reginald Parker will be celebrating
Martin Luther King Day this year by breaking ground on a
six-acre, 1.4-megawatt solar farm in North Carolina, [img
width=80
height=70]
HTML http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/yayayoy/yayayoy1106/yayayoy110600019/9735563-smiling-sun-showing-thumb-up.jpg[/img]<br
/>which he’s billing as the largest solar project owned and
operated by an African American. From talking to other black
business owners in the solar industry, I gather that he’s
correct.
African Americans don’t have a lot of skin in the energy game,
as I wrote a few weeks back. But Parker is looking to change the
face of the green industry, and this is only the beginning. He
plans to expand the farm to more than 25 acres for a 20 megawatt
project by the end of next year. After that, he’s plotting a
100-acre project 30 miles south of the current one. Not bad for
the son of sharecroppers.
parker Q. So what drew you to North Carolina for your solar
project?
A. North Carolina is the No. 1 state in the Southeast for solar.
It offers state tax credits that can make a solar project fairly
lucrative, and it also has a renewable energy portfolio standard
— a law that says the state must meet a certain number of solar
kilowatt-hours per year — so it’s very solar-friendly. Plus, I
have some roots here. It was just a good mix.
Q. Some North Carolina policymakers have been hostile to
renewable energy. How’d you bypass that?
A. Well, the good news is they didn’t touch any of the solar
laws so then that left almost everything up to the counties, and
the county we’ve been working with has been very friendly to us.
They are supporting what we are doing because we’re going to
bring them economic development.
Q. Was the economic landscape pretty ruined over where you
bought land for the solar farm?
A. This land was originally used for cotton farming, so with our
groundbreaking we are announcing the change from cotton farming
to solar farming in North Carolina, and cotton farming is
something I truly will not miss.
Q. What do you mean by that?
A. My mom grew up picking cotton as a sharecropper, and her
family were sharecroppers, 13 in total, and they worked hard.
She’s not here now, but I’m able to say, one generation later,
“Mom, you picked cotton, Dad picked tobacco, but now we’re solar
farming.” So there’s a tradition of farming there, but it’s a
change from cotton to tobacco to solar. It was something like
servitude to be a sharecropper, but now we’re owners, and that’s
a source of pride in my family.
Q. What first drew your interest to solar energy?
A. My tutor back at MIT, Mawuli Tse, asked me to write an
article for African Technology Forum, so I wrote one on the need
for renewable energy in Zimbabwe. At the time, I didn’t know
anything about renewable energy, and I didn’t know anything
about Zimbabwe. But I found out that Zimbabwe would have run out
of wood fuel, they would’ve consumed all of their trees, if they
didn’t start using other renewable energy sources. So they’re
into hydro, solar, and wind. So through that, I learned about
all three and became interested in solar.
Q. Media outlets like 60 Minutes are already writing obituaries
for the cleantech industry. How do you plan to last in the
current environment?
A. Over the past 20 years, the costs of solar energy has
increasingly gone down while the cost of natural gas and coal
has increasingly gone up. Solar is by definition cheaper than
any form of energy except for hydro. People beat up on solar
because of the initial startup costs to install solar energy,
but it’s still significantly less than the costs for coal. Coal
is trying to stay in there, but coal and natural gas have two
things working against them: Both are in limited supply.
Meanwhile, solar produces enough energy in 47 minutes for the
whole globe to use in one year.
Q. Is solar the only renewable energy tool in your portfolio, or
are you looking to branch out?
A. I’m a renewable energy guy, and solar is my first play. Some
people don’t believe you should walk with two guns at the same
time so I’m keeping it simple for now to show that we can walk
with one gun and do it well. First, we’re gonna walk, then we’re
gonna moonwalk, and then we’re gonna spacewalk.
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/19.gif
Brentin Mock is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist who writes
regularly for Grist about environmental justice issues and the
connections between environmental policy, race, and politics.
Follow him on Twitter at @brentinmock.
HTML http://grist.org/climate-energy/native-sun-in-the-deep-south-a-solar-farm-rises-on-a-former-cotton-plantation/
#Post#: 702--------------------------------------------------
Re: Photvoltaics (PV)
By: RE Date: January 18, 2014, 5:36 am
---------------------------------------------------------
You know AB, instead of posting all this stuff just here on RR,
much of it would work well as Blogs on the SUN Website. You
should do more Cross Posting there.
RE
#Post#: 705--------------------------------------------------
Re: Photvoltaics (PV)
By: AGelbert Date: January 19, 2014, 8:17 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
RE,
Okay, I'll set up a schedule to post the constructive and peppy
stuff at SUN as well.
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/> [img width=40
height=40]
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