Rooftop Solar is collapsing around the globe..... So long Sunny boy!

[Concerned American]

Yeah a net ass rape....

He seems satisfied, but in CA they have an overabundance of sunlight. Above the 45th parallel? Not so much.

 

[petro]

What is your gas rate per mmbtu?

No idea.
Never look at the bill.
CenterPoint website says .91 per Therm.

 

[justoffal]

No idea.
Never look at the bill.
CenterPoint website says .91 per Therm.

Ahhh ...very nice....with no BS delivery charges and green energy tack ons?

 

[sparky]

Only what is returned to the grid as in you produce what you use and whatever is over what your meter shows is refunded to you, previously paid at peak rate. My friend explained that the 'settle-up' is done annually. I actually did see his meter run backward while I was there. That's money to the good. However as relluc stated, it is not refunded at premium rate anymore. So in answer to your question, I suppose it is net.

ok, i am (yet again) confused CA, your patience appreciated.....

on my turf there is no 'meter runs backwards' because our area POCO's won't $$$ for what we 'return' on their infrastructure as they charge us for using it

unfuzz me....
~S~

 

[petro]

Ahhh ...very nice....with no BS delivery charges and green energy tack ons?

According to the site they do not profit from gas and only charge what they pay.

CenterPoint Energy neither controls nor profits from the cost of natural gas. - See more at: Natural Gas Price Monthly Update

Our electric company has the same policy and is actually a Co-op.

I don't live in a McMansion either. So those with 5,000 sq. ft. are definitely paying.
Buy a big house, they should have no problem with big bills.
That's the cost of not being green and living large.

 

[egp320i]

Nothing but bad news from all over the world as far as solar is concerned.



The Chinese solar industry has also collapsed. There's still some hope for utility scale solar fields however they still need to be massively subsidized in order to compete. The reason being the simple math of requiring more investment than it can offer in returns.

Hydrocarbons have a 10 million year Head start on solar. After all it's all solar energy in the end isn't it?

it's a great concept to put solar on structures already there but yes the cost without rebates is too high for the everyday person

what is dumb is solar farms taking up farm fields

 

[justoffal]

According to the site they do not profit from gas and only charge what they pay.

CenterPoint Energy neither controls nor profits from the cost of natural gas. - See more at: Natural Gas Price Monthly Update

Our electric company has the same policy and is actually a Co-op.

I don't live in a McMansion either. So those with 5,000 sq. ft. are definitely paying.
Buy a big house, they should have no problem with big bills.
That's the cost of not being green and living large.

Wow.....here in Massachusetts only 40 percent of the bill is usage the other 60 is bullshit faux taxation and slush fund money for green Stoopid.

 

[petro]

it's a great concept to put solar on structures already there but yes the cost without rebates is too high for the everyday person

what is dumb is solar farms taking up farm fields

Between Mpls and St Cloud, thousands of panels are replacing once green farm fields.

Complete eyesore that also drives wildlife into ever smaller areas. Just creates a dead zone. Now with the early snow those suckers are covered in snow until about April. Same goes for rooftop here that people install.
Then add the lower sun angle and short winter light. No one is sweeping snow off those panels.
How efficient is that?

Then if you put them on a roof with asphalt shingles, the entire system has to be dismantled to put a new roof on, then reassembled.

Makes no economic sense here.

 

[Concerned American]

ok, i am (yet again) confused CA, your patience appreciated.....

on my turf there is no 'meter runs backwards' because our area POCO's won't $$$ for what we 'return' on their infrastructure as they charge us for using it

unfuzz me....
~S~

I couldn't tell you the first thing about VT. Nor OR or WA for that matter. My neighbor, a CA transplant, had visions of going off grid after moving here and found we didn't have enough daylight in the winter months to break even. She is supplementing in the summer, but I have no idea what the utility does up this way. I'm just relating what I was told by someone in CA who is getting an ROI and he says its working for him. Personally, I don't think it would work for us in the northern climes. LOL, I am aware of a project that a utility in this area is beta testing called 'pumped storage' where they pump Columbia R. water to a reservoir which is maybe 1000 ft above the river using excess electricity from wind and piping the water through turbines by gravity on its return to the river. They are having some success, if what I've read is true. Sorry I can't be of help for your area.

 

[sparky]

I couldn't tell you the first thing about VT. Nor OR or WA for that matter. My neighbor, a CA transplant, had visions of going off grid after moving here and found we didn't have enough daylight in the winter months to break even. She is supplementing in the summer, but I have no idea what the utility does up this way. I'm just relating what I was told by someone in CA who is getting an ROI and he says its working for him. Personally, I don't think it would work for us in the northern climes. LOL, I am aware of a project that a utility in this area is beta testing called 'pumped storage' where they pump Columbia R. water to a reservoir which is maybe 1000 ft above the river using excess electricity from wind and piping the water through turbines by gravity on its return to the river. They are having some success, if what I've read is true. Sorry I can't be of help for your area.

No skin CA
i've been a bit player as a spark for decades now
admittedly i'm not the sharpest knife , the highest math i know is ohms law.....but i do suspect the 'math' is being manipulated.......apologies that i just can't put my finger on it........~S~

 

[Care4all]

Jesus.
I can run my air all month during the summer and never reach above $130.
Winter my electric runs about $75 per month. Gas no more than $100.

