another hiccup to going solar?

[Mtsoxfan]

They put solar panels on about 20,000 acres near me, but I haven't seen the sun in what seems to be about 3 weeks. I wonder how it's working?

I know it's not much, but in winter, covered with 2 or so inches of snow, same with a rainy day, my system created power. I was good about keeping roof clear, even for the small amount it would produce.

 

[1Mech]

Nuscale Power is a start up in safe modular, small scale power production. There first power plant is scheduled to go online in 2029 in Utah. They recently recieved thier approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commision for thier "Small Modular Reactor".
As you can see by the 2029 date, building new nukes takes time.

And some tree hugger may discover a rare, endangered tiny animal that only lives at the construction site that no one ever heard of before. So now they need to do even more environmental impact studies, more delays and more expenses!

 

[1Mech]

Ok.....maybe not lowest....but lower.

Most residential households use the most electric from about 6p-10p. Thats when everyone is home....cooking, TV, laundry, showers/hot water, lights, cranking up the thermostat if you set it back in the morning...etc.

However.....thats when residential solar output is starting to sharply decline for the evening down to nil when the sun sets.

Thats the point I was making

Peak demand will vary with the seasons and area. During a heat wave in a Texas summer, the afternoon hours will likely be the peak, during a cold snap in New York, there might not be much difference in usage between day and night. But the capacity needs to be present to produce for peak demand, whenever it occurs, or we all end up like California with brownouts!

 

[1Mech]

So, in this scenario the grid goes down and the ev’s supply the grid? What happens when the ev owner wakes up and wants to drive to school/work/etc and the batteries are dead?

In California, the state probably would require the employer to give the EV owner the day off with pay! Stick it to the job creators.

 

[1Mech]

The US is a net exporter of coal... we export more than we import.

Our largest customer is India, followed by China, Japan, and the Netherlands.

Great read here:

Coal imports and exports - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Amounts of annual U.S. coal imports and exports, top five destination countries of U.S. coal exports, and top five source countries of U.S. coal imports.

www.eia.gov

That is good, lots of jobs being paid for with those exports! Seems our "leaders" would rather see those coal mining jobs go away!

 

[1Mech]

I just read a news article where the power companies in California are requesting a change to the way customers are billed. They want it changed to a fixed rate based on income.

• Households earning less than $28,000 a year would pay a fixed charge of $15 a month on their electric bills in Edison and PG&E territories and $24 a month in SDG&E territory.
• Households with annual income from $28,000 – $69,000 would pay $20 a month in Edison territory, $34 a month in SDG&E territory and $30 a month in PG&E territory.
• Households earning from $69,000 – $180,000 would pay $51 a month in Edison and PG&E territories and $73 a month in SDG&E territory.
• Those with incomes above $180,000 would pay $85 a month in Edison territory, $128 a month in SDG&E territory and $92 a month in PG&E territory.

These fixed rates are very low, even for high income households and it seems investing in renewable energy is not even considered. What the hell?

A fixed rate never encourages conservation, which is what is needed. If I pay a fixed amount for most anything metered, I will want to get my money's worth. Kind of like going to an all you can eat place. I always overindulge in those places, so I don't go very often!

 

[1Mech]

I think Most of it ends upon the east coast. It apparently is affecting a lot of peoples brains. LOL

Especially in Washington DC!

 

[1Mech]

Net Metering is changing here as it proved too much of an incentive.

Just received my annual True Up statement along with a $360 check.

This is after deducting minimum monthly charges, etc.

I expect next year to be a fraction under the reduced kW buy back.

Might be time to installed electric water heater to use more of what I generate... which tends to average about 10kW a day most of the year... not too shabby for circa 2007 160W panels.

How many panels?

 

[TractorTech]

Knowing Gavin Nuisance, he probably will require illegal alien labor at time and a half

 

[Skeletor]

I got a system being installed on the 15th. Supposedly it will totally eliminate my electric bill as I over shot the system a bit. We will see on that. 10kw system. I got them doing a 200 amp service upgrade and they’re running 240 out to my garage. I financed that into the loan and I can get 30% tax credit in that too so I figured why not. Fingers crossed…………