07.23.13
Renewables in the next 5 years – A Best Case scenario
I was recently reading some predictions about what the electrical generation industry would look like in 10 years.
07.13.13
Renewables in the next 5 years – A Worst Case Scenario
I was recently reading some predictions about what the electrical generation industry would look like in 10 years.
07.06.13
Roof-top Solar Panels – Who Pays? Who Saves?
Many jurisdictions around the world are encouraging the installation of roof-top solar panels by providing a number of financial and regulatory support mechanisms. These include direct grants to reduce the cost of installation, guaranteed prices for solar power sold back into the grid, and “net metering” whereby only the net flow of electricity from the grid to the residence can be charged for by the utility company.
We need to move to a renewable energy base. Most people would agree with that.
But when it comes to roof-top solar panels there are some inequities that need to be considered.
Consider the two residential settings shown in the pictures.
The amount of rooftop solar real estate available to the owners of the single-family houses is more than 10 x that available for the seniors living in the apartment complex. In fact, it would be quite possible for the single-family homes to generate as much electricity as they consume so that the local utility company would actually derive no revenue from these homes because of “net metering”.
In the case of the apartment building this is simply not possible.
In the late afternoon and into the night both the single family residences and the apartments will require electricity from the utility grid. But who pays for the generation capacity required to supply this electricity? The only people paying utility bills are the residents of the seniors apartment.
But the situation is actually quite a bit worse than that.
The single-family homes will generate the most electricity between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. This is not a “peak” period for electricity demand so that much of this electricity will flow back into the grid. The local utility company will have to provide additional equipment to handle the two-way flow of electricity to and from these houses. Other equipment will be required to make sure that the “back flow” does not damage transformers and meters that may be a considerable distance from the houses. Finally, the utility company will have to implement additional procedures to deal with the intermittent nature of the electricity generated from the solar panels. For example, a passing cloud can reduce solar power generation by 60% or more in a minute or less.
07.04.13
What if “Climate Change” is the next “Y2K”?
There is a growing debate about whether or not mother earth has pressed the “pause” button on global warming.
@enrgy_manifesto
