Solar Industry Fiascos Continue

[longknife]

The idea of having alternative energy sources is certainly a good idea. But, is the technology at the stage when it's truly feasible? I have a solar panel on on the roof of my home to heat the water for the swimming pool. So far, I have not seen a single benefit of having it there. None! In fact, it seems to use more electricity from the pump running water through it and it makes too darn much noise.


Read more @ Solar Industry Fiascos Continue

 

[Old Rocks]

Now what did you do? Put it on a steep northside roof? I have 4 4' by 10' panels on a roof with a low angle north slope, not the most ideal. But in March, when first heating water for a 16 by 24 pool, over one sunny weekend, it made the water uncomfortably warm. Installed a new thermostat on it, after that. Not using it now as am putting a new liner in the pool. But when I fire it back up, it will do a more than adaquete job of heating the pool as it has always done.

 

[longknife]

Now what did you do? Put it on a steep northside roof? I have 4 4' by 10' panels on a roof with a low angle north slope, not the most ideal. But in March, when first heating water for a 16 by 24 pool, over one sunny weekend, it made the water uncomfortably warm. Installed a new thermostat on it, after that. Not using it now as am putting a new liner in the pool. But when I fire it back up, it will do a more than adaquete job of heating the pool as it has always done.

No, it faces south. The pool service is responsible for it and I always happen to be away when they show up.

 

[waltky]

What the large print giveth and the small print taketh away...

Buyer beware: Solar power may be missing key ingredient
January 17, 2016 - Want to cut reliance on your fossil-fuel-burning utility, but don't have space for solar panels? Easy, the sales pitch goes, buy a share in the new "community solar array" being built on the outskirts of town.

But experts and regulators say there's a catch. Some of the biggest marketers of such deals are stripping the "green" benefits out of them and selling them elsewhere, leaving homeowners with a small discount on the same electricity they were using before. It's commonplace and legal for companies and governments to swap energy credits. In this case, though, critics say it's a case of environmentalism meets the old Tom Waits line: "The large print giveth and the small print taketh away." What SunCommon, Vermont's largest seller of community solar, is taking away are the renewable energy credits, or RECs, tied to community solar projects. They're selling those credits to utilities in Massachusetts and Connecticut so they can meet state requirements that they get a certain percentage of their power from renewable sources.

Severin Borenstein, a business administration professor at the University of California at Berkeley, who has followed the issue, described it this way in a blog post this month: "If you've installed solar at your home and are now basking in the I'm-saving-the-planet warm glow, you may be in for a splash of ice water. There's a good chance someone else has purchased your halo and is wearing it right now." Duane Peterson, SunCommon's co-president, argued in an interview that selling the RECs separately is key to keeping energy affordable for his consumers. "We're really clear with folks what's going on with renewable energy credits," he said. Others disagree.

Jon Kirkpatrick carries a solar panel up to Bevan Walker for an installation for SunCommon in Montpelier, Vt. The Vermont attorney general's office issued a warning letter to solar industry players in December 2015 saying some could face penalties for deceptive advertising if they are not clear when consumers are buying electrons but not environmental benefits. SunCommon, Vermont's largest seller of community solar, is taking renewable energy credits tied to community solar projects and selling those credits to utilities in Massachusetts and Connecticut so they can meet state renewable energy quotas. It's commonplace and legal for companies and governments to swap energy credits.​

The Vermont attorney general's office recently issued a warning letter to solar industry players saying some could face penalties for deceptive advertising if they are not clear when consumers are buying electrons but not environmental benefits. The attorney general's warning says in part, "If your solar project sells the RECs, do not make any statements or suggestions that consumers are using renewable energy from your project." SunCommon's website has four alternating front pages advertising "solar at no upfront cost," ''Ditch fossil fuels, invest in solar" and saying its "mission is to tear down the barriers to renewable energy." In a web-based ad for a community solar project in Bridport, posted in July, there was no mention that RECs would be sold out-of-state.

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[longknife]

I've always wondered how solar panels provide AC/DC power.

 

[HenryBHough]

I've always wondered how solar panels provide AC/DC power.

They don't.

Not unless you motorize them to constantly spin.

 

[Old Rocks]

They are called inverters.

Solar Power Inverters – DC to AC Solar Inverters

 

[TheOldSchool]

Conservatives want to make sure that the middle east and the nutjobs that occupy it will always have a significant role in the world. That's why they hate alternative energy and are obsessed with the middle east.

 

[Wyatt earp]

Conservatives want to make sure that the middle east and the nutjobs that occupy it will always have a significant role in the world. That's why they hate alternative energy and are obsessed with the middle east.

Would you want these In your local fishing pond?

 

[TheOldSchool]

Conservatives want to make sure that the middle east and the nutjobs that occupy it will always have a significant role in the world. That's why they hate alternative energy and are obsessed with the middle east.

Would you want these In your local fishing pond?

Wherever they're useful. Especially if it means weakening oil's grip on us. Oil is a totally obsolete energy source. Aren't you glad we have smartphones, tablets, and highpowered computers instead of just really awesome typewriters?

 

[Wyatt earp]

Conservatives want to make sure that the middle east and the nutjobs that occupy it will always have a significant role in the world. That's why they hate alternative energy and are obsessed with the middle east.

Would you want these In your local fishing pond?

Wherever they're useful. Especially if it means weakening oil's grip on us. Oil is a totally obsolete energy source. Aren't you glad we have smartphones, tablets, and highpowered computers instead of just really awesome typewriters?

The typewriters I used in school was made out of steel instead of oil.

.

You woul think the Japanese (where those pictures came from) would blow up another mountain top like they did to build a golf course one time.

 

[TheOldSchool]

Conservatives want to make sure that the middle east and the nutjobs that occupy it will always have a significant role in the world. That's why they hate alternative energy and are obsessed with the middle east.

Would you want these In your local fishing pond?

Wherever they're useful. Especially if it means weakening oil's grip on us. Oil is a totally obsolete energy source. Aren't you glad we have smartphones, tablets, and highpowered computers instead of just really awesome typewriters?

The typewriters I used in school was made out of steel instead of oil.

.

You woul think the Japanese (where those pictures came from) would blow up another mountain top like they did to build a golf course one time.

Well thanks for the... sincere? ...disingenuous? ...humorous? ...response...

 

[ScienceRocks]

Solar and wind are kicking major ass these past few years and make up 70-90% of new installed energy per month.

There's no fiasco or boondogoooo here.

 

[flacaltenn]

Conservatives want to make sure that the middle east and the nutjobs that occupy it will always have a significant role in the world. That's why they hate alternative energy and are obsessed with the middle east.

Explain to us what alternative there is to oil? And then explain to us how generating electricity with wind and solar have anything to do with oil.. We don't get nat gas from Middle East. We ARE energy independent when it comes to generating electricity.

But don't let that stop your bad self from soapboxing it.. Very entertaining..

 

[flacaltenn]

Solar and wind are kicking major ass these past few years and make up 70-90% of new installed energy per month.

There's no fiasco or boondogoooo here.

That's only because no one is BUILDING anything else and demand is flat. When the grid demand GROWS -- that will change dramatically.. As neither solar or wind can provide PRIMARY capacity increases for the grid..

 

[Old Rocks]

Can and will. Everybody was claiming solar would never get below a dollar a watt not that long ago. Now they are doing utility installations for under a nickel a watt. And wind is even cheaper. As the grid scale batteries come online, you will see far more alternative energy installed.