Either those people have too much house and/or you folks are getting screwed for rates.

But you are in the cold north.....don'tTaz is in one of the hottest places in America....big difference.....my sister in Florida with rates going up, had a $500 electric bill.....her first time ever! Her home is 2000 sq feet.

 

[Concerned American]

No skin CA
i've been a bit player as a spark for decades now
admittedly i'm not the sharpest knife , the highest math i know is ohms law.....but i do suspect the 'math' is being manipulated.......apologies that i just can't put my finger on it........~S~

Yeah, all in all, I don't see the solar penciling out in most cases. I do believe there are ways to harness clean energy by thinking out of the box like this pumped storage idea, but its a ways down the road.

 

[egp320i]

Between Mpls and St Cloud, thousands of panels are replacing once green farm fields.

Complete eyesore that also drives wildlife into ever smaller areas. Just creates a dead zone. Now with the early snow those suckers are covered in snow until about April. Same goes for rooftop here that people install.
Then add the lower sun angle and short winter light. No one is sweeping snow off those panels.
How efficient is that?

Then if you put them on a roof with asphalt shingles, the entire system has to be dismantled to put a new roof on, then reassembled.

Makes no economic sense here.

yep, totally stupid, now texas with barren land is smarter, cows don't care they will hide under them for shade, still killing sage brush but way smarter than a place like MN with snow, reduced sunlight in the winter
can't imaging the genius that thought this would be a good idea

just like EV's in ND, MT and MN are useless in the winter

I lived over 10 years 30 minutes from the border, heavy snow, always dark......yeah solar would not work at all, useless just like ev's when it's -15F

 

[petro]

But you are in the cold north.....don'tTaz is in one of the hottest places in America....big difference.....my sister in Florida with rates going up, had a $500 electric bill.....her first time ever! Her home is 2000 sq feet.

Uhh.
It gets just as hot here in summer as down south, and the cold months dramatically increases the use of energy. I also already stated my air con runs day and night in summer. Just like my forced air furnace does all winter.
Couldn't open windows all summer either because of Canadian wildfire smoke.

You do know a gas furnace also uses electricity, right?

$500 a month is retarded.
I suspect the south has poor insulation codes for construction and shitty rates from power companies.

 

[leftwinger]

Yeah, all in all, I don't see the solar penciling out in most cases. I do believe there are ways to harness clean energy by thinking out of the box like this pumped storage idea, but its a ways down the road.

Pumped storage "idea" was around since the early 70s.' Nothing is free. Maybe some places it is in use? Maybe thought up in the 1809s for all I know?

Even a big windmill takes a special $???/hr tech to go up and service it at least annually.taking 700 gal of oil. They won't let just another go up 100' people are crazy thinking this nonsense beats NAT gas.


Gear oil: around 800 gallons per turbine for gearboxes.
Transformer oil: approximately 1200 gallons per turbine for transformers.
Annual oil consumption: averages 80 gallons per turbine.
Synthetic oils are preferred for wind turbine applications.
Proper maintenance crucial for productivity and environmental sustainability.

 

[egp320i]

But you are in the cold north.....don'tTaz is in one of the hottest places in America....big difference.....my sister in Florida with rates going up, had a $500 electric bill.....her first time ever! Her home is 2000 sq feet.

AC running all the time, maybe de-humidifiers as well takes power

 

[leftwinger]

AC running all the time, maybe de-humidifiers as well takes power

She's full of crap, as always. Even 35-40 miles south of SanJose Ca a 2000sq ft bill is never over $200 in 2018. AC Elec + Gas for hot water. Garbage is $45/mo? Maybe $100. AC dont run much?

SoCal? Maybe $200 $400 $500 worst case? CA higher than FLA i bet.

AZ 2000 sqft elect AC running off/on all day everday barely goes over $200-$300 in July AUG. Gas is on its own.

 

[Concerned American]

yep, totally stupid, now texas with barren land is smarter, cows don't care they will hide under them for shade, still killing sage brush but way smarter than a place like MN with snow, reduced sunlight in the winter
can't imaging the genius that thought this would be a good idea

just like EV's in ND, MT and MN are useless in the winter

I lived over 10 years 30 minutes from the border, heavy snow, always dark......yeah solar would not work at all, useless just like ev's when it's -15F

I saw probably the best thought out use of solar ever in Patterson, CA at a motel. They constructed elevated metal platforms over the parking areas that served as supports for panels as well as shading the parking area. Genius.

 

[Cassandro]

She's full of crap, as always. Even 35-40 miles south of SanJose Ca a 2000sq ft bill is never over $200 in 2018. AC Elec + Gas for hot water. Garbage is $45/mo? Maybe $100. AC dont run much?

SoCal? Maybe $200 $400 $500 worst case? CA higher than FLA i bet.

AZ 2000 sqft elect AC running off/on all day everday barely goes over $200-$300 in July AUG. Gas is on its own.

Please restate in English.

 

[Care4all]

AC running all the time, maybe de-humidifiers as well takes power

The AC is never off, except if running the electric heat in a cold spell